► Month 11 and time to say goodbye
► We’re left with the motorsport bug
► …and a few bits of silverware
Since the Ginetta’s left my care and gone back to a life of hard racing, and hard knocks, I’m yet to drive anything that feels quite like it. I miss the wriggly unassisted steering, the equally wriggly handling, and the faint aroma of fibreglass in my clothes
The G40 was designed to be a racing car first and a road car second, but I really did drive it to and from work when I could (and loved every mile), regularly filled the 200-litre boot with shopping and drove another all but identical G40 to Le Mans and back. Downsides? Posting yourself through the rollcage isn’t the work of a moment; our car’s latest rack design gave it Lotus-beating steering feel but a shocking turning circle; and non-existent ventilation meant the cockpit was hot like a sauna in summer and steamed up like one in the wet (not helped by our G40’s ‘race-spec’ dashboard, without the optional vents and air-con system). And with the throaty throttle-bodied Zetec engine bolted straight into the tubular chassis, and the composite body panels likewise, it’s unsurprisingly a tad noisy. Our gnarly race car missed out on the optional Touring Pack’s sound deadening kit, which was fitted to the G40 I drove to Le Mans (you can read the full account online at goo.gl/8F8FKP), and did make it marginally more tolerable – it’s quieter than a Caterham, at least.
Upsides? Standing on the top step of the podium at Silverstone was one. We couldn’t run a race car without racing it, after all, and for one dream weekend we not only competed in the Silverstone round of the Ginetta Racing Drivers’ Club (GRDC) series with the want2race team but somehow managed to win both races too. If you’re trackside this season you might spot our old G40 out there in its continued life with the want2race team. I’ll be watching wistfully from the stands. That’s the whole point of the G40 GRDC, of course; its circa £40k entry price is a package deal, with a season’s racing, testing and extra-curricular events thrown in. Keeping the car at the end is intended to be the icing on the cake.
Driving it on track isn’t easy. It really is quite frisky, the G40. Ginetta’s head of sales (and factory GT3 driver) Mike Simpson reckons its as challenging to get the best from as any racing car you’ll ever drive, and I don’t doubt him. To be completely honest, it’s a little bit scary at the limit. But that’s kind of the point; its knife-edge handling is hugely rewarding, and you’d get more from a track day in the built-for-the-purpose G40 than in a brake-wilting, tyre-melting supercar.
And if keeping the car at the end of the season is a bonus, it’s a pretty good one. Away from the track (we also took the G40 for a Brands Hatch trackday, some flying laps of Daytona MK’s kart circuit and even turned it into a BTCC safety car for a weekend), it’s one of the most involving cars I’ve driven on the road. Who cares that a diesel warm hatch would leave it for dead in a straight line? You’re having too much fun to care, and it can destroy all-comers in the corners anyway. We had the adjustable dampers softened a touch but the anti-roll bars in their track setting, and it suited Brit B-roads beautifully, cornering flat yet never once grounding. Speed bumps were no bother, either.
And everyone wants to stop and chat. I made friends at every petrol station I stopped at (which was quite a few, since the fuel gauge is so pessimistic). There’s just something irresistibly likeable about the G40, from the cutely retro styling to the oddly rebellious sensation of driving a racing car on the road. Every journey feels like some kind of defiant stand for driving freedom. More than anything, it makes you feel glad that cars like this exist, and are still allowed to. If I had a spare £40k…
Count the cost
Cost new: £39,960 (inc. season of racing)
Factory used sale price: c.£29,000
Private sale price: £26-28,000
Part-exchange price: Negotiable with factory
Cost per mile: 21p
Cost per mile including depreciation: £3.63
From the driving seat
+ Perfect route into racing, and a fun road car to boot
– Hard work getting in and out…
+ …but roomy and surprisingly comfy inside
– Kinda noisy
+ It’s a racing car, so what do you expect?
Logbook: Ginetta G40 GRDC
Engine: 1800cc 16v 4-cyl, 135bhp @ 5000rpm, 110lb ft @ 4500rpm (est)
Gearbox: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Stats: 6.0sec 0-62mph, 130mph (est)
Price: £39,960
As tested: £35,940
Miles this month: 0
Total miles: 5051
Our mpg: 26.8
Official mpg: n/a
Fuel cost overall: £405.18
Extra costs: £0