The name Ginetta is a familiar one to many kitcar and motorsport enthusiasts, especially those partial to British marques. The company was founded in 1958, by the Walklett family, and quickly gained a reputation for building quality sports and racecars with excellent performance and handling. It was run by the family successfully until 1989, when they elected to sell the concern to a group of outside investors.
It was the beginning of a short-lived retirement from the car business. However, it was not to last and very soon Ivor Walklett was planning a new sportscar aimed at competition like the Lotus Elise. A weight of 750Kg was targeted and a retail price around £30,000. The new company to produce this new offering would be called "Dare" and this new product named the "DZ". The effort began in a few buildings tucked away in West Mersea, a retirement community in Essex 50 miles north of London, in 1996.
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| The Dare DZ coupe |
The Dare DZ featured futuristic-looking GRP bodywork like nothing else on the market at the time. It made its debut at the 1998 Motor Show in Birmingham and at the Brooke Kensington dealership in London. Available as either a convertible or fixed-head coupé with gull wing doors, the DZ was built around a composite chassis bonded to a tubular steel frame. At release, it sold for £35,000 which sat pretty well in the middle of its range of competitors.
Suspension was independent all round by means of wishbones and coil spring dampers while there were vented disc brakes on all four wheels, gripped by four-pot alloy calipers at the front. Power came from a 2.0-litre Ford Zetec, transversely mounted amidships, producing either 130bhp (normally aspirated) or 210bhp, thanks to a Scanpower supercharging system with a centrifugal blower. Weighing only 700kg, the DZ had a power-to-weight ratio of 194bhp/ton (un-blown) so its performance was electrifying.
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| The Dare DZ (at right) and the TG Sport, with the Ginetta/Dare G4 center |
However, despite its solid pedigree and distinctive styling, the DZ didn't find a market and only 10 examples were ultimately produced. This certainly wasn't the end of Dare, though, and their next product was a more traditional, front-mid-engine, track and fair-weather toy in the vein of the Lotus 7. It was called the "TG Sport" and sold considerably better than its less conventional predecessor.
Eventually, Dare returned to its roots and produced new versions of classic Ginetta cars like the G4 and G12. This would carry them well into the 2000's.
Sources:
Dare UK
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| The Dare DZ, with its convertible top shown |
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| The Dare DZ convertible (sans top) |
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| The Dare DZ interior |
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| The Dare DZ convertible, at rear |
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| The Dare DZ convertible, above rear |
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| The Dare DZ convertible, head on |
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| The Dare DZ convertible, front quarter |
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| The Dare DZ convertible, with stablemates |
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| The Dare DZ convertible, in profile |
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| The Dare DZ convertible, rear quarter view |
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| The Dare DZ convertible |
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