1989 Westfield SE Clubman

The original clubman, the Lotus Seven, was introduced way back in 1957 and started a trend in high performance, low cost sports cars with only the most minimal concessions to comfort - cycle guards, bolt-on windscreen and a lack of rain protection characterised these early cars. By keeping weight to the absolute minimum and selling the Seven in kit form, Colin Chapman's creation offered unrivalled performance for the price. The Seven remained in production for years, before the rights were ultimately sold off to Caterham Cars, and inspired generations of clubman builders around the world. One of the longest established and best known names in the business is Westfield, a company started by Chris Smith in England in the early 1980s. Smith built himself a high quality replica of the Lotus Mark XI sports-racing car and was soon inundated with requests for copies, eventually turning his hobby into a business with the launch of Westfield Sportscars - named after his garage at Westfield House, Armitage - in 1982. Westfield were soon turning out Seven-inspired Clubman models and have now had more than 25 years experience and technical development in building high quality kits and turn-key cars. Despite the proliferation of models, including various motorcycle-engined variants, it's the Westfield SE that remains the closest in conception and appearance to the original Lotus Seven, utilising the same fibreglass body panels. Testimony to the quality of the Westfield is the numbers sold - over 400 cars a year and there are now in excess of 8,500 worldwide.