AUTOCAR Ginetta Shock Britain's 911 BEATS LOTUS Evora!!!

[dandarez]

Just got in and sat down to read this week's Autocar.

LOVE IT!!!

At last. Britain's 911 (Ginetta G60) beats Audi and Lotus.

OFFICIAL! It's this year's most exciting new sports car.

Lotus is gonna hate this. (and Dave, don't read it - it makes dreadful reading for Porsche Cayman owners!).

Looks so much better in one colour than that awful two tone red/black.
My only criticism is Ginetta should have made it out of GRP rather than CF and sold it at a price no one could ignore.
Nonetheless, brilliant news for Ginetta fans.

For some reason the 8 page article is not mentioned at all on Autocar Online so I can't do a link to it.
Here's the front cover anyway, I've just scanned.

Edited by dandarez on Wednesday 26th October 21:24

[sketch pad]

But its a five year old Farbio with a new badge on it , Its not a Ginetta at all ''.

[Volker]

grrr, can't get it at local papers

[dandarez]

sketch pad said:

But its a five year old Farbio with a new badge on it , Its not a Ginetta at all ''.

You really think that is all they have done, stuck a G badge on it?

Obviously you have no idea what they have done to the car since taking it over.
Do you think the original Farbio would have achieved this?
I'll give you just one difference over the Farbio, the G60 is 400kg lighter!
Beneath the body the car is virtually brand new, the power unit has been extensively revised... oh, find out the rest yourself!

[geeeman]

full of praise for the G60 which is great.. Im surprised they prefer it to even the R8

BHP per tonne is 287 for G60 vs 276 for the R8.. It makes me wonder how that would compare with a Mid-engined Dare with approx 250HP and 600Kg

[lmasarati]

geeeman said:

It makes me wonder how that would compare with a Mid-engined Dare with approx 250HP and 600Kg

maybe something like this...

[Broomsticklady]

dandarez said:

Dave, don't read it - it makes dreadful reading for Porsche Cayman owners!).

I think the G60 is a fantastic looking car, and I have nothing but praise for the crew in Sheffield for what they have achieved. However, I paid £30,000 less for a brand new Cayman S two years ago. to be honest, I would rather have the Porsche and keep the £30K in the bank....

Creditable that the G60 is, I would be very impressed if the kind of development budget Ginetta has at its disposal has allowed it to develop a car that is genuinely better than the best Porsche or Audi can produce.

John - I love the Ginetta marque, but I am a realist. I think it is time you took your rose-tinted specs back to Specsavers....

[dandarez]

Broomsticklady said:

dandarez said:

Dave, don't read it - it makes dreadful reading for Porsche Cayman owners!).

I think the G60 is a fantastic looking car, and I have nothing but praise for the crew in Sheffield for what they have achieved. However, I paid £30,000 less for a brand new Cayman S two years ago. to be honest, I would rather have the Porsche and keep the £30K in the bank....

Creditable that the G60 is, I would be very impressed if the kind of development budget Ginetta has at its disposal has allowed it to develop a car that is genuinely better than the best Porsche or Audi can produce.

John - I love the Ginetta marque, but I am a realist. I think it is time you took your rose-tinted specs back to Specsavers....

Ironically, Dave I do go to Specsavers... I 'know' you're a realist. I too, am a realist and would rather not empty a bank balance in favour of 'love' for something. Anyway I just love words and the play of them. I think the Cayman, whichever version, is a super car and like you say, the development budget of Ginetta against that of the might of Porsche does not really add up that the G60 can be or is a better car than the Germans produce.

All we have is the say-so of the hacks at Autocar and you know how I have viewed them over the years!
So, without getting behind the wheel so to speak, it's all hearsay really. One area that has drastically changed from the 'old' Ginetta we revered is the amount of spend on publicity and advertising. I'm sure that helps. Mind you, if the car really is as good as they say there is only one company that will worry!

So is the G60 better?
Bit like the JCW Mini I suppose. You know only too well I had been looking to buy a Dare G4 and until I got behind the wheel of the factory JCW I would never have believed it could be so good. Tests were not indicative of just how good. When I decided on a Mini, I simply wanted the top of the range. I didn't expect what I got. Intention was to keep for 6 months and sell on. Will be 3 years in Jan. Just touched 30,000 miles. It's a grin a minute and to me at my age that matters.
The JCW Coupe has been slagged off as the ugly baseball cap or helmet car by many hacks. On the road driving it is a bloody amazing experience, it handles even better than the hatch (no, I have not got one... yet). I couldn't care less whether people stare and laugh (in deep Met Green without the garish colour stripe clash onlookers only stare - I'm happy with that!) but I just wish some hack would drive it and give the truth.

Then, hey, tonight on Fifth Gear, VickiB-H drove the JCW version of the Coupe in the garish pale silver/bright red helmet. It must be the first time 'ever' I have seen and heard a journalist test a car with virtually zero criticism. She had a bigger grin at the end than when she did that test of the Dare G4.
Might just have done it for me... although you never know - I do have another appointment soon at Specsavers!

PS
I think you meant the crew in Leeds, not Sheffield.

Edited by dandarez on Friday 28th October 21:52

[Broomsticklady]

Leeds? Sheffield? It was close.....

Lawrence has taken the Ginetta marque somewhere that it would not have achieved without his kind of inspiration, enthusiasm and acumen - a credible specialist sports car manufacturer, something it has not been since 1993.

I was disappointed to read one of the other magazines covering the G60 launch refer to Ginetta as 'a bunch of guys in a shed in Yorkshire', so I am guessing it might still be while before the image changes completely.

Good luck to Ginetta - I am sure they will sell enough G60s to keep them busy, and they deserve to succeed. It will be through customers with deeper pockets than mine, though!

[Tonto]

My car came out quite well in the test.

[geeeman]

cant compare front wheel drive car, no matter how good, with RWD...

[Pistom]

Broomsticklady said:

I think the G60 is a fantastic looking car, and I have nothing but praise for the crew in Sheffield for what they have achieved. However, I paid £30,000 less for a brand new Cayman S two years ago. to be honest, I would rather have the Porsche and keep the £30K in the bank....

A realist for sure but a comment like that surely can't be from a true motoring enthusiast. The G60 is much more than £30K more desirable than a mass market sports coupe as lovely as the Cayman is.

[dandarez]

Broomsticklady said:

Leeds? Sheffield? It was close.....

Lawrence has taken the Ginetta marque somewhere that it would not have achieved without his kind of inspiration, enthusiasm and acumen - a credible specialist sports car manufacturer, something it has not been since 1993.

I was disappointed to read one of the other magazines covering the G60 launch refer to Ginetta as 'a bunch of guys in a shed in Yorkshire', so I am guessing it might still be while before the image changes completely.

Good luck to Ginetta - I am sure they will sell enough G60s to keep them busy, and they deserve to succeed. It will be through customers with deeper pockets than mine, though!

Same here Dave! Actually, taking off my rose-tinted specs again there is still some cheap jibes towards the marque, especially its past - and even in this Autocar issue, so it's little wonder the uninitiated come up with 'sheds' and similar.

In fact, the front cover is a case in point - look how small the typeface is for Ginetta Shock - initially I missed it for a second, as I was going for the Mini Coupe JCW road test, even though the orange G60 itself was prominent.

The editorial says 'just as Ginetta is set to trip off the tongues of car enthusiasts everywhere in the future...'
Don't they know the history of this company? Anyway, who knows if it will sell? They don't anymore than you or me. This is the same magazine that derided the the past history of the marque when Phaff took over with those awful damning words:
'Ginetta was nothing more than a kit-car maker'. Now, they said, it had a new future... yeah, one that lasted about a year before it went bust!

