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Blue Bathtub
aka: The BBT
I wasn't even really looking as I'd decided I needed to buy a house... That however has been somewhat delayed with the arrival of the Bathtub. Westfields suit me; cheaper than Caterhams so they appeal to my inner pikey. I fit perfectly in a wide bodied one as opposed to being snug in a standard Caterham and the SV being utterly massive on me. I dislike the K Series and much prefer a torquier two litre. Finally, and I know I'm in a minority here, I like the way the live axle car handles.
As I've done this before twice now with the PPE and my brother's Snotmobile, I've come to this eyes wide open and with a very clear idea of what I want from a kit car. I really CBA with the whole pure track car thing again. Fun though it is, it just requires too much commitment and time that I don't have. So again it's back to the Snotmobile principle of a car that can be used on the road but is also solid enough to use on a track.
Built by a Land Rover / Jaguar R&D engineer this has got to be one of the best made Westies I've ever seen. The attention to detail on the car is amazing and just shows that he's taken his time and done everything right. It's almost as if he read my mind on my perfect spec of car; it's devoid of unnecessary weight, it's got a nice quiet Quaife ATB differential, a stock Zetec 2.0 on throttle boddies, quick rack, a massive zorst that'll get it on the strictest of tracks, etc. Basically all the good stuff without going overboard on anything making replacement parts and maintenance cheap and easy. Indeed the single only thing I think I'd change is the gearbox which is a standard type 9 so could really do with a longer 1st. I'm going to stick with it and see if it annoys me to the point of doing something about it, but at the time of writing it's not actually bothering me so it might even stay as is.
Everything I've done has really been ludicrously simple. I've fitted a grille to protect the rad, fitted some mud flaps to the front and stone guards to protect the rear arches as I know the battering they will receive, finally I've replaced the belts with some proper 3" harnesses as I simply find them more comfortable. All that's left now is to decide on the seats. Grippy though the Tillett W1's are, they're not really good for doing long journeys as I found when I picked it up. So when funds allow I'll be swapping them for something else, though I've no idea what they'll be yet.
Specifications
Model: Westfield SEW