Ginetta is to launch an all-new British sports car for 2008, designated the Ginetta G50, the car has been designed in-house at LNT Automotive’s new purpose-built factory in Leeds.

The G50 is a celebration of 50 years of British sports car manufacturing by the company, and has been designed as the base for a new generation of Ginetta sports cars.

2008 and will see the Ginetta ‘G50 Cup Car’ launched, this car is designed to bridge the gap between single-make sports car racing such as the current Ginetta G20 championship – and GT cars such as the new GT4 Championship, GT3 and GT2 racing.

Weighing in at a little over 800kg, the Ginetta G50 is a rear-wheel drive car, powered by a front-mid mounted Ford 3.5- litre, V6 engine producing 300 bhp, with a five-speed sequential gearbox.

A G50 Cup Car series will be created, with the focus on keeping running costs to a minimum by using control tyres, control fuel and low maintenance costs through clever design. Ginetta will offer a spares and support service at all race and test events.

The series will consist of 10 race weekends, with eight events confirmed to be supporting the SRO F3/GT package alongside the current 'G20' Texaco Havoline Ginetta Championship. Two stand alone, long distance events are also planned with a substantial prize fund and TV coverage guaranteed by Ginetta.

Lawrence Tomlinson, Chairman of LNT Automotive said: “We’ve designed the G50 as a stepping stone for GT drivers. Production of the first 30 cars is well under way with a mixture of cup, road and GT4 cars available from early 2008."

The price is likely to be around the £35,000 mark.

Further news and details will be announced over the coming months as the race car design is completed and goes into full time production.