The good guys at SupercarDriver.com organised a trip to the Ginetta factory in Garforth a couple of months ago. Since being taken over by Lawrence Tomlinson, the company seems to be growing exponentially. The staff stayed late to guide us around and all proceeds went to charity – commendable in itself. The car park was littered with fine and exotic machinery of all kinds from Lamborghini to VX220s.
We had a good nose around the whole place. This starts with the boardroom, replete with Le Mans trophy for full effect from the LNT run Panoz which claimed GT2 class honours in 2006. From the boardroom it is down to the design office where the 3D CAD modelling was shown off. A full spaceframe is designed this way.
The next step is to look at the chassis assembly. Steels tubes are sourced within the UK, but not in-house. They are assembled on jigs at the Garforth premises before moving along for mechanical and electrical installations. There are bays featuring seemingly every model in the current line-up from the Zytek LMP1 car to the electric G40 and a G55, though we didn’t know it at the time.
In one corner is Lawrence’s helicopter – a nice touch. Next to it is the fine line-up of former racers from both Ginetta and LNT. Great to see those mighty TVR T440s again. Also available for viewing was the new F400. Originally a Farbio, Ginetta bought out Chrs Marsh’s company and will allow F400 production to continue in Bristol. Two cars are on-site, including Lawrence’s own road car. They look and sound as fantastic as the price tag might suggest.
Great to see a British success story, particularly one from Yorkshire. Long may it continue!
www.ginettacars.com
