Westfield Sports cars acquistion

[jeff oakley]

The GTM is a fantastic machine, it is really one of the only "kit cars" you could use normally every day. It  has good fit and finish (when put together correctly) and now with Honda power available it will be reliable.

I nearly got one for the wife, instead she had a MGTF, The only thing she didn't like was the door handles on the inside which was a wire that sliced your fingers.

Fot Potenza they seem to be covering bases which go together, the GTM will appeal to the less adventuros owners who want something different, Westfield to the nutters who like to be cold and wet at incredible speeds.

[david.c]

Scott when you get back to planet earth we're north of the equator and to the left of that whinging lot in Wales          

Wouldn't that put you in the Irish sea      

[Charles King]

Charles I really think your mate is in a minority. My mates motor is prety damn good, the owners club whilst sparce all sing the praises.

Wouldn't surprise me, he's not very lucky.

[Buzz Billsberry]

Your comments are rather sweeping and broad ranging across the whole GTM product range shall we get to specifics you can't tarnish the whole of GTM because of what you perceive as rubbish lets have specifics. Is it electrical, mechanical, body work?, etc because if there product was as bad as this they wouldn't have survived + PG wouldn’t have touched it with the proverbial.

Buzz

[Charles King]

I won't comment on the Rossa because it's a fairly old car, but the list of problems is quite long).

The bodywork on the Spyder is perfect, although it is only two years old so I wouldn't expect anything else.

The Spyder has several electrical faults, the biggest being the thermostat for the fan is set to about 112°C so a switch needed to be put in to manually cut the fan in. It has two immobilisers fitted (Toad and Rover) both of which argue with each other, he's tried to get the Rover one disabled but can't because GTM don't know what year the engine is. The wiring loom to the door has recently just disintegrated as well (It also has a problem with the charging circuit but that's probably be wear and tear).

The main mechanical problem with the Spyder was the throttle cable which was routed right past the mounting bolt for the seat, the cable slowly ground away and eventually snapped in two, leaving the throttle stuck on. It also refused to start when it was warm, although that seems to have been cured by replacing the oil temp sender.

This is just a list of bits I've fixed, he's also repaired a lot himself and had a lot done by garages. He's owned it for about 2-3 months, The collection of receipts over the previous 2 years was quite big.

[Buzz Billsberry]

So basically all the sort of items not really GTM related basically all down to build issues. Even tho' they don't know what engine it is you can usually find out engine build details from the tinternet or even speaking with any K series engine builder they have a good knowlege of the product and what its basically come from

so the point I'm making is that GTM are not 'complete rubbish'

Buzz

[Charles King]

Except it's factory built!

No the Rossa was complete rubbish, the Spyder is a marked improvement but for the original cost of over £25K I would have expected something a lot better.

[peterg]

That does rather sound like a lot of common 'build issues' that you might get on any kitcar  

Wiring, if done badly or routed incorrectly is bound to cause problems at a later date. Similarly the throttle cable should have been protected from snags and wear thoughout its length - that's just common sense.

I know people with Caterhams who have had trouble with immobilisers and thermostats and gauge senders and most wouldn't call them complete rubbish    well OK some might but only in a lighthearted way  

QUOTE

The bodywork on the Spyder is perfect

Which is not something you could say about a lot of kitcars and even Westfields have suffered from dodgy alignment issues over the years (I'm thinking of the rear light positions especially)

There is a guy who up till last year had been hillclimbing a GTM for 2-3 years and not only did the car go well but it looked great and I can't remember him having many if any problems in a much harsher test of reliability than just normal road use.

Good luck to Potenza in their mission to improve the choice      

[Buzz Billsberry]

Except it's factory built!

No the Rossa was complete rubbish, the Spyder is a marked improvement but for the original cost of over £25K I would have expected something a lot better.

Fair comment but you didn't mention it was factory built @ least we got to the bottom of it ...eventually  

buzz

[Charles King]

[quote name=Charles King @ Dec. 07 2007,10:47)

QUOTE

Except it's factory built!

No the Rossa was complete rubbish, the Spyder is a marked improvement but for the original cost of over £25K I would have expected something a lot better.

Fair comment but you didn't mention it was factory built] according to GTM this is the best Spyder they have ever made, all the staff know the name of the previous owner instantly because he inspected each stage of the factory build

The depreciation was tremendous as well £25K down to £8K in 2 years, that's impressive.

[Buzz Billsberry]

Thought that was 1 of your sweeping statements !

[peterg]

Well, clearly then a) the staff didn't build it as well as factory built Westfield are and b) the owner didn't inspect it very well if he missed things like a throttle cable that could be snagged by the seat mounting      

[Rory's Dad]

IMO this is all adding up to a case for aquiring GTM.  There are things that we know Westfield (in the widest sense) can fix and so turn GTM from a car with potential into a car that'll make money.  

Still plenty of things to fix at Westfield though starting with a decent manual which has been in preparation for 8 months at least.      

Rory's Dad

[chazpowerslide]

I drove a VVT V6 Libra before I got my Westfield (no connection with the descision to get a Westy) and it was a fantastic car to drive, the build fit and finish was superb.

I'd have one over an Elice anyday.

The Oaks/Murry monocoque is superbly stiff and I know from experience that it'll hold up in a shunt (I had a huge accident in another of Oaks/Murry's GRP monocoque cars, a Midas Gold and walked away from what the Coppers were sure should have been a fatal accident, the Libra is far stronger)

Chaz.

[KerryS]

Was at factory today and Simon Westwood asked if I'd come to buy a GTM!!

He was very positive about it, well he would be wouldn't he!

We agreed, though that the GTM complements the WF range rather than competes with it.

Oh! And welcome to the GTM owner on page 1.