The Goodwood Revival – 7
Ginetta – Past, Present And Future One of the delights of the Goodwood Revival was bumping into so many people who were more familiar from contemporary racing, none more so perhaps than Team LNT boss Richard Dean, sporting appropriately vintage style racing overalls and a rather splendid titfer. “I’m racing Lawrence’s 1963 Ginetta G4 in the Fordwater Trophy, he’s too big to fit in it now!” And race the beautifully prepared Ginetta did, Richard taking the car to an excellent 6th place from a grid dominated by big banger Ferrari 275 GTB/Cs, TVR Griffiths and Porsche 904s and 911s, a fine result for the little Ginetta. The team’s backroom boys were clearly enjoying themselves too, Kevin Whittaker and Jody Hemmings looking every inch the 1960s gentlemen ‘spanners’ and LNT PR man Jay Ashton looking very much like the 1940s black marketeer that we know lies under a wafer-thin veneer of respectability in every media type! LNT’s initially Team Principal Lawrence Tomlinson was on parade too: he’s the current guardian of the Ginetta brand, with the new G50 due for launch next year in the marque’s 50th year. Tomlinson was sporting a dashing look which was part biker, part flying legend and (with deference to the requirement for neckwear in the inner paddock) part new romantic! “What a great meeting, the cars, the drivers, the attention to detail, everything really. There’s a lesson or two here for others, isn’t there!” Yes there most certainly is.  Quite appropriately, there was a little bit more history around the car as Lawrence Tomlinson explained: “I found out after I’d bought the car that it had been tested by Graham Hill on the day I was born!”
Spooky stuff, and obviously a purchase that was just meant to be. The LNT boys are clearly delighted with their Ginetta projects, another famous British marque ‘saved for the nation’ and looking to the future. Alongside Lawrence was a highly significant figure in Ginetta’s past and present: Mark Walkett, one of the current owners of Dare UK, and the son of one of the four Walkett Brothers who originally founded Ginetta back in 1958. The Walkett family’s Dare concern though still has a big part to play in the Ginetta story today: the company still holds the rights to build the little G4 and its mid engined G12 cousin under the Ginetta name and both sell in reasonable numbers to this day, not bad for an almost half century old design (the G4 was first shown in public in 1961, but was designed back in 1959 just a year after Ginetta was established). Uniquely then there are two entirely separate companies that both build cars with the Ginetta name. “We sell around 25 G4s and G12s every year now, not a bad business. I’m pleased that someone as enthusiastic as Lawrence is now in charge of Ginetta and I hope LNT has great success with the company.” Mark, and Ginetta founder Ivor Walkett, have both already visited the new LNT Automotive facility that is now building new Ginetta race cars and will, from 2008, be turning out the new G50. “It’s impressive and they are clearly serious about the future.” From the details we’ve heard, both officially and unofficially, it’s very clear that there are exciting things afoot up in Yorkshire. Dailysportscar will be visiting the factory over the close season.
GG | 
