Far From Agricultural - The Ginetta G4

The Ginetta story is an inspiring one as it involves four brothers getting on well together and creating a dynamic enterprise.  In the late Fifties, farmer’s sons, Ivor, Douglas, Bob and Trevor Walklett were running the family agricultural machinery/structural engineering business.  Hobby interests led to an expansion project which in ’58 resulted in the establishment of ‘Ginetta Cars’ with design led by Ivor, and the marketing of an aluminium bodied Lotus Mk.VI-style sports car kit designated G2.  This did well enough to prompt the development of an improved version utilising a fibreglass body, the ’59-launched G3.  This was followed by the presentation at the London Racing Car Show in January ’61 of the G4, though this new model was not in full production swing until ’63.

Left, Ivor Walklett’s drawing of the G1; centre: the G2; right, the G3

The G4 continued and refined most of the principles applied to the G3, with a tubular spaceframe chassis in conjunction with a fibreglass bodyshell.  Though initially offered only as a Spider (with ‘convertible’ or hard top roof) and as a ‘kit,’ it is likely that the Walkletts’s aim was to create a race/fast road coupe along the lines of the Lotus Elite.  And, originally, Ivor’s concept included another Lotus characteristic - power from a Coventry Climax engine.  A 744 cc version of the FW 4 cylinder engine already used by Lotus for Le Mans was considered to be ideal, and design for some time was developed around this.  However, amidst the many developments of the FW at that time, the FWC seems to have been used in anger only in the Lotus 24 Hours of Le Mans campaign, and suggestions of its offer to other manufacturers such as Ginetta were withdrawn.  Reverting to the basis on which he had specified/designed the G1 and G2, Ivor looked to Ford for an alternative.  Fortunately, the newly introduced 105E was available for this purpose.  And it provided several advances over previous Ford products, most of which would suit ‘performance’ needs – OHV, short stroke and some ‘spare’ capacity at 996 cc.  As made for the new Ford Anglia saloon, it was good for 39 bhp but clearly had potential for significant tuning uprating – which is exactly what Ginetta did to units installed in the G4, bolting on twin Weber 40 DCOEs and incorporating a Cosworth camshaft in a gas-flow optimised head.  Despite the still modest (50 bhp) output of the Ginetta-tweaked 105E engine, performance of the basic G4 was acceptable since the kerb weight was below 500 Kg, enabling a 0-60 mph time of 12.8 secs and a top speed of 95 mph.  The engine, also known as the ‘Kent’ and/or ‘Pre-Crossflow,’ could also be supplied for the G4 in larger capacity forms.

When announced, the G4 was priced at £697.  Though the car’s looks and specification were well-received, it became apparent that there was considerable cost-based sales-resistance.  In response, the price was lowered to £499.  Once the model’s viability at the revised price had been established though small scale initial production and sales, Ginetta Cars was relocated in ‘62 to new premises at Witham, Essex.  A fixed head coupe version of the G4 was then introduced the following year.  Most early versions were built with the 996 cc engine, with 100 completed by ’64, enabling racing homologation.  However, orders were soon being fulfilled for G4s with either the Cortina’s 1198 cc or 1498 cc ‘Kent/Pre-crossflow’ motor installed.  Prices for these versions were: ‘1200’ at £517 and the ‘1500’ at £525.  Initially, the ‘1500s’ were referred to as ‘G5s,’ but this designation was soon dropped as it was apparently causing confusion regarding its specification, (which differed only in terms of engine cubic capacity, with no other distinguishing features).  The ‘1500’ was quoted as weighing 510 Kg, and with 90 bhp, capable of 0-60 in around 7 secs.  The bodies of early cars, referred to as Series 1, are notable for a ‘short’ tail with discreet boxy fins.

Series I rear, featuring tail fins

Detail updates gave rise in ’63 to a ‘Series 2’ designation.  The most obvious change was to the bodywork, at the rear a 200 mm longitudinal extension, deletion of the fins and relocation of the boot decklid, whilst a second power bulge was added to the front clamshell.  Mechanically, the main change was to the front suspension which became Triumph Herald-derived.  Additionally, as from ’66, the spaceframe tubing was altered – from round to square section.  Subsequently, the suspension was further modified.

