Ginetta Cars Features, Photos and Videos

Ginetta Cars is a British specialist builder of racing and sports cars based in Garforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Ginetta was founded in 1958 by four Walklett brothers (Bob, Ivor, Trevers and Douglas) in Woodbridge, Suffolk. Their first product, the Fairlight, was a glass-fibre body shell priced at £49 for fitting to a Ford 8 or 10 hp chassis. The first car, not destined for production, which subsequently became known as the Ginetta G1, was based on a pre-war Wolseley Hornet six.

The four Walklett brothers each had their areas of expertise: Bob was the Managing Director, Douglas was the mechanical engineer and also handled the electrical work, Ivor was the designer and Trevers was the stylist, working closely with Ivor.

From their original base, the company moved to Witham, Essex, in 1962, and between 1972 and 1974 operated from larger premises in Ballingdon Street adjacent to the railway bridge Sudbury, Suffolk, before returning to Witham. In 1988, the Walklett brothers needed bigger premises and so moved the company to Scunthorpe where they could expand. On 7 November 1989, the Walkletts sold Ginetta to an international group of enthusiasts, based in Sheffield and run by managing director Martin Phaff. Ginetta was in a strong financial position at the time of its sale and the Walkletts went on to retire.

Under Phaff, the company went on to produce the Ginetta G20 and the Ginetta G33. Unfortunately, it was during this period that the company hit troubled times.

In late 2005, Ginetta was acquired by LNT Automotive, a company run by race car driver, engineer and businessman Lawrence Tomlinson. His aims were in line with the founders; to produce innovative, capable and great value sports cars.

In mid-2007, Ginetta moved to a factory near Leeds, with a target to sell 200 cars per year. Tomlinson himself penned the base specification for the Ginetta G50, which marked 50 years of Ginetta production and became a successful GT4 car.

In March 2010, Ginetta acquired the Somerset-based sports car manufacturer Farbio, and re-badged their car as the Ginetta F400. In March 2011, Ginetta launched the G55, which competed in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup and was built to comply to the GT3 class regulations. In October 2011, Ginetta launched the G60, a two-door mid-engine sports car developed from the F400 and powered by a Ford-sourced 3.7-litre V6 engine.

Models produced by Ginetta include the following:

Ginetta's first car, the G2, was produced as a kit car for enthusiasts and consisted of a tubular frame chassis to take Ford components and aluminium body. About 100 were produced.

The G3 was introduced with a glass fibre body in 1959 to be followed by the G4 in 1961.

The G4 used the new Ford 105E engine and had a glass fibre GT-style body along with the suspension updated to coil springing at the front with a Ford live axle at the rear. Whereas the G2 and G3 had been designed for racing, the G4 was usable as an everyday car but still was very competitive in motor sport with numerous successes. In 1963, a coupé variant was introduced alongside the open top variant and a BMC axle replaced the Ford unit at the rear. In road tests, the car attains a top speed of 190 km/h (120 mph) with a 1,500 cc engine. The series III version of 1966 added pop-up headlights. Production stopped in 1968 but was revived in 1981 with the Series IV which was two inches wider and three inches (76 mm) longer than the III. Over 500 units were made up to 1969 with a variety of Ford engines.

Launched at the 1965 Racing car show, the Ginetta G10 was meant to be a more powerful racing car than its predecessors. Weighing around 900 kg (1,984 lb) and fitted with a 289 cu in (4.7 L) V8 engine from the Ford Mustang, it was well received by the enthusiasts. Ginetta works driver Chris Meek secured a win with a prototype at the car's debut at Brands Hatch, beating a Jaguar E-Type which was considered to be the most successful GT racing car. However Ginetta failed to make a homologated version of the G10 in order for it to keep competing and as a result, it was forced out of the competition with a total production of only three cars. Following the reception the G10 had generated, Ginetta produced the G11, a street legal version of the G10 with the same body but with the Ford V8 replaced by the MGB 1800 engine. However, slow deliveries of the engine curbed production of the car and therefore only a handful were made.

Unveiled in 1966, the G12 was an evolution of the G4 but had many new features that made it stand apart from its predecessors. The car had a new tubular steel space frame chassis, with the cockpit section mounted to it for extra strength, while removable body work allowed for easy repair. The front suspension consisted of Triumph-derived uprights and double wishbones (with camber adjustment courtesy of rose-joints on the upper items) and coil springs. While, at the rear, the usual arrangement of single upper transverse links with lower reversed wishbones (with rose-joints) and radius arms was present, along with coil springs. The car was fitted with anti-roll bars for increased safety, and the Triumph-sourced Girling disc brakes at the front and rear ensured increased stopping power. Power came from a 1.0-litre Cosworth SCA inline-4 engine, though larger engines were fitted later such as an Aston Martin V8, but were less successful. The G12 dominated the competition in its class, outclassing Lotus Elan 26Rs and Coventry Climaxes, winning the 1,150cc MN series. Outside track racing, the G12 also found success at hill climb events, before it was replaced by the G16. Approximately 28 were built.

In 1967 the G15, utilizing a rear-mounted 875 cc Sunbeam Imp engine, was launched. This two-seat coupé had a glass fibre body bolted to a tube chassis and used Imp rear and Triumph front suspension. Approximately 800 were produced from 1967 to 1974 and the car was fully type approved allowing for complete Ginetta cars to be sold for the first time. Eight G15s were produced with Volkswagen engines and called "Super S".

In 1970, the G15 was joined by the larger G21, which was initially available with either a 4-cylinder 1.75L sourced from the Rootes Group (Sunbeam) or a 3.0-litre Ford Essex V6 engine. The car largely used Rootes components. The 1.7-litre Sunbeam Rapier engine subsequently became the standard four-cylinder engine for the car. 80 cars in total were produced before production ceased in 1974 due to the oil crisis. The car was later morphed into an open top G23 and G24 coupé version but none of those variants went to production.

The G19 was a single seater Formula 3 racing car of which only one was produced.

Following reorganisation, the company moved to Scunthorpe and started making cars in kit form again in the 1980s starting with the G27 and followed by the G26, G28, G30 and G31, with all cars using Ford parts.

It was decided to re-enter the complete car business with the mid-engined G32 with a choice of 1.6- or 1.9-litre four-cylinder engine, available as a coupé or convertible and the G33 speedster which was equipped with a 3.9-litre Rover V8 capable of a top speed of 233 km/h (145 mph) and a 0-97 km/h acceleration time of 5 seconds. In 1990, the G32 coupé cost £13,700, the convertible £14,600, and the G33 £17,800.

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