a.moore

I saw someone's post on the MG Experience board about recently acquiring a Westfield 11. It wouldn't surprise me if it were this car.

I'm intrigued by the fact that there aren't that many classic Minis in the US yet there are at least two with "questionable" pedigree on Ebay right now. "1963" Mini "1969" Mini Its funny how someone must have gone through a lot of time and effort to graft the less attractive later tail lights and interior onto a classic "1960s" car. I don't really care what someone does to have fun but I feel kind of bad for the buyers if they don't know what they're getting into. As they say, caveat emptor.

Yes it was Croc. The new owner is planning to also use it for autocrossing so it'll be happy in its natural habitat. I'm down to the Sprite to vintage race. I caught the wheel to wheel bug and decided to concentrate on that for awhile. Sadly I only put a few hundred miles on the Locost this year. I'm guessing another 7 will be in the books at some point - just not sure what flavor it will be.

Hey I had one that looked just like that..... It sold last week. (Thanks for liking the tail lights - not many people seemed to!)

For once its probably good I'm on the wrong side of PA. Even though I have no extra garage space right now, that is a hard deal to pass up.

I went through this last fall and ultimately went with this guy: http://www.pro-lineperformance.com/Pro-Line20deluxe.htm First I have no where on my property to store a trailer so I store it off site. Okay technically I do but I'd have to move the trailer to get stuff out of the garage or make the neighbors love me by parking it in the middle of the yard. Having an enclosed gave me another garage and I don't need to rush to load or unload the trailer; if I don't feel like doing it after a long day out, it can happen tomorrow or in three days and it can be packed days before. During an outing last summer someone broke an oil line. It took about an hour to clean the track. During that time I plopped a chair in the trailer, kicked back, and relaxed in the shade. Directly across the paddock from me was someone in a really nice low profile trailer - he either had to crawl into the trailer or sit in the shade of it. His trailer was way nicer than mine but I don't think it is as functional. For the difference in fuel mileage the shelter makes it all worth it. Plus I don't need to crawl to the front to retrieve tires. This is more personal preference but I knew more toys were coming so I wanted a trailer to suit expansion. Going with something that wasn't a car hauler would mean selling it and buying something bigger soon. Three months after getting the trailer, I bought a vintage race car. Look ahead to what else you may be doing since up until this point I always had the excuse of "I have no way to move it" keeping me from getting fun stuff. I'm relatively young for a Se7en and vintage car guy so I don't have the money to spend $20k on a nice low profile all aluminum trailer. When I bought mine it was $4000 if I picked it up in Indiana. I could barely get a used non-car trailer for that price and its quality is perfectly acceptable. To me the trailer is a tool and whatever gets the job done for the money is what I want; bench racing trailers isn't my thing. I also figured that I could easily resell a 20' car trailer when the time came. It seems like some of the non-car trailers spend a bit of time on Craigslist before selling and there are usually a ton of them for sale; I'd look long and hard at getting one of these lightly used if second hand ones are also common in your area rather than spending almost as much up front for a trailer that is less functional and more difficult to unload when you're done with it. Speaking of unloading, be sure whatever you buy has a tail gate. The barn doors that are common on non-car trailers will get old fast since you'll need ramps to load and unload. Lastly a steel 24' enclosed trailer with 7k lbs gross weight is close to useless since it can carry a ~3,400 lbs car and nothing more. The gross weight of a 20' or 24' are the same yet the 24' curb weight is higher; in the end its load carrying capacity is lower even though it has more space. If you are 20' or less, 7k lbs gross weight is fine - anything more and I'd pay for 10k lbs gross weight. Obviously if a more 7 sized trailer works for you this is a moot point. Sorry for the dissertation - just some observations on what I went through last year.

Based on the gallon or two of tire shine in those pictures, I'm guessing it will soon be back on Ebay as "slightly tweaked but easily rebuildable."

Aside from a set of cams (and maybe valve springs), a free flowing intake and exhaust, and a tune, what else do you anticipate?

I don't know if this helps the decision or not but I'm running a stock 2.0 Duratec from a 2007 Focus. The only upgrades are tube headers, ITBs, and a MS3X ECU; the engine is stock internally. Based on other people's dyno runs for similar 2.0 setups (and the fact I borrowed their ignition tables ), I'd guess the engine is putting out around 180 hp. In a straight line it doesn't stand a chance against stuff like GT3s and 600 hp GT-Rs but it doesn't do bad for something powered by an economy car engine.

Are you suggesting that the ~10% tongue weight rule of thumb is too high? 50kg should be acceptable for trailer/cargo weighing 500kg but too little for anything more. Assuming the trailer is light you will probably get away with a lower percentage but I wouldn't want to try it with a heavy trailer and a light tow vehicle. Maybe I'm a little sensitive/paranoid - back in 2005 (my first year at an FSAE competition) several members of another FSAE team were killed when their van and enclosed trailer were tossed across a highway median and into a pair of on coming tractor trailers. I believe an improperly loaded trailer was determined to be a factor along with a good cross wind. My current tow set up is total overkill for a 7 but it sure is nice when it rains and I can tow plenty of other stuff with it. I think you are right on your point that Americans buy tow vehicles that are too large but I also think Europeans tend to go too far in the other direction and the tow vehicle is probably too light for the trailer. Somewhere in between is a happy and safe median.

I saw this photo years ago and loved it. Have you had any turbo issues? I had a 2007 2.5i and it was rated for 2,000 lbs but I seem to recall no rating for the WRX and STI. My best guess was that this omission was related to turbo cooling (or lack there of).

I used a U-Haul trailer and one of their trucks* to tow the Locost to its initial inspection to get it titled. The first time I tried to drive it on the metal lips that keep your tire from falling into the center put gashes in the sheet metal. Technically speaking the car did not fit since it was so low and narrow. After I devised a set of wooden ramp blocks everything fit but the damage was already done. *Interestingly enough I was told that I had to rent a 14' box truck since the F150 would not do. A few years later I saw U-Haul F150s towing U-Haul car transporters.

I went with an inexpensive 20' enclosed trailer from Proline Trailers (its the Deleuxe trim and its made by Team Spirit in Elkhart IN). It wasn't that expensive to begin with and its large enough that reselling it will not be an issue when that time comes. Plus it can serve as another garage/enclosed storage during the winter months.

Its pretty funny that a review in 1961 called the design dated yet 52 years later we are still enjoying it.

I've been meaning to make it to Carlisle for years. This would be reason enough to go.