RE: Driven: Ginetta G40R

[Teixe]

Is there more information regarding the power upgrade?
Have anyone got a full quote (car + options) yet?

I am sure they will sell, good new for the british industry. I wish them luck, hopefully I'll own one in two years.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/57

[Roo]

Good luck to them. It's a great looking little car close up.

[escargot]

:drool:

[trickymex]

Podie said:

Raceline do a 275bhp Duratec-R... daren't think of the price, but

Damn now I'm personalising one in my head, a 2.5l 275bhp duratec with very big and loud throttle bodies

That should impress the boy racers on Southend sea front of a Saturday night

[dandarez]

Fire99 said:

You could almost believe Colin Chapman has come back as the owner of Ginetta..

This has all the hallmarks of his philosophy on cars. Ginetta could be more Lotus than...Lotus.

This made me smile. Ginetta always had the same philosophy - and many times bettered it!

Chapman was made acutely aware of Ginetta in 1961 at the Racing Car Show, when his market-leading Lotus Seven was on display.

Ginetta used this show to launch their new Ginetta G4 at £695, the same price as the Seven.

The very wise Chapman had seen the significance of this new upstart and halfway through the show 'reduced' the price of the Seven by £100.
This hurt Ginetta, but they immediately saw the importance of price from that moment onwards... that is why the marque has survived so long (and why there are two classic Ginettas - the G4 and G12 - (rights owned elsewhere) still built to this day by Dare (UK) Ltd. The G4 celebrating its 50th anniversary, as a new wide world opens up for the new owner of Ginetta with his first road car in the spirit of the old classic Ginettas.

[Mannginger]

In white, with air-con please.

This is a genuine want car for me and something to aspire to. Hopefully by the time I can afford one they'll have got a supercharger into one with reliability and then it's a smoker and one of these!

[Terry Barr]

Fire99 said:

You could almost believe Colin Chapman has come back as the owner of Ginetta..

This has all the hallmarks of his philosophy on cars. Ginetta could be more Lotus than...Lotus.

True words. If I didn't have the Exige S1 I would lust for one.

[annodomini2]

Trap said:

Would love to see a comparison between this and the Zolfe GTC4: http://www.zolfe.com/

They look to be chasing a very similar target audience, using the same engines and with similar options.

I personally think the nose is too long and those side vents look hideous.

[trickymex]

You would have to be on crack to choose that zolfe thing over the ginetta. The ginetta is alot better looking

[trickymex]

You would have to be on crack to choose that zolfe thing over the ginetta. The ginetta is alot better looking

[ragezx14r]

Say that again

[AliV6]

Not enough power for me. Minimum 250 required.

[Hugh Dent]

Although English but living in France, I am the French agent for Ginetta. I have the G40 track version over here and it has caused quite a stir. Like all you other posters the French cannot wait for the road version but unlike you we have to wait to get it past French legislation before it is available. On the track I can confirm that it is quite a car and having been a Caterham owner can say that in my opinion it handles better. With regard to the road version unlike 7's there is a good boot which in my opinion makes it a good tourer as well. My other thought is "This is a track car that can be used on the road and not a road car that can be used on the track". Subtle difference I know but it is there. If anyone is passing Bordeaux then please check us out as we operate trackdays in the area.

[The Bandit]

Fantastic. Can they do a targa top version please

[RPastry]

had a look at the white one (if its the same) at knockhill this year. pretty good finish for a grp car on the outside, looked nice; low, purposeful and compact. cozy cabin was a bit tatty, put it down to being a prototype with heavy promo use. Isnt the easiest to get in or out of due to that cage and the high sills, but i fit in just about, seats were a bit hard and narrow at the base for me though (6'2" 14 stone).

wish them well, hope its a success

[mwoo]

There was a gang of the race version of this at Snett in mid-July - the restricted Junior-spec 110bhp (IIRC?) car.

They are very, very quick in the corners - the first time I've left someone behind on the straights and had them catch me in the corners (I've got a Caterham ex-race car in 140bhp spec with widetrack front end).

they're 750 or kg, and seriously stiff - with a spaceframe made out of scaffold poles and iirc 205 section michelin pilot sport cups, they are well rapid in the corners.

I'd rather spend 2K less for the race car - 190bhp zetec (de-restricted) and Sadev sequential box & slippy diff. You can keep your MX5 drivetrain and alcantara interior, I'll have the racer thanks very much.

[loveice]

mwoo said:

There was a gang of the race version of this at Snett in mid-July - the restricted Junior-spec 110bhp (IIRC?) car.

They are very, very quick in the corners - the first time I've left someone behind on the straights and had them catch me in the corners (I've got a Caterham ex-race car in 140bhp spec with widetrack front end).

they're 750 or kg, and seriously stiff - with a spaceframe made out of scaffold poles and iirc 205 section michelin pilot sport cups, they are well rapid in the corners.

I'd rather spend 2K less for the race car - 190bhp zetec (de-restricted) and Sadev sequential box & slippy diff. You can keep your MX5 drivetrain and alcantara interior, I'll have the racer thanks very much.

But, how much would it cost to convert the race G40 to road legal? If 2k can de-restrict the race engine to 190bhp and convert it to road legal, then I'm with you.

[Munter]

I love it. But like many other posters I don't have the cash. So it'll be a small market I think to buy them new.

Fingers crossed there are enough who want it and can afford it. And in 5 years I can pick one up a bit cheaper!

[Miura Anjin]

"the safety cell should, the company suggests, impart a level of protection to occupants in 'worst case scenarios' above and beyond that which might be expected from certain rival products offering a racing car-type experience on the road. Especially those products first conceived in the late 1950s in Norfolk, one might infer, but that's just a premise for a jolly good argument."

That certainly is a premise for a jolly good argument - Caterhams with FIA rollcages cost 2/3 the price of a G40R. Just ask Riggers. But you couldn't possibly be alluding to the Seven in the article, could you?
The Seven, and all 1950s Lotuses for that matter, were conceived in North London. The company didn't move to Hethel until the late 1960s.
/pedant

[Chris-R]

Miura Anjin said:

"the safety cell should, the company suggests, impart a level of protection to occupants in 'worst case scenarios' above and beyond that which might be expected from certain rival products offering a racing car-type experience on the road. Especially those products first conceived in the late 1950s in Norfolk, one might infer, but that's just a premise for a jolly good argument."

That certainly is a premise for a jolly good argument - Caterhams with FIA rollcages cost 2/3 the price of a G40R. Just ask Riggers. But you couldn't possibly be alluding to the Seven in the article, could you?
The Seven, and all 1950s Lotuses for that matter, were conceived in North London. The company didn't move to Hethel until the late 1960s.
/pedant

Lotus history fail... Curses!