Another Westie Wannabe

[Alan Thorburn]

Morning all, another Westie Wannabe joining the club and just saying hello.

I’ve got a big birthday next year and in traditional MLC fashion I am planning to treat myself to a Westie, so I’m starting my due diligence in good time.  I haven’t got the time, skills or budget for a new build so I’m going to be looking at older cars in the £6k-£8k range which, from what I’ve seen so far, seems to give plenty of choice.

This will be predominantly a road car, for sunny runs to the pub and Sunday morning blats around the local lanes, so I’m looking for a touring spec with weather gear and a spare wheel rather than anything track focussed.   I have the classic BRG / Minilites / Alloy fittings look in mind - something I can persuade SWMBO is a nice classic car to pootle around in, as well as having fun on solo runs! I will also be using it as a “Toad” (ie towed) for my motorhome on European trips, so I’m looking at trailers as well.

Performance wise I’m not looking for jaw-dropping numbers - I suspect anything as quick as my daily driver Octy VRS will feel twice as fast anyway - so as far as I can see most engines will fit that bill.  There seems to be lots of crossflow cars around in my price range and pintos, with a few Zetecs creeping in.  Mazda SDV cars too.

I’m not worried by older engines - the Westie will be filling the space in my garage vacated by my old Land Rover 110 V8 that I kept as a weekend toy for 10 years and fully restored, so the garage floor has been well and truly christened by oil leaks and I have a pretty good jump start charger!  I have of course thought how nice that rumbling V8 would sound in a Westie, but an SEight doesn’t seem to quite fit the bill for what I have in mind somehow.  SWMBO and I are both short-arses so Widebody or not isn’t an issue.

One question I do have at this stage - does the old canard about open top cars being cheaper in the winter apply to Westies or is that a myth?  If so I will be looking seriously around the end of the year.  Keeping a weather eye on here, Piston Heads, Autotrader and Ebay at the moment - is there anywhere else I should be looking?

Anyway, in the meantime I will be lurking, following threads avidly and no doubt asking lots of daft questions, so I thought I’d better say hello first!

All the best

Alan

[Thrustyjust]

Welcome to the madhouse. Seems you have many options to take. It depends on what comes up on the market , but winter , you can bag a bargain as such, but most cars stay tucked away for the winter. Its really the spring where people seem to decide to change cars or sell. Guess the winter blues of not using them relents them into moving them on. 

Zetec cars can come into budget and pintos and crossflows are definately there too. I guess the engine isnt the main thing to look out for on a 'budget' car to be honest, more on the cars housekept and bodywork condition as they then become more expensive than the engine as they get older. 

Best to go to a meet or two and see if anything floats your boat with owners and research with them. 

Good luck on your hunt and keep us informed on how its going.

[SXRORY]

Welcome! Good luck with the search. I was buying around winter and as thrusty said I found not a lot for sale.

Did get one though.....and its great 

 

[djm]

Hi welcome this one is under your budget and was pointed out on Facebook yesterday by Chris King Webmaster!

 

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

 From Scarborough.

[Kevin (Mr T)]

from Essex and good luck with the search!

[GaryD1971]

from Norfolk. There's quite a good Westfield group on Facebook that has a few up for sale too. Worth looking at. Happy hunting! 

[DE04*]

From Kent 

[Alan Thorburn]

Thanks all for the warm welcome!  I’m not looking to buy anything right now, just doing my research for the moment and will be actively looking in the new year, and thanks for all the good advice.  I’ll definitely get along to some meets and events to speak to people and see the cars in the flesh. 

[Robin Parker (Red Spider) - Yorkshire AO]

Welcome to the club from Yorkshire.

You say you're not looking seriously at the moment, but I know of a good Crossflow engine car that will be coming up for sale soon (not mine), @Andy_R 

[Kevin Pullen]

Welcome picked up one last year that was a little unloved and am trying to get it right now

if you want it to go on a trailer check the rear width mine fits a treat on a single axle braked trailer SWMBO car normally goes on 

[BugMan]

Another Welcome from Yorkshire 

[Gary Taylor]

from a sunny Scotland 

[Alan Cutler (Adge) - Dorset AO]

 from sunny Somerset. Best of luck with your search.

You could always buy it now, and enjoy an extra summer of ownership!  Could always treat yourself to some upgrades for your big birthday! None of us know what's round the corner!!

Just my take on life!

[Alan Thorburn]

On 16/05/2018 at 18:01, Robin (Red Spider) - Yorkshire AO said:

Welcome to the club from Yorkshire.

You say you're not looking seriously at the moment, but I know of a good Crossflow engine car that will be coming up for sale soon (not mine), @Andy_R 

Thanks Andy, much appreciated but unfortunately I definitely won’t be in a position to buy until Winter / Spring next year

cheers anyway

Alan