Series II revised rear styling

Left, Series I bonnet with single bulge; right: Series II, double bulge front clamshell

1967 saw the advent of a ‘Series 3’ G4.  With this iteration, there was a good deal of focus on the interior, with the emphasis on better apparent quality of materials and design details aimed at improved driver comfort/convenience.  Externally, the Series 3 was notable for having pop-up headlamps – driver operated by a cable connection.  More interesting from a performance viewpoint was the availability of the Ford Kent 1599 cc unit as an additional engine option.  This could be ordered with Cosworth preparation, as a result of which power was increased to 120 bhp.  Between ’62 and ’68 around 300 G4s emerged from the Ginetta works.  It has been stated that about 220 chassis were of the round tube frame type.  Of current day survivors, the lowest chassis number I have documented is #0128, while the highest is #0427.

Series III with pop-up headlamps

As from ’64, a factory race version, the G4R, was available with numerous track-specific upgraded components.  Heading the list was the 105 bhp 1557 cc Lotus Ford Twin Cam engine,  Development took this up to 115 bhp by ’65, and with specialist attention could be persuaded to deliver up to 160 bhp.  The increased power was complemented by reduction of the kerb weight to around 450 Kg and handling/driveability improved with independent rear suspension and inboard disc (on all four wheels) brakes.  Up to ’68, 10-15 G4Rs were built at Witham.

G4R, #0221

As mentioned above, #0128 is the earliest surviving G4 of which I have photographs.  This car was built in ’63 and is readily recognisable as a Series 1 by the short/finned rear.  It was offered for sale in February 2025 for £36,995 by Klasiko, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, UK.  The dealer’s description included: ‘Built at Witham in March 1963, the car was the first to be shipped into the USA by Ginetta dealer Jack Walsh of Haverhill, Massachusetts.  This car is not only a desirable ‘Round Tube’ car, it is also one of just 4 ‘Short Tail’/‘Fin Tail’ series 1 bodied G4’s reportedly manufactured and features the very rare vertical front spring damper units with stronger lower wishbones.’  The car is apparently powered by a 120 bhp Cosworth Ford pre-crossflow, 109E, 1498 cc engine.

#0128  Courtesy Klasiko

#0171 is also a ’63 car.  However, this is a Series 2 G4 with short tail and double bulge front clamshell  Also featuring a Cosworth engine – 116E, 1498 cc in this instance – which is said to output 142 bhp.

#0171  Courtesy Ferraris Online 2023

Next in chronological order is the G4 seen below.  Built in ’64, #0147 was sold on Bring a Trailer in ’23 for $47,500.  As an example of the component, I’m including a shot of the VIN plate, but this has added significance because the same chassis number was apparently allocated to the green coupe further below.  According to at least one source, this chassis number was assigned to a batch of G4s amongst the first consignment to the U.S.  The race-spec red Spider was restored/prepared for historic events; the Bring a Trailer details include, ‘. . . campaigned in a number of HSR and SVRA competitions, including first place finishes at the 2010 Atlanta Historic Races and SVRA Road Atlanta.’  A dry sump, Ford pre-Crossflow 1498 cc (apparently bored out to 1534 cc) is currently installed.

#0147  Courtesy Superdave

The coupe, also designated #0147, was apparently located in Denmark in ’04 and then exported to the U.S. for restoration, which included renewal of the spaceframe; (which is visually evident in the photograph, below, right).  Power is provided by a 1350 cc pre-Crossflow unit with numerous upgraded internal racing components.  It failed to make its reserve when offered on Bring a Trailer in August ’24, the highest bid being $26,500.

