Sub £5k Caterfield - what to look for?

[ADogg]

Hello

Finally after months of pestering my wife has agreed we really do need a Caterfield to stick in my garage. She has set a budget of £5k so the hunt has begun.

I’m not very clued up on any of them, but what makes should I both look for and avoid?

I’m 6ft 2 and around 15st so on the lardy scale so it must fit my backside!

Thank you

[CanAm]

Well the lowest priced genuine Caterham or Westfields in the PH Classified are around £8,500, so you will be restricted to the copies.

[Pat H]

5 grand will get you in a pinto engined live axle Westfield.

It would also get you a very nice Marlin Roadster.

[ADogg]

Thank you! I don’t really like the look of Marlins to be honest...

I may sit tight and see if there are any winter bargains! On the copy side which ones are worth looking at and which aren’t?

[Equus]

Pat H said:

5 grand will get you in a pinto engined live axle Westfield.

It will also get you into a Sylva/Raw Striker, which is dynamic rather better, I think.

You'd have £500 change, with this one, which is IRS by the look of it, too (and that's at asking price - remember that kit cars very seldom go for full asking price, and often quite substantial reductions can be negotiated).

[Equus]

ADogg said:

On the copy side which ones are worth looking at and which aren’t?

Avoid:

• Robin Hoods (the latest ones are OK, but will be out of your budget - those you could afford are badly designed deathtraps).
• Locosts (the basic design is unexceptional, but beyond that, they are fundamentally a 'plans built' car and as such lack consistency of fabrication/build quality, so you really need to know what you're doing to buy a good one).
• Locusts (another plans-built car, with a plywood body on a simple ladder frame chassis: same comments as for Locosts, but you can add very mediocre original design to the lack of consistency)

Your budget will rule out anything but a basket-case resto Caterham, so your main choice is going to be between an early, low-spec. and/or pretty ropey Westfield, or a rather better (but still not top-notch or well-specced) Sylva, or derivative thereof.

[ADogg]

Thank you!

This afternoon I went out in a well sorted Westfield and I’ve sourced a couple of ones on the cheaper scale so will check them out and see what’s what!

[Pat H]

Equus said:

Pat H said:

5 grand will get you in a pinto engined live axle Westfield.

It will also get you into a Sylva/Raw Striker, which is dynamic rather better, I think.

You'd have £500 change, with this one, which is IRS by the look of it, too

Nice looking car, that. And properly registered. And no Q plate.

Pintos are uninspiring lumps, but I guess you can't have everything.

[pigeondave]

Equus said:

It will also get you into a Sylva/Raw Striker, which is dynamic rather better, I think.

At your size I'd make sure you fit (they're narrow), I'm a little bigger and its a real tight fit in a Striker. The Fury is great though.

[Pat H]

ADogg said:

I’m 6ft 2 and around 15st so on the lardy scale so it must fit my backside!

I am 6'2" and over 16 stone and will just about fit in a short cockpit Caterham and a narrow bodied Westfield, but it's a hell of a squeeze.

The long cockpit Caterhams (from late 1980s) are manageable and, with a lowered floor, are positively comfortable.

The lowered floor makes all the difference.

[dhutch]

How is the hunt going?

Pat H said:

5 grand will get you in a pinto engined live axle Westfield.

Slightly out of the loop, but I expect that is true, and nothing wrong with that at all. nice cars.

I have one, picked up for £3750 ten years ago with a cvh engine, common in that age Westfield. Slowly converting to zetec after the cvh decided to drop a valve 2years ago, spring is coming!



Daniel

Edited by dhutch on Sunday 23 February 00:26

[LLantrisant]

5k will easily buy you an oldschool wesftield , live axle, ford x/flow (pinto´s not so common). ...but you need to search, search, search
also a Tiger with Pinto is within this range.

3.5k should by an oldschool live-axled Sylva striker....designwise not everybodies taste, but its the best in terms of handling


AVOID..i repeat AVOID: RobinHood and LocUst and Dutton..they are cr*p

LocOst is a totally different matter....there could be a home-made spaceframe chassis underneath or the chassis was welded by a professional company and sold to the builder.

[spyder dryver]

Whatever ends up taking your fancy your first priority should be to make sure that it is correctly registered.

[rene7]

I'd second the 'CHECK ITS REGISTERED' properly + Avoid Robin Hoods at all costs.
However I'd disagree about Duttons they can easily be sorted to handle as good as any other live axel'd 7. their looks however are not to everyone's taste
For my £5K I'd buy a sylva/Raw Striker - though you may have trouble at 6ft 2" tall fitting in a striker unless the builder was also 6ft 2" and made it fit him

[LLantrisant]

if you follow recommendations from above avoiding q-plates on a kitcar...good luck for your search....this criteria will limit your search window by 70%

[dhutch]

Did anyone say avoid q-plates?

I did not, and would not say that, and in fact have a q-plate myself.