Ginetta: The Great Survivor
Most small British sports car companies have the lifespan of a housefly. They appear in a glorious buzz of noise and optimism, build a handful of exciting, plastic cars that tend to fall apart, and then promptly fly into the window of financial reality. Ginetta, however, is different. For more than sixty-five years, this small, family-run firm has been the great survivor, a stubborn, tenacious, and brilliantly effective little car maker that simply refuses to die. While giants of the industry were collapsing, Ginetta just kept its head down and kept building proper, no-nonsense sports cars.
The company was founded in 1958 by four brothers, the Walkletts. This was a proper family affair, run from a shed in Suffolk, not a boardroom in London. Their approach was born from the glorious post-war "special" building scene: take the humble engine and gearbox from a normal family car, wrap them in a body that weighs less than the driver, and create a machine that can terrify cars costing ten times as much. They weren't interested in selling luxury; they were interested in selling pure, undiluted speed.
The G4: A Masterpiece in Miniature
After a few years of building effective but basic little cars, Ginetta produced its masterpiece in 1961. The G4 was a work of art. It was a tiny, impossibly low-slung coupe, a perfect composition of swooping curves that was prettier than almost anything else on the road. It was also a featherweight, tipping the scales at less than half a tonne. Power came from the same little 1-litre Ford Anglia engine that your granny used to go to the shops. And yet, because it was so light, the G4 was a missile.
On the racetrack, the G4 was a giant-killer. A well-driven one could, and frequently did, make a mockery of mighty E-Type Jaguars and Aston Martins on a twisty circuit. It was the ultimate expression of the lightweight philosophy, a car that won races with nimble genius rather than brute force. The G4 put Ginetta on the map as a builder of serious, competition-proven cars.
Mid-Engines and Other Oddities
The Walklett brothers were clearly not ones for a quiet life. Having perfected the front-engined formula, they produced a ferocious mid-engined racing car, the G12. But their most charmingly weird creation was the G15 of 1968. This was a tiny, fibreglass coupe with a strange, chopped-off tail, and in a complete departure, its engine was in the back. But it wasn't some exotic V12. It was the tiny, air-cooled engine from a Hillman Imp. It was a bizarre choice that created a wonderfully quirky, budget Porsche 911. The G15 became the company's best-selling road car, proof that they could make something truly desirable from the most ordinary of parts.
A New Owner with a Proper Plan
Like all specialist British car makers, Ginetta struggled through the 70s and 80s. The Walklett brothers sold the company, and for a while, it seemed destined to fade into obscurity. Then, in 2005, it was rescued by Lawrence Tomlinson, a successful Yorkshire businessman and Le Mans-winning racing driver. Tomlinson didn't just buy a brand; he bought a philosophy he understood. He didn't just want to save Ginetta; he wanted to make it a global force.
The transformation under his ownership has been spectacular. He moved the company to a modern factory near Leeds and set about creating a complete motorsport empire. Today's Ginetta is a serious operation. They design and build everything themselves, from junior-level racing cars for 14-year-olds to full-blown Le Mans prototypes that have competed at the highest level of motorsport.
The Ladder of Ambition
Ginetta has created a unique "motorsport ladder." A talented young driver can start their career in a Ginetta Junior car, progress through the company's GT championships, and potentially end up racing a Ginetta at Le Mans. It's a brilliantly clever system that makes the company a one-stop-shop for an entire racing career. The road cars, like the G40 and the monstrous V8-powered Akula supercar, are now essentially by-products of this racing powerhouse.
The story of Ginetta is one of sheer, bloody-minded survival. It's a company that has outlasted almost all of its rivals by remaining true to the original vision of the Walklett brothers: build lightweight, fast, and honest cars for people who love driving. The little shed-based company from Suffolk has grown up into a world-class engineering firm. The tenacious Yorkshire Terrier is now a proper, top-flight racing dog.