#0147(2)  Courtesy ChrisMonto

Another ’64 race Spider, and again 1498 cc pre-Crossflow-powered, #0173 was offered on Bring a Trailer with a SRVA log book, documenting Historic Racing exploits between 2009 and 17.  The engine is said to be good for 150-160 bhp  The car was on Bring a Trailer in late ’18, but failed to sell, the top bid of $50,500 being short of the reserve price.

#0173  Courtesy kmp26race

 

#0169 is recorded as a ’65-built Spider.  The engine is a 1557 cc Lotus Ford Twin Cam.  It is another G4 which did not reach its reserve price in bidding on Bring a Trailer.  That was in ’20, when the top bid of $£39,300 proved to be insufficient.  A car in generally good order and apparently largely standard, it looked good on a set of 13” Panasport Minilite-style alloys.

#0169  Courtesy winningmakes

A Kent 1720 cc engine is installed in this ’65 Spider, #0198.  It’s a RHD ‘early’ Series 2 in having a round tube spaceframe chassis.  As seen below, it is fitted with a hard top, which, whilst not ‘factory’ is a close copy of such.  The engine is dry-sumped and said to be generating 141 bhp.  The car was offered on Bring a Trailer in August ‘17, but  failed to sell with a highest bid of $35,000.

#0198.  Courtesy 65ginetta

#0203 is another ‘1600’ ’65 G4R Spider, (fitted with factory hardtop in the photograph below).  It was campaigned as a ‘works’ entry during the ’65 season.  Driven by Chris Meek, it was class winner at Snetterton, Mallory Park, Cadwell Park and Silverstone.  The following year Meek was again victorious at Snetterton and Mallory Park.  ’66 also saw the car winning in the hands of Norman Moffett at Bishopscourt and Kirkistown; Moffett also recorded victories at these tracks in ’67.

#0203 at Laguna Seca in 2008.  Courtesy Conceptcarz

The diminutive nature of the G4 is readily apparent in the photograph of #0278, below, left.  Conceptcarz reports this ‘65 Spider as Kent 997 cc-powered and with a remarkable power output of 150 bhp.  The car was run in several Californian Historic events, circa 2010-2020, owned, entered and driven by Jefferey Newman.

#0278 at Monterey Motorsport Reunion 2014, (Laguna Seca).  Courtesy Conceptcarz

RM Sotheby’s sold the G4 Spider, #0427, for $31,360 in 2020.  The reported chassis number is somewhat difficult to reconcile – whilst within the range to be expected if indeed approximately 300 Series 1-3 G4s were manufactured, it would be logical to expect that a ’65-made car would bear a lower number.

#0427.  Courtesy RM Sotheby’s

The last Series 3 G4s were built in summer ’68.  However, such was the regard in which the model was held by drivers interested in a fast road/club racing car, that a ‘G4’ appeared again in the Ginetta range in ’81.  33 of these Series 4 G4s – all 1599 cc-powered were built.  A further hiatus then occurred from ’84 until ’90.  Following the sale of the business by the Walkletts in late ’89, they set up a new company, DARE, (Design And Research Engineering), which began to make G4s, primarily for export to Japan, with Ford Zetec 1800 and 2000 cc engines.  This business Is ongoing. 

That a 50s concept/60s design should still have a place in the sports car market of 2025 is surely quite remarkable, and testament to its excellent characteristics.  Richard Heseltine’s summary comments in the September 2007 issue of Motor Sport magazine would appear to confirm this: 

‘The G4 is so much more than the sum of its proprietary parts. So much so that the Walkletts – or at least Ivor and the late Trevor – made it twice; since the mid-90s under the DARE banner. Anyone who’s been to a race meeting in the UK in the last 40 years will have seen a Ginetta or DARE G4 taking home the silverware, whether in contemporary GTs, ModSports or Historics: they’ve never been away.  One even completed the ’83 Himalayan Rally!  The G4 has pedigree.’

The Fiat 850 Coupe's Glamorous Cousin

As said in the Do Look Back post, ‘Small but Perfectly Formed,’ with the advent of the 1960s, Moretti transitioned from an automotive manufacturer to an ‘enhancer,’ upgrading Fiat mainstream products with, mostly, aesthetic improvements – though some mechanical upgrades were also available at customer request.  Given Moretti’s previous affinity with the sports car sector – the 750 Gran Sport being obvious testament to this – it’s not surprising that the marque took a keen interest in the Fiat 850 Coupe at its ’65 launch.  With a powertrain specification different from the saloon model, the Coupe’s engine, running on a Weber 24/32 or 28/36, delivered 47 bhp with 59 Nm torque, enabling it to be ‘sporting’ enough for the era on a kerb weight of 725 Kg.  For anyone wanting more urge, the factory would arrange tuning by Giannini, resulting in an additional 50% bhp.  And the ‘look’ was good too, with in-house styling led by the father and son Boanos.  So, it was felt that a profitable niche market sector opportunity existed for a Moretti-bodied/badged version for customers valuing a measure of exclusivity.  The resulting car was styled by Dany Brawand who had become familiar at the Grugliasco factory while working for Micholetti (and moonlighting) prior to joining the Moretti business on an official basis in late ’65.  The Tipo 100G, named ‘Sportiva,’ was unveiled at the Turin Show in early November ’65.  It is therefore likely that Brawand was working on the design much earlier in the year as a personal job while still employed by Michelotti – it was Michelotti’s discovery of such moonlighting that prompted him to fire Brawand.

Production and sales of the ‘Sportiva,’ model S, began in ‘66, with pricing ‘from’ 1,095,000 lire (about) £635.  A ‘SS’ model with 50 bhp and 62 Nm torque was also offered, this being priced at 1,350,000 lire.  Two cars with ’66 attribution are present on the Moretti Registry - #0524208 and #0636135.  A photograph of that second car, seen below, shows that head on, there was a hint of Corvette about the early Sportiva front end:

#0636135 Courtesy Moretti Registry

Whilst much has been written about the generally pleasing aesthetics, including favourable comparison with the Fiat Dino, the front panel/nose profile/headlighting has been the subject of some criticism.  One objection is to the bluff front panel, unrelieved by any aperture/grille, not functionally necessary of course with the rear engine location.  Also apparently disappointing to some eyes is the modest headlighting – it being suggested that a ‘sporting’ character would have been better indicated by a four lamp array, and that this too would have helped counteract the bland vertical plane of the front panel.  Moving to a 3/4 or side view, adverse comment has been made about how the leading edges of the front wings interact with the front panel, with the charge that there is no harmonious flow in how these components come together.  The disjointed  character is emphasised by an abrupt change of plane in the front wings above the leading edge of the front tyres, (circled in the photograph below).

#0677840 Courtesy Vintagesarasota (BaT)

This infelicitous aspect of the car was resolved by the ’68 facelift which created the ‘S2’ model, as seen in the example below:

#1445000 Courtesy Moretti Registry

Although some critics have suggested that the rear of the Sportiva S is plainer than the curvaceous front might lead you to expect, the various elements seem to me well matched and blended.  The engine deck lid is the main component, the upper surface of which is well relieved by the five groups of (10 each) cooling intake slots.

#100G-1084286 Courtesy Moretti Registry

The full width, wraparound rear bumper and circular tail lamps (standard Fiat items) are unfussily styled and work well with the rear panel and wings.  Two distinctive points to notice – the additional length of the side elements of the bumper, required by the Sportiva’s greater measure of overhang, and the central, twin hemispherically-capped licence plate lamp bulb arrangement, (Fiat versions using a single, lozenge-form element).

Courtesy Moretti Registry; Car and Classic

The Sportiva was badged, 1) Script ‘FIAT MORETTI’, chrome with black or deep red ground, mounted centrally on front panel, (with chrome ‘whiskers’ running either side to the headlamp apertures); 2) ‘MORETTI,’ chrome, red and white castellated shield crest over rectangular ‘MORETTI TORINO’ script with chequer pattern, mounted on the front wings between the trailing edge of the wheel arch and the leading edge of the door aperture; 3) ‘MORETTI’ and ‘FIAT 850’ or ‘850 Special’ chrome script badges on the rear panel.

Courtesy Rajveteranu.cz; Kristoj (BaT); OldMotors.net

For the SS model, a signifying chrome script badge was added, usually between the ‘FIAT 850’ script and the right hand rear tail lamp.  See below; #0524208, for example.

Courtesy Moretti Registry

Inside the Sportiva, a Moretti crest was usually to be seen on the gear knob, horn button and dashboard, (central, above the centre console). – see below:

Courtesy Kristoi (BaT)

Nardi steering wheels were a popular choice for Sportivas – both black and wood rimmed, some signed on the right hand spoke, and some with a Nardi badged horn button.  An alternative was the Ferrero two spoke model.

Courtesy Wikiwand; ClassicVirus.com

Standard road wheel rims were 12” (145 width tyres) either Borrani wires or Cromodora alloys.

Courtesy Car and Classic; Kristoi (BaT)

For ’68, an additional version became available.  At 1,500,000 lire, the ‘1000 Sport Coupe’ offered an appreciable enhancement of performance capability thanks to the additional capacity (139 cc), a Solex 34 PBIC carburettor, (in place of the Weber), and increase in the compression ratio from 9.2:1 to 9.5:1.  The result was 62 bhp, enough to reduce the 0-60 mph time by 3.4 seconds.  At the same time, the base model was re-designated ‘S2’ and upgraded with a substantial styling facelift to the front end bodywork and lighting, as illustrated above by #1445000.  At the car’s rear, a more subtle revision was that to the engine decklid with four groups of cooling intake slots as opposed to the five on the original design.  An ‘S2’ badge was added to the rear quarter panels.

S2 Courtesy Kristoi (BaT)

 

One of the fundamental compromises for the Sportiva was the lack of any +2 seating.  Where, on other such cars, there might have been some semblance of seats that might accommodate small children, the Sportiva had just a luggage storage area between the engine compartment and the seat backs.  This was largely due to the lack of boot space ahead of the cabin, this being taken up by the spare wheel which could only be mounted horizontally in what was a shallow void.  Moretti sought to address this limitation of the Sportiva’s appeal by creating a four seat version, named S4 and first-shown at the ’69 Turin Show.

Sportiva S4 as shown in a Moretti range leaflet

The S4 sold to those liking the basic concept of the Sportiva whilst wanting more interior room, but its looks must have been a significant deterrent to a broader appeal.  Although the model was launched after the S2, it had not adopted the latter’s more aesthetically successful front end.  Also less pleasing was a top heavy impression given by a disproportionately ‘tall’ glasshouse coupled with seemingly too-small wheels.  The rear quarter panels too appear ‘odd,’ as does the shape of the rear side glass.  Notable is the use of an S2 type engine deck lid and six elements tail lamps. 

Two examples of the S4 appear on the Moretti Registry, #1266944, below, and #1282958, lower below, both ’70:

In regard to both the S and S2 variants, ‘Special’ was added to the nomenclature, (and indicated by a rear panel-mounted badge), in some instances, but clear documentation of what specification upgrades gave rise to this designation is not available.

 

A convertible version of the Sportiva was marketed in 850 form initially, subsequently as an SS and finally in 1000 guise.  Very small numbers were made and there are no examples on the Moretti Registry.  I have also been unable to find details of a convertible Sportiva being sold in recent times.

 

Even at the beginning of the Sportiva’s production run, Moretti had turned its attention for future model lines to the new Fiat products – ultimately with a revised drivetrain format - which would emerge in the second half of the Sixties.  Initially, this saw Brawand drawing a coupe body for the Fiat 124 chassis and this resulted in both 5 seat and 2+2 versions introduced in ’66.  Within short order, the larger Fiat 125 was used as a basis for another new Moretti, titled GS 1.6.  Then, in ’69, Moretti presented its coupe version of the 128, especially significant in view of its front wheel drive layout, breaking with the rear engine configuration with which it had worked for so long.  The phase in which the company had created a coupe on the