Even the G60 feature starts with appalling words: 'Ginetta is an oddball British sports car company that has struggled over the years merely to stay afloat...' What rubbish. After 1990 it did but not before. Bloody history re-writers.
Nonetheless, my rose-tinted specs are back on because Autocar's beloved Lotus has been given a back seat and I can take anything just to see that!

[dandarez]

Tonto said:

My car came out quite well in the test.

Nice response!

[dandarez]

Pistom said:

Broomsticklady said:

I think the G60 is a fantastic looking car, and I have nothing but praise for the crew in Sheffield for what they have achieved. However, I paid £30,000 less for a brand new Cayman S two years ago. to be honest, I would rather have the Porsche and keep the £30K in the bank....

A realist for sure but a comment like that surely can't be from a true motoring enthusiast. The G60 is much more than £30K more desirable than a mass market sports coupe as lovely as the Cayman is.

Is the Cayman 'S' really 'mass' market? How many have they sold?

[Broomsticklady]

Pistom said:

A realist for sure but a comment like that surely can't be from a true motoring enthusiast. The G60 is much more than £30K more desirable than a mass market sports coupe as lovely as the Cayman is.

You clearly don't know me. In addition to the Cayman, I am lucky to own three Ginettae (four if you count the body/chassis sitting in the shed), and have owned 11 G-cars over the years - I don't think you will find anyone more enthusiastic about the marque who is not called 'Walklett', and Broomsticklady refuses to race anything without a 'G' on the bonnet.

Regarding the Cayman, you are entitled to your opinion and I defend your right to hold it - just don't ask me to agree with you. Out of interest, have you ever driven one? Autocar (who are flying the G60 flag right now) describe the Cayman S as simply 'Everything Porsche knows', which sums it up pretty well - it is certainly not a 'mass market sports coupe'...

[carfanatic2011]

Volker said:

grrr, can't get it at local papers

You can get the digital version here: http://gb.zinio.com/browse/publications/index.jsp?...

[jazzyjeff]

Broomsticklady said:

Pistom said:

A realist for sure but a comment like that surely can't be from a true motoring enthusiast. The G60 is much more than £30K more desirable than a mass market sports coupe as lovely as the Cayman is.

You clearly don't know me. In addition to the Cayman, I am lucky to own three Ginettae (four if you count the body/chassis sitting in the shed), and have owned 11 G-cars over the years - I don't think you will find anyone more enthusiastic about the marque who is not called 'Walklett', and Broomsticklady refuses to race anything without a 'G' on the bonnet.

Regarding the Cayman, you are entitled to your opinion and I defend your right to hold it - just don't ask me to agree with you. Out of interest, have you ever driven one? Autocar (who are flying the G60 flag right now) describe the Cayman S as simply 'Everything Porsche knows', which sums it up pretty well - it is certainly not a 'mass market sports coupe'...

Admittedly, the Autocar test merely ran their base (2.9) Cayman alongside as a casual comparison. I'm sure running a Cayman R in the test would have made the result a lot closer (in fact Autocar do at present seem to favour the Cayman S and R over the Evora).

Great result though, and gives a clear recommendation to enthusiasts that want to either drive their cars seat of the pants (Ginetta) or Playstation stylee (Nissan GTR)

[Spleeble]

I think Ginetta have done a nice job with the G60. Some people are moaning that its too expensive but it has a carbon body and is hand built in low numbers. Also they are in a good position to release a couple of other models, a cheaper glassfibre version and a full fat twin turbo. If those are still too expensive then get a G40r.

I would have liked to have seen a G50 road car but I can see that LT wanted a car that he could get on the road quickly.

[robsco]

Excellent work by LNT and the boys. I for one am very excited for the future of Ginetta. The Farbio always was a looker but with LNT's expertise and nous, they've clearly turned it into something on a whole different level. For a tiny company like Ginetta to take the fight to Lotus (admittedly not a massive company) and come out on top is superb IMO. Ginetta are our new TVR... Long may it continue.