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Ginetta Cars
Ginetta Cars Limited 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. The first car was built in 1957 and subsequently became known as the Ginetta G1; it was based on a pre-war Wolseley Hornet six. The first car built was the 1958 Ginetta G2, a cycle-fendered "special" using Ford 10 HP mechanicals. The Walklett Brothers briefly also offered a kit car body called the Fairlite, a glass-fibre body shell priced at £49 for fitting to a Ford 8 or 10 HP chassis.
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. It was during this period that the company hit troubled times. After selling Ginetta, brothers Trevor and Ivor Walklett went on to form a new company called Design And Research Engineering (DARE) with the intent of manufacturing new copies of some of Ginetta's old designs, like the G4 and G12 – for which there were considerable demand, particularly in Japan. In 1994, Ginetta's Swedish importer Ingemar Engström formed a company for manufacturing a Volvo-engined version of the G34 there, called Gin1Car AB (pronounced "ginett car" in Swedish). Production did start in 1997, but ended the following year.
In late 2005, Ginetta was acquired by LNT Automotive, a company run by racing car driver, engineer and businessman Lawrence Tomlinson.
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.
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Ginetta Cars
Ginetta Cars Limited 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. The first car was built in 1957 and subsequently became known as the Ginetta G1; it was based on a pre-war Wolseley Hornet six. The first car built was the 1958 Ginetta G2, a cycle-fendered "special" using Ford 10 HP mechanicals. The Walklett Brothers briefly also offered a kit car body called the Fairlite, a glass-fibre body shell priced at £49 for fitting to a Ford 8 or 10 HP chassis.
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. It was during this period that the company hit troubled times. After selling Ginetta, brothers Trevor and Ivor Walklett went on to form a new company called Design And Research Engineering (DARE) with the intent of manufacturing new copies of some of Ginetta's old designs, like the G4 and G12 – for which there were considerable demand, particularly in Japan. In 1994, Ginetta's Swedish importer Ingemar Engström formed a company for manufacturing a Volvo-engined version of the G34 there, called Gin1Car AB (pronounced "ginett car" in Swedish). Production did start in 1997, but ended the following year.
In late 2005, Ginetta was acquired by LNT Automotive, a company run by racing car driver, engineer and businessman Lawrence Tomlinson.
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.