Ginetta Sports Cars Coming to America
Ginetta, a British race car manufacturer for more than 60 years, has opened Ginetta North America in South Boston, Virginia, to provide support for their motorsports customers across North America.
From their U.S. base, Ginetta will be able to not only market, distribute, and sell their sports cars, but grow their presence and the brand. Part of the expansion into North America included the acquisition of TMI AutoTech, a leader in low-volume sports car manufacturing in the U.S.
Ginetta was founded in 1958 by the Walklett brothers, and purchased in 2005 by Lawrence Tomlinson, an entrepreneur and LeMans champion who cultivated the nameplate and transformed it into a renowned motorsports brand.
“I am delighted to announce this very exciting development for Ginetta. With the creation of Ginetta North America, we will be able to provide our customers with a whole new level of support and service in the US. This will also enable us to significantly expand our brand and customer base in the US, Canada and Mexico, which is a key pillar in our global growth plan. I am pleased to report it is already happening, with orders and new US sales agents developing fast, the details of which we will be announcing in the near future,” said Lawrence Tomlinson, Ginetta chairman.
As a race car driver and engineer, Tomlinson has set the engineering, design and manufacturing credo for all Ginettas, the foundation on which the brand was built. Ginetta has competed alongside other marques in the most famous series and races, including the World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The same design team that creates Ginetta LMP3 and LMP1 cars are involved with their GT cars. A great example is the new G56 GTA, which is pictured here. With a top speed of 140 MPH, the 3.7-liter Ford V6 develops 273 HP and weighs only 2,400 pounds, with its 15-gallon ATL fuel cell filled with 93 octane gas. It utilizes a paddle-shifted, six-speed Quaife helical gearbox, with a Motec LCD race dash, and a VBOX Lite in-car data and video system.
Power steering and air conditioning make the G56 GTA a pleasure to drive, but don’t mistake this purpose-built race car for a street vehicle, and thankfully it’s not a part of the ongoing debate between SEMA and the EPA. Developed from one of the most successful GT4 chassis, with a 24-hour race-winning pedigree, the Ginetta G56 GTA delivers everything a driver needs to win.
[Images: Ginetta]
With a father who owned a dealership, I literally grew up in the business. After college, I worked for GM, Nissan and Mazda, writing articles for automotive enthusiast magazines as a side gig. I discovered you could make a living selling ad space at Four Wheeler magazine, before I moved on to selling TV for the National Hot Rod Association. After that, I started Roadhouse, a marketing, advertising and PR firm dedicated to the automotive, outdoor/apparel, and entertainment industries. Through the years, I continued writing, shooting, and editing. It keep things interesting.
More by Jason R. Sakurai
Comments
Join the conversation
Why have we not heard of TMI AutoTech or Ginetta before?
South Boston Virginia is in the middle of nowhere. (I used to live in Blacksburg VA, VA and had a job which took me into even more rural places like South Boston.) The only thing that location has is that they're about a 30-minute drive from VIR. South Boston isn't going to drive any foot traffic for sales. They'll have a hard time attracting young engineers, due to the lack of dating/socializing/career opportunities. How do you run a business without employees or customers? Investing in Rural America is much-needed, but it's hard to imagine the business case for locating there rather than on the grounds of VIR -- or any other well known race track (where the cars are) or large city (where the customers are). What are they thinking, businesswise?