What's in a name.

[Norman Verona]

Indeed, it's very rare to see an engine in a Caterham that it didn't start with.

 

I've built a Caterham kit over a weekend. It's just a case of bolting stuff on. All the components are supplied and the chassis is fully paneled, pipes and wired as is the dash.

[nismo]

all he knew was that it was a K series and was specifically built for Caterham. He was quite dismissive that it was an engine that graced the engine bays of a few hundred thousand MG Rovers.  .

 

 

 

Say no more squire......

[nismo]

all he knew was that it was a K series and was specifically built for Caterham. He was quite dismissive that it was an engine that graced the engine bays of a few hundred thousand MG Rovers.  .

 

 

 

There is nothing quite so rewarding as conversing with someone who has an in depth technical knowledge and a interesting personal  perception regarding their vehicle........

[NVP66S]

The following is just my opinions and my perceptions. I just bought a new Westie kit after considering Caterham, Exocet, Locost, WCM, and the MEV trike. The WCM has the advantage of the factory being nearby, but the donor S2000 is too much money and I don't like the looks as much as a CaterWest. The Locost is too much work to build. The Exocet is to me a cross between a CaterWest and an Ariel Atom. In other words, too hardcore to get my girlfriend to travel in. The MEV similarly didn't seem like a long distance traveler and I'm not looking for the performance of a bike engined car. So the decision was between Westfield and Caterham. I've already owned one old Lotus so I didn't need to fill out that page in my gotta-do-before-I-die playbook. Therefore, the Lotus traceability was not a factor. I like the looks of both, but a small edge to the Westie. My perception is that Caterham is optimized more for the track and the Westie is a balance of track and street cars. I want a street car. So the Westie is a better value as it's lower price (especially with me doing the donor car work).

 

CaterWest.... I just made that up.      Do y'all like it or hate it?

[Norman Verona]

I have a Caterham and wouldn't say it was any more track orientated than a Westfield.

 

However, to my mind, the big difference is the owners. As a general rule (and of course there are exceptions-many of them) the Caterham owner has more money to spend. He buys the car and feels he is superior to everyone else. If a Caterham owner upgrades his engine he immediately has the fastest car.  I've even had first hand reports of an area meet where a young chap turned up with a cross flow and was derided and laughed at so much he left and never went back. As I didn't believe this I made discreet enquirers and it turned out to be true. 

 

Of course there are nice chaps in the Lotus 7 Club but they are far outweighed by the type described above.

 

I could write a book.

 

As for the cars as Blink says they are different but not so much that most would worry about it.

 

Oh, and Caterwest is OK but wouldn't WestHam be better (in case you're not aware there is a football club (and district) in London called West Ham)

[User0083]

My first exposure to 7's was as a child of about 5yrs old. Watching race days at Castle Coombe. I loved the Caterham races and walking around the car park and seeing Caterham's, Westfield's, Robin Hood's and so on. As a kid I always wanted a Caterham, saw westfield's as fakes and saw Robin Hood's as home made fakes.

When I passed my driving test my first big road trip was to caterham... Looked around, enquired and told I had to be 21 to own/insure one. So saved and at 21, went back, told then it was 25... So at 25 I was ready... But many many things in life had changed and money was low... So got a Robin Hood, wish I got a Westfield! Then got a Westfield! I test drove many westfield's and caterham's for between £8k and £20k and after owning a stainless steel Robin Hood that had many issues I felt the fibreglass tub made the car feel better made and all the caterham's felt tartly in comparison.

As for the drive, a £10k Westfield is going to be much better than a £15k Caterham! So again, price was a big factor.

[Norman Verona]

As for the drive, a £10k Westfield is going to be much better than a £15k Caterham! So again, price was a big factor. 

 

 

 

Surely that depends on the two cars being evaluated and the drivers outlook. Same cars, two drivers and you'll probably get 3 opinions.

[grahamf]

I have both, and I built both. I built the Caterham in the UK, as I liked the look of a Caterham more than a Westfield, and the price of the Caterham was not significantly more than a Westfield. Overall, the Caterham was an easier build than the Westfield SDV route for the following reasons (things are pobably different if you build a non-SDV Westie)

 

1. Everything was brand new

2. Caterham supply the nuts/bolts etc in bags marked for the specific purpose, and not just a whole set of different size bolts

3. If it didn't fit in the Caterham, I was doing it wrong. If it didn't fit in the Westfield I had to do some fettling

4. The wiring loom was pre-installed in the Caterham

5. The body panels were pre-installed in the Caterham

 

The Caterham scene in Scotland also a lot friendlier and welcoming, I feel, than the blatchat crowd.

 

I would probably have bought a Caterham in the US, but the price over here for a Caterham is ridiculous, and doesn't seem to factor in the exchange rate at the time whereas the Westfield is basically ( UK price - VAT ) * exchange rate. A very basic Caterham is > $40,000 with no engine or gearbox.