Lawrence Tomlinson

Chairman, Ginetta Cars

- JOHN BARKER

SOME OF US COLLECT SCALE MODELS OF the cars that we've owned, though If we had the means, quite a few of us would love to collect them for real. In part that's what I'm looking at right now: an eclectic group of a 3-litre Capri S, Audi Quattro and Escort RS1600, all from Lawrence Tomlinson's formative years. The upper floor of this garage space houses clusters of cars that reflect Tomlinson's later passions. Tucked away at the back are four Le Mans race cars - three TVRS and a Panoz - while at the front are some tiny and rare Ginettas that represent the early history of the sports car company he bought in 2005.

'I wouldn't say I'm massively passionate about cars, just cars,' says Tomlinson, 'I like mechanical things, I like fixing things. Tomlinson was Born in Batley, West Yorkshire, in the mid-1960s. His mother packed biscuits at Fox's and his dad was a wagon driver. 'He was sort of a mechanic by necessity. He had a small haulage company, the trucks were always breaking down, so you kind of learn that you've got to keep things going. I've been quite good at just keeping things going, really!

Alongside the Capri, Escort and Quattro is a pristine 'flares and chairs' De Tomaso Pantera GT5. 'My poster car as a lad, explains Tomlinson. One car missing from this curated collection is a '60s Ford Consul Classic, the first car he drove. It had been his grandad's and for years had languished in a garage falling apart around it. Young Tomlinson played in it before having the idea of trying to get it going. 'It had been sitting so long the fuel tank was full of rust, so I got a one-gallon container and just screwed it to the roof: The 1500, pre-crossflow engine eventually fired up and Tomlinson drove the gravity-fed Classic around the fields, adapting to the lack of rear brakes.