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A pretty oddity named Ginetta

The Ginetta brand is quite little known, and it is therefore surprising that it is, together with Lotus, the only one of the daughter brands of the fiberglass boom of the sixties that has survived the first decade of the XNUMXst century. Neither TVR nor Marcos made it, but the tiny Ginetta did, which we can consider without exaggerating too much as an English Abarth, tremendously respected.

Considering how small and elegant the company's creations have traditionally been, it is also strange that the company was founded by the four Walkett brothers in the rural county of Essex, with the aim of manufacturing agricultural machinery. The youngest of the brood, Ivor, decided at that time to have a special starting with a pre-war Wolsley Hornet and it was there, with the G1, that it all started.

Unfortunately there are no photos of this first sports car, which was literally smashed against a tree in the family garden.

It didn't take long for Ivor Walkett to light another. In 1957 the G2 was ready, which took as reference the Lotus VI and VII and which, animated by a Ford engine, was the first work of the brothers on a tubular chassis. The car impressed enough fans to receive a hundred orders, making them, all at once, a brand of car.

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The G2 is the red machine that you see in the background, with a certain resemblance to the Lotus 7

The division of the tasks in the new Ginetta was carried out in the following way: the business and commercial scope were in the hands of Bob Walkett, while the production was a matter of Douglas and the development of Trevers. Finally, the aforementioned Ivor would take care of the design work.

By dressing the G2 in fiberglass, the G3 was born - produced between 1959 and 1961 - but the real surprise would not come until 1961, when the G4 dazzled the attendees of the London Racing Car Show. The truth is that, looking at it, it is not very difficult to understand why.

The car laid the foundations that would henceforth firmly characterize the Essex brand: smallness, lightness, speed and beauty, without any kind of concessions to comfort. Their machines would be instruments to experience pure driving on a daily basis and to run on weekends on the nearest circuit.

The price of the G4 was set at 697 pounds, more or less the same as that of its only rival, the Lotus 7. It grew around a frame of round tubes, its engine being a 997cc Ford -the one that rode the Anglia-, coupled to a gearbox from the same provenance and to a BMC rear axle. Weighing less than 450 kilos, the car was flying, and was soon successful at UK sporting events.

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Ginetta G4: smallness, lightness, speed and beauty, without any kind of concessions to comfort

Improvements were immediate, and the 1.5-liter engine in the Ford Cortina was soon established as an option. The second series also involved a change in appearance, which sought to further define the lines of the front and rear parts of the body. Very suggestive, the aesthetics of the G4 have been preserved through subsequent Ginetta models to the present day.

With these finery the G4 S2 was tremendously fast; More than the Lotus Elan, which he used to beat at races.

Three special R versions were made in 1964, equipping nothing more and nothing less than the mechanics twin cam from Lotus spiced up with a new independent rear suspension. However, the brothers only homologated the original engine in the FIA, which is why only pre-4 G65s - the year in which the chassis tubes became square - with a 1.000cc engine are eligible for FIA racing competitions. old vehicles.

I wish they had cared a little more about this aspect. In the video that we offer you below, you can see what it is capable of
destroy in the circuits:

[su_youtube_advanced https=»yes» url='https://youtube.com/watch?v=VaTzxCHgRO4′ ]

ginetta_03_g4
The G4s continue to be successful in the historic races in which they can participate
Videocredit: yahmann44, from Youtube

Another interesting as well as curious variant of the car in question was the G6. Developed by German trainer Mantzel, it was powered by an 850cc two-stroke DKW engine, and weighed even less than the original car. It was also successful, but few units were made and all of them were sold on the German market.

By 1967 the Walkett brothers wanted to undertake new projects, so they quietly stopped producing their challenging G4. In six years, about 550 copies had left the assembly line, although, it seems, the exact number is not known by themselves. In 1981 they would remember the model again, to try to reintroduce a somewhat larger version known as Series 4 that, logically, was no longer the same.

Finally, a decade later they would sell the company, while retaining the production rights of their goose that lays the golden eggs and other later models. To this day, the Walketts continue to manufacture the Dare G4 - "Dare", challenge, is their new banner - animated by a Ford Zetec mechanic and with the purpose of marketing it mainly in the United Kingdom and Japan.

Ginetta G10: with her English dress and her heart V8 was the hybrid of the house
Ginetta G10: with her English dress and her Yankee V8 heart she was the hybrid of the house

 

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Written by martin horrocks

My name is Martin Horrocks. Since I came to live in Madrid in 2006, enjoying my passion with the rest of the fans is what has best helped me to integrate into Spanish society. Day by day I drive a Fiat Panda 100hp, an exciting and fun car, although I also have a ... Read more

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