£7000 for westfield budget blaster kit. expensive?
Discussion
It might seem like a lot but these people are there to make money, and they are struggling to servive in a lot of cases.
the advantage of these kits is that you can finish them at a price that you want.
For example, you could go the whole hog and buy a GT40 Tornado kit (basic) for about £7500 and then spend another £7500 to complete a good working car that you would be proud to drive. you could do the westfield for under £10000 and still be proud to drive it,as it is a execise in contructing a car that you are doing not buying the best value you can get.
if you want value, go and spend the ten grand on a BMW 5 series and you have fantastic value for money but you did not do it yourself! Get it.
Now here we have come to my problem, I am considering the Tornado as an option as I believe that this car when finished after a couple of years building would represent better value but a bigger outlay which is difficult to convince the other half.
I think that rather than spend all that on the westfield you may go a bit further and look at the Dax version. Look what they are selling for and at least you will see if they are value.
I'm with you here! I don't always see the point in all that investment, when its worth less than what you have spent on it. But don't forget the enjoyment you will get from the build. How much is that worth!
Does that make sense or not?
gadgit.
the advantage of these kits is that you can finish them at a price that you want.
For example, you could go the whole hog and buy a GT40 Tornado kit (basic) for about £7500 and then spend another £7500 to complete a good working car that you would be proud to drive. you could do the westfield for under £10000 and still be proud to drive it,as it is a execise in contructing a car that you are doing not buying the best value you can get.
if you want value, go and spend the ten grand on a BMW 5 series and you have fantastic value for money but you did not do it yourself! Get it.
Now here we have come to my problem, I am considering the Tornado as an option as I believe that this car when finished after a couple of years building would represent better value but a bigger outlay which is difficult to convince the other half.
I think that rather than spend all that on the westfield you may go a bit further and look at the Dax version. Look what they are selling for and at least you will see if they are value.
I'm with you here! I don't always see the point in all that investment, when its worth less than what you have spent on it. But don't forget the enjoyment you will get from the build. How much is that worth!
Does that make sense or not?
gadgit.
I'm with Gadgit here, IMO it really all depends on wether you are going to derive enjoyment from spending hours/days/weeks/years in the garage, spending far more money than you ever imagined,(I don't know of one car that has been built to the original budget) or if you just want a cheapish sporting car. As Graham J said, for £7000 (and in a lot of cases consideably less) you can buy a completed car to a very good standard, but you have none of the satisfaction of the build process. Personally, if I were to have that sort of cash to outlay at your age, I would spend a couple of hundred on a car to get me around, and the rest on a long term project, such as Gadgits GT40, which could be ready for the road in a few years when you are albe to afford the insurance.
Graham, f***ing joke, I bl**dy hate insurers. £5k for a kit car when you're 17, stupid. I really feel for the younger guys at the moment as they jack up the insurance with no real thought about the situation. Like you're going to stuff a car you've spent lots of hours building and even in the worst case senario you're probably going to do the repairs anyway (so much cheaper as no labour costs).
This is probably down to the "where there's blame" leaches.
Sorry for the rant but it does p*ss me off when you hear about cases like this, and they wonder how come so many people drive without insurance.
This is probably down to the "where there's blame" leaches.
Sorry for the rant but it does p*ss me off when you hear about cases like this, and they wonder how come so many people drive without insurance.
Simple answer to the insurance problem: Build a race car. You don't have to have insurance and if you want it for track use it's about £50 for £5k of cover per event. You don't have to SVA it. You don't have to fit uneccesary heavy stuff to it (including lighting and instruments!). You don't have to get it though emissions meaning you can keep it cheap and just bang some carbs on it. You will need a tow car (diesel shed like a 205 or something that's cheap but grunty) and a trailer.
Easier still buy a single seater. You can get a Formula Ford Zetec or a formula Vauxhall Lotus for around £7k. Both will be FAF around a circuit (but will lack the goonability of a 7 derived car).
Seriously, if you're under 21 I reckon it's the way forward.
Easier still buy a single seater. You can get a Formula Ford Zetec or a formula Vauxhall Lotus for around £7k. Both will be FAF around a circuit (but will lack the goonability of a 7 derived car).
Seriously, if you're under 21 I reckon it's the way forward.
Totally agree John, before I found the westfield I was this (holds finger and thumb about 2mm from each other) close to buying a pilbeam for sprinting & hillclimbing, then the westfield came up and I kinda fell in love with it, and I could take people as passengers too.
Insurance really is a f**king joke, I've been driving since I was 8 and have owned 3 cars, so am I more experienced as a driver than a friend of mine who didn't know his clutch from his elbow untill he started driving lessons at 17. I'm sorry but I can drive a car, I can perform stunts in a car (handbrake turn, reverse flick, and a combination of both, and I can hold it when the back end steps out a bit) and have plenty of experience of driving my Land Rover on MUD, yes very slippery mud.
So driving (changing gear, accelerating, braking and generally feeling what the car is doing) comes as sort of second nature to me, leaving more of my brain capacity to assess the situation on the roads and see what the other nobs are doing.
If I could only explain this to an insurnace company then I feel my quote may be a little less as I have a wee bit more experience than your average 17 yr old. That said, I've never driven on a public highway
I believe it's totally different.
Insurance really is a f**king joke, I've been driving since I was 8 and have owned 3 cars, so am I more experienced as a driver than a friend of mine who didn't know his clutch from his elbow untill he started driving lessons at 17. I'm sorry but I can drive a car, I can perform stunts in a car (handbrake turn, reverse flick, and a combination of both, and I can hold it when the back end steps out a bit) and have plenty of experience of driving my Land Rover on MUD, yes very slippery mud.
So driving (changing gear, accelerating, braking and generally feeling what the car is doing) comes as sort of second nature to me, leaving more of my brain capacity to assess the situation on the roads and see what the other nobs are doing.
If I could only explain this to an insurnace company then I feel my quote may be a little less as I have a wee bit more experience than your average 17 yr old. That said, I've never driven on a public highway
I believe it's totally different.
I can perform stunts in a car (handbrake turn, reverse flick, and a combination of both, and I can hold it when the back end steps out a bit)... That said, I've never driven on a public highway I believe it's totally different.
Nah
Insurance is a totall rip-off unfortunately. On certain cars age doesn't help either. For example an Elise S135 for me at the tender age of 30 will still cost me in the region of £1k. I could tell them about the years of track experience and my impressive gooning capability's but it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference... I can see it now:
Me: "I was crossed up flat out in third... massive, massive slide... It was beautiful man"
Thieving insurace git: "hmmm, explain to me again why this makes you less of a risk?"
Unfortunately you are screwed. We've all been there and it's one of those things. FFS I had to drive a Fiat Panda for 2 years. No matter how many times I tried to kill it the hateful thing just wouldn't die.
The only way around it is a track car. TBH, driving on the road is no fun anymore anyhow. Gone are the days when you can drop your lid and go for a blast in the countryside. Artificially lower limits and camera's everywhere has put an end to that. May as well have a cheap barge that you don't GAF about for road use, strap a tow bar on it and build a Westie that you can enjoy on a track.
>> Edited by juansolo on Saturday 28th December 22:31
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