You may not have heard of Ginetta Cars but they have been quietly and steadily producing fantastic low volume sports and racing cars since 1958. In 1961 they released the G4, an extremely pretty two seater aimed squarely at the club racer who wanted a cost effective weekday road car and a weekend racer. Incidentally the G4 and the now iconic lightweight E-Type Jag look remarkably alike, I think I'm right in saying the G4 came first.
Ginetta G4 (top) Jaguar E-Type Lightweight (bottom)
Success with the G4 prompted ever more ambitious designs and further success with the rear engined, rear drive Hillman Imp powered G15 and the Chrysler powered G21. Again, both great looking cars. The G21 was launched in the wake of the very successful MGB GT and Ford Capri and sadly only 180 were made.
Throughout the 80's and 90's Ginetta continued to produce cars, but in ever smaller numbers until Yorkshire businessman and racing driver Lawrence Tomlinson bought the company in 2005. Since then Ginetta has gone from strength to strength.
The re-invigoration of the brand seems to have been kick started in part by the Ginetta Junior Championship, a one make race series open to 14 to 17 year olds which uses the reliable Ginetta G20 and was a support series to the British Touring Car Championship. This was then followed by the launch of the G50, a V6 engined GT racer capable of mixing it with Ferrari's and Porsches.
Today, the G20 and G50 have been replaced by the G40 and G55. The very latest offering is the awesome F400 supercar. A line up that, if nothing else proves that Ginetta have lost none of their knack for creating fabulous looking sports cars.
Refreshingly Ginetta have realistic targets and on average produce 300 cars a year. They also claim new models are designed, built and launched all within a period of four-weeks!
G40 road car. Small, light, nimble and affordable.
F400 Supercar (an affordable McLaren MP4-12C?)
Artists impression of the new G55. Thankfully the production model looks just as good!
