Westfield Elevens

Well chaps, I have taken the momentous decision to move on and the car is now up for sale.

The car has been upgraded from standard with the fitment of a BGH E2 5 speed box, ratios almost the same as the Midget box but the added benefit of overdrive 5th for more relaxed cruising.

Engine is back in N/A format although the blower could be reinstated in half a day (or less!). The engine has been rebuilt with wedged crank, vernier timing gear, 1.5:1 roller rockers, Morspeed Phase 2 cam (relatively mild), piston spray jets, Rimflo valves and head ported by Cosworth, toped off with the new Weber 45 carb. The engine was dyno'd at Northampton Motorsport at 99.9bhp, more easily available with a more aggressive cam (or refit the blower!).
Ignition is handled by Megajolt so swapping maps is easy and there is no messing with points.

I've only done 6,600 miles including the trip to Le Mans, so I'm just not using her enough.

I've no idea what to ask, looking round the prices seem somewhat mad so I've decided on what I think is reasonable - £18,000 (you may of course offer me more )

Hi I am interested in your blower set up what sort of power did you get ? If you don't mind, good luck with the sale.

I never had the car properly set up with the blower so it was running very rich, The increase in torque was noticeable as every time I pulled away from standstill there was a distinct whiff of clutch but I never got around to getting the car on a rolling road to see the figures. The noise was nice though!

Ok thanks, Are you sure you want to sell the car? Could you build another for that money? I have my doubts

I've been thinking of selling the car for a while and getting something more practical like an Exige. We even went for a larger car for Kate so that we could change to two cars rather than have 3, but I think we'll stick with 3 as I do quite a few miles in mine at the moment.

As for price, that is really difficult, the only other XI for sale that I am aware of is on Pistonheads for a lot more money, but it does have an MED engine and it hasn't sold yet. I could have asked for more, but I would rather the car went to an enthusiast to be used, rather than a collector to be a garage queen.

Locally, a W11, RHD, late chassis ('07 build), bucket seats, sold for near $35K (£21,000). It had a proper 1380, TranX LSD, Peter May axles, custom alloy radiator, Protech double adjustable dampers, and a T9 CR box. The wheels were 15", the tires were Dunlop racing in the proper 4.50 and 5.00 sizes. The car was well developed, and driven regularly (weekly ,all year 'round) here in CA. It sold quickly at close to the asking price.
Good cars get good prices. It isn't cheap to build one anymore. The last new one I assembled had nearly $44k in parts, including the $28,000 kit and $1,000 donor Midget.

Others, not nearly as nice, have sold for near $30K. It really doesn't matter if the car is early or late. My preference is for the lighter early cars with the flat floors and longer dampers. While the cars are not popular here (not like Caterhams, anyway), there are 350 million residents, and at least 30 of them really want a Westfield 11. Try advertising in Bring a Trailer, or Racecars.com.

Stick to your price. The cars are worth it.

As my work has me engaging all kinds of cars here in Sunny California, all I can say about the "more practical" Exige is that it is harder to get in and out of than the 11, and costs more to insure. I do like both cars, but my W11 has pretty much fulfilled my desire for a Lotus road car. It's fast, reasonable comfortable once the seats have been attended to, and handles beautifully, considering its jurassic architecture. It's also a lot easier to work on and regular service parts are cheap. Besides, I have a perfect Renault R5Turbo if I want to go faster. I might get rid of the W11 one day, but only for a Lotus 23... I am making plans...

Sorry to hear you've decided to sell Matthew. But I understand why!
To echo Jan, I think your price is pretty fair. I'm sure you'll find a buyer without having to haggle. Especially if you can hold on to the spring.
Stay in touch.

Matthew - I have someone who might be interested in your car. Think he's PM'd you. Otherwise I can put you in touch. Let me know. Regards,