Thursday May 17

Kevin Leaper’s Westfield XI

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Lightweight track toy.

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Buying a car from a racing instructor is a guaranteed way of ensuring your new motor has been thrashed to within an inch of its life.

If that instructor works at the Nürburgring then you can probably chuck in some accident damage to the mix too.

But that didn’t put PPC’s Kevin Leaper off when he got the chance to buy this gorgeous Westfield Eleven from a friend who used it as a tool to frighten bikers when the weather was too wet to teach them the gruelling 13 miles of the Nordschleife circuit on two wheels.

Originally built in the Eighties with Alfa Romeo Twin-cam power it came with flared arches, rose jointed suspension and LSD back axle. Later in it’s life it had a power hike courtesy of a Vauxhall XE engine and that required the big power bulge.

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Since buying it last year Kev’s used it in a couple of races at Silverstone but has been making threatening noises about rebuilding it and giving it some cosmetic surgery to remove it’s big nose tag.

He’s bought an all alloy 4-cylinder Coventry Climax engine but not even Kev would be daft enough to put one of those under the bonnet, would he?

Follow the Westfield’s competitive career in PPC magazine every month.

 

Practical Performance Car (PPC) is a monthly magazine aimed at real car enthusiasts interested in affordable performance tuning. At PPC we pride ourselves in providing the most entertaining, informative and inspiring features for petrolheads everywhere. Each month we feature an eclectic mix of affordable performance cars, great driving adventures and world-class technical features for the DiY tuner. Our editorial team is headed up by well known Will Holman who has a deserved reputation for 'stick a V8 under the bonnet' attitude to life. His editorial team is stacked with experience including Dave Walker (speciality engine management), of the sadly missed Cars and Car Conversions (CCC) magazine, David Vizard, the legendary engine tuning guru, and Kevin Leaper - ex technical editor of Practical Classics.

Have a look at the online Staff Cars section to give you a flavour of PPC but for the real thing go to your local newsagent, WHSmiths, Asda, Tesco or Sainsburys - PPC is on sale the last Thursday of every month. Better still visit our subscriptions page for the latest offers and discounts to have PPC delivered direct to your door at a fraction of the cost.

Examples of magazine features: brakes uprating, suspension improvements, engine transplants, buyers guides, ECU management, kit car builds, car event coverage (including PPC's own show, PPC in the Park) and much more. Examples of some of the staff's cars: 27 litre Rover SD1, 5 litre Capri, track day Rolls Royce, MK1 Transit and more.