Ginetta Akula
Ginetta is not a car brand you hear about every day. There may be more in the future.
There are actually an incredible number of cars that Ginetta presents on its website. Not least Akula, which is now built as a track-inspired road car with V-eights they build themselves.
Ginetta has ancestry that goes all the way back to 1958 when the four Walklett brothers decided to build cars.
They built it up into an excellent business, with cars that left their mark on the country road and not least in English club and track life.
When they sold out in 1989, they could retire in comfort and with a clear conscience. But those who bought the company managed to drive it almost completely into the ditch, until Lawrence Tomlinson came and took over the wreck in 2005.
Many irons in the fire
Slowly and purposefully, he has built it up again. He has LMP cars that make a name for themselves (he does it himself, by the way – he once won the GT2 class at Le Mans), he has pure sports cars, he has club cars, he builds, among other things, a closed track car for them between the ages of 14 and 17, and he has breathed life into the old G10 that debuted at the London Motor Show in 1965.
Ginetta’s incredible supercar
And then he has Akula, which was shown as a concept five years ago, but which is now fully matured.
As it is 20 years since Tomlinson took over, this car will only be built in 20 examples – at £275,000.
This is a car derived from their G61 LMP1 racer, and at least as much new wind tunnel effort as the old one had received.
The flat bottom helps with air resistance, but every single centimeter on the surface contains some aerodynamic trick, splitter, air flow guides, large diffuser at the back – where it’s all about applying ground pressure.
Lots of aerodynamics
Carbon fiber monocoque, of course, and for the front and rear subframes, but the brace is steel, further increasing the car’s rigidity.
Parallelogram with pushrods front and rear with electronic dampers and adjustable anti-roll bars at both ends. In other words, it can be set up for a proper club day too, although you would probably have chosen a mid-range specification for the country road.
The weight is down to 1,190 kg – some of it surely comes from solid 360 mm discs – admittedly slowed down by ceramic components.
The engine is approximately in the middle of the car. It is a separate construction. The V8 block is made of aluminum while the valve section is built in titanium. The 6.4 liter breathes without assistance and produces 600 bhp at 7000 revs and 670 Nm at 5100.
From there, it is all fed via a six-speed manual, or a seven-speed automatic, to an electronic diff and the rear wheels.
To show off a bit, it does 100 in 2.9 seconds.
The interior is pure racing car, but it looks like the passenger can be quite comfortable.
And if you think this is mostly made up, they also have the G40 Junior Evo. 1.8 litres, 100 hp and 850 kg.
