Made for speed

A Westfield racing car, saw this parked in the carpark of Tescos in Newport.

In the spring of 1982 historic grand prix competitor and engineer, Chris Smith decided to design and build a replica of one of his all-time favourite race cars, the gorgeous 1956 Lotus XI Le Mans car. Such was the accuracy and beauty of the car he produced in his home garage at Westfield House, Armitage he was immediately inundated with requests from enthusiasts wanting one for themselves.

By the following Easter in 1983 the company Westfield Sportscars had been created. Further demand for the new Westfield XI replica kit meant bigger premises and staff were required and the fledgling sportscar company was under way.

After the introduction of a new car, the equally well received Westfield 7SE, a decision was taken to fade out the XI allowing the team to concentrate on production of the new kit. The company continued expanding rapidly to cope with ever growing demand, which became even stronger after the bodywork was redesigned and modernised. Westfield were now firmly established.

In 1991, Westfield expanded again moving to the impressive factory and office block in Kingswinford where we are still manufacturing today. It was here that the incredible V8-powered SEIGHT first caused the earth to shake. With monster power and an incredible 0-60mph time of 3.6 seconds it was Westfield’s fastest machine thus far and received critical acclaim from the motoring press.

It would be hard to follow a car like that but Westfield went on to become one of the first car manufacturers to harness bike power. The small, but very powerful, high revving machines enabled incredible feats of speed, agility and offered fantastic performance at a low price.

2004 sees the re introduction of the Westfield XI. Due to popular demand the kit was re introduced and is still manufactured today!

In December 2006 ownership of Westfield Sportscars transferred to Potenza Sports Cars, a family company with a strong vision: To be the first choice sportscar provider and one of the world’s most admired niche vehicle manufacturers.

Potenza are continuing the investment and development with the expansion of the business and products into new markets. In 2007 Potenza continued their product development strategy and purchased GTM Cars, integrating the GTM into the Westfield production system in almost two months. Then, six months later acquiring a controlling stake in Roadster Bil AB (A Swedish car manufacturer).

In June 2009 Westfield became the first Niche Vehicle Manufacturer to be awarded European Small Series Production Status with the new land mark Sport Turbo. Utlising the VXR 1.6 GM Engine and new lightweight design chassis production of the vehicle started with immediate unprecedented orders from Europe.

Launch of the IRacer at Geneva Motor Show 2010 saw Westfield move into the Electric vehicle market utlising some advanced materials for components of the vehicle. One month following the show the worlds first Electric Vehicle Drift reliability trials took place and Westfield successfully demonstrated its new design and development capabilities. The capabilities are further extended in to the hybrid market with the successful demonstration and trials of the Sport Turbo (hybrid) at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

2013 saw the launch of the very successful MegaS2000 which utilises the legendary Honda S2000 engine and gearbox.

Watch this space for more exciting developments during 2014…

Westfield has sold over 12000 cars world wide since 1983 and currently produce over 400 cars a year for driving enthusiasts the world over. In an age of manufacturing imports Westfield are proud to boast high quality British craftsmanship in every aspect of production, and they build them right here in the heart of the United Kingdom.