Westfield Elevens

I was looking around at some Lotus 23 replica material on the Boardroom and surfed my way over to an eBay auctionfor a Noble 23.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NOBLE-23-lotu ... 7675.l2557

Haven't a clue what it went for, but the seller's Flickr stream was interesting. Showed some original photos of the Noble racing. This one has an Eleven or XI in the background.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22123269@N ... /lightbox/

Anyone recognise the powder blue (Iris Blue?) Number 23 (28?) in the background? Must be around the late Eighties, I think.

Brave rebuild in a single garage!

This is lovely.... for a donor!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-GcqoHBSgQ

You want a Xanthos. Actually reasonable when considering real 23s are trading at over $150K USD.

This: I really could do with a street-legal Lotus racer like this famous Mumford-photographed one!!!

http://www.raymumford.co.uk/a03-mobilea ... er-001.htm

I'd never heard of the Willhire 24Hrs...

Adam - isn't Ken's Mamba a Noble designed car?

He's talking of selling it now that he's got his new Eleven to build. Nice car if a 23 replica is you thing...

Apparently so Charles http://www.mambamotorsport.co.uk/c23/index.html
I wasn't actually sure, I thought they were seperate companies.

I wouldnt touch his 23 with a barge pole knowing the issues he's had with it (broken welds for a start!!). Do you know what running gear he is going to be using in his 11? Guess he'll have to dig out his book of excuses again for when people beat him...

I think the broken "welds" was due to it being a fillet brazed spaceframe as opposed to welded that had taken a couple of knocks. Brazing is great if the person doing it has a lot of skill and experience. not many have these days...
He's talking MX5 engine and box. Hopes to have it out next season. We'll see!

MX5 engine? Is that going to be dry-sumped, or will he have to get the jig-saw and glass-fibre kit out?

My friend has a SDV Westy based on the Mazda. It's a nice engine, with a reasonable 115BHP out of the box. Supercharging kits etc are readily available.

Think it will be the "hole in bonnet" option.
Comes complete with nice gearbox and readily available LSD diff. Believe Ken is planning an independent rear too...

Ah, 23s are already independent (mid engine) so the MX5 box would not work. What transmission is he going to adapt? VW type 1? Hewland? Fiat? AlfaSud? Audi?

There may be no need to cut any holes, but dry sump would be advisable for ground clearance (a T pan may work). 23s fit Twin Cam Lotus, Cosworth BD series engines, Alfas, and there is even room for a Z tec or Duratec. One run here in the US ran a Porsche Carrera 2 liter to a national championship in the 60s.