I picked up my 1990 narrow bodied Westy on 25th March 2005. I got it off ebay for £5000 with a spare set of 14” allycat wheels and a spare sierra gearbox. I had been round to see it and go for a ride, but hadn’t driven it. But there were no unpleasant noises or obvious problems, so I bid for it and won.
The good bits: The car had a Vauxhall XE red top engine (the seller claimed it produced 180bhp), independent suspension, a quick rack, and four new Yoko 539 tyres on 15” rims.
The bad bits: Really only the bodywork. This was a bit scruffy. It had various holes from the engine change and removal of swept wings that the owner had attempted to hide with yellow chequered stickers down both sides. The bonnet was also in poor condition. It was badly crazed around the air filter cut-out and scratched elsewhere. It looked like it had flown off at some point. The car was also fitted with a four speed gearbox (from a RS2000), and I really wanted a five speed. The exhaust manifold wasn’t the best, and for some reason was heat wrapped right up to the silencer. (Turned out later this was to hide the rust.) I would also want to fit a decent roll bar at some point. Nonetheless, it seemed a real bargain.
On the way home I realised that the carbs would need some work, as the progression was not good at all. Nonetheless, the performance was astonishing. It took a bit of getting used to the way it handled: it had been about 20 years since I had driven a rear-wheeled car, and never one that had this sort of power to weight. So it a while before I gained confidence driving it.
Once I got the car I thought I should join the Westfield Sports Car Club. So I checked out their website and sent off my details. They meet at a local pub on the second Sunday of each month, so I went along and met up with a few others. Really friendly bunch, who gave my car the once over and advised me on what needed doing. The rear suspension was too low, and the roll bar was inadequate and would need changing. I also met a friend of the guy who sold me the car there. He said he missed the car so much that he bought another, cheaper one. But it was a 1600 crossflow, so he really missed the power. Apparently he later rectified this by putting a Vx XE in. Once you’ve had one, nothing else will do.
After a couple of weeks trying to decide whether to keep the stickers I decided they had to go. (My wife said they made the car look like a wacky racer!) It was then that I discovered the various holes they were camouflaging. So I bought myself some different stickers and a few rubber grommets and used these to hide the holes as best I could. At some point though it could do with a new body.
