RE: Shed Of The Week: Ginetta G31
Discussion
forzaminardi said:
Great shed if your main criteria are rarity and uniqueness. I have to confess I've never seen or heard of this car, despite being quite a fan of 'todays' Ginetta. Laurence Tomlinson should buy it and spruce it up to put in the office reception.
Same.Although I know nothing about this car, it is screaming at me that a potential buyer would be far better off paying 4x the price to get one that is in better shape.
CDP said:
Combine it with a roll cage, decent suspension and a crashed S2000 and you might be on to a serious track toy.
That saved me saying it......this would be a riot if it was sorted for track......but you'd be buggered for panel parts if you bent it (sorry!....cracked it)....having said that Ive glued together my fair share of scimissuffolk009 said:
An unusually mean write-up for a nice car.
This may be the first article ever not to mention that the doors are standard Ford Fiesta - which was, and still is, a stroke of genius in the Small Volume Manufacturers world. I remember a comment by a Lotus engineer in a documentary about the Elise (they had originally wanted to have no doors), he said something like, "It's easier to design an engine from scratch that design doors".
Also, is there a single car designer with a more prolific number of designs out there than Ivor Walklett?
Top shedding. I would.
re bold.This may be the first article ever not to mention that the doors are standard Ford Fiesta - which was, and still is, a stroke of genius in the Small Volume Manufacturers world. I remember a comment by a Lotus engineer in a documentary about the Elise (they had originally wanted to have no doors), he said something like, "It's easier to design an engine from scratch that design doors".
Also, is there a single car designer with a more prolific number of designs out there than Ivor Walklett?
Top shedding. I would.
NO.
And he's still doing it!
A bit away from the shed, but still Ginetta.
Talking of Lotus and engineers, I remember when Mark Walklett first went out to race their new Dare Ginetta G4 at Brands in 1998 and some guys from Bell & Colvill (the Elises was dominant then on the track) were looking round the car.
'How the f do they get it so low?' ...they could also have asked 'How the f do they make it so lightweight?'
The G4 had a 1.8 Zetec at that point. Disappointingly it started 16th on the grid.
Within a few laps Mark was passing everything and up to 2nd place. Then disaster, a driveshaft broke. Relief on the Loti owners and the others in the race.
The race commentator said something like, 'Well that's one that one that won't go in the history books'.
He was so bloody wrong... I saw to that!!
After that Dare put a 2 litre Zetec in and nobody stood a chance. Mark's G4 walked most races, some won by over 20 seconds.
Very underrated company and designer.
rallycross said:
WingNut said:
rallycross said:
I saw something similar driving in Aldershot yesterday, white V reg kit car, 2 doors, looked like a rear engined 2 seat version of this thing (did Ginetta do a 2 seater around 1980?) or maybe it was a Clan Clover I saw.
Yes, it was a G32. Like this onehttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/351134048056?clk_rv...
The Ginetta Club registrar had done nearly 200,000 miles in his at the last count.
Nice car, put up against the MR2 at the time. Note again, Fiesta doors! (modified window frame)
For those not up on their Ginetta history, away from the G31 shed (incidentally, there were several variations on a theme - the G26, the G28, the G30 and G31, so you could have the choice of 4 seater or 2 seater coupe with different body styles).
Here's the Walklett's G4 with Mark at the wheel on the front row of the grid at Mallory. He left the Porsche off the line, the Esprit had a massive 'off' and Mark won the race. There was a second race later for the same cars. Mark won outright again!
Here's the Walklett's G4 with Mark at the wheel on the front row of the grid at Mallory. He left the Porsche off the line, the Esprit had a massive 'off' and Mark won the race. There was a second race later for the same cars. Mark won outright again!
I could go on all day about Ginetta. I usually do!
Here's something else a lot of car enthusiasts don't realise. When you go to Goodwood and you see that Spitfire flying overhead superbly piloted by Carolyn Grace which she has been flying for over 20 years now, it was built by her late husband Nick, from tea chests of parts he bought at auction.
He was simply a genius, tragically killed in a road accident.
He was not bad behind the wheel of a Ginetta G4 too!
Here's something else a lot of car enthusiasts don't realise. When you go to Goodwood and you see that Spitfire flying overhead superbly piloted by Carolyn Grace which she has been flying for over 20 years now, it was built by her late husband Nick, from tea chests of parts he bought at auction.
He was simply a genius, tragically killed in a road accident.
He was not bad behind the wheel of a Ginetta G4 too!
dandarez said:
It is (was), and was sold only fully built and had full type approval.
The Ginetta Club registrar had done nearly 200,000 miles in his at the last count.
Nice car, put up against the MR2 at the time. Note again, Fiesta doors! (modified window frame)
I had a G32 for a while. Some years in fact. I loved it. The engine was 1.9 and there was a modified exhaust, everything else, including an impossible to find 3rd gear, was standard. The Ginetta Club registrar had done nearly 200,000 miles in his at the last count.
Nice car, put up against the MR2 at the time. Note again, Fiesta doors! (modified window frame)
I had a 4-litre Chim at the time and the G32 was the faster car point to point on twisty roads.
No overheating! Mind you, one problem was that if, on a hot day, you were sitting in traffic and the wind was behind you, it would blow the hot air out of the vents and if you had the windows open, you got par-boiled.
Coming back from Le Mans one year I misjudged a corner. There were crash barriers on the outside of the corner and I knew we were going to visit them. But the thing just gripped and gripped and gripped despite the corner tightening and then a bit of adverse camber. My lad was with me and I had to apologise to him.
Tyre wear, with the toe-in suggested by the factory, was dreadful at the rear. Take it off a bit and the back felt a bit twitchy near the limit so that's what I did.
The Walklett Brothers produced some fabulous cars. The G4, 15, 21, and 32 were all cracking. Some of the other, low volume, cars, especially the 12, were just as good. I saw a G27 at Spadge's with a highly tuned RV8 in it and as the throttle was blipped, the car rocked.
There was a convertible G32 as well. Always wanted one but never had the money when one was offered.
One of the great designers of cars. Too unsung.
Edited by Derek Smith on Friday 1st August 23:14
Hoppelemine said:
mikEsprit said:
Although I know nothing about this car, it is screaming at me that a potential buyer would be far better off paying 4x the price to get one that is in better shape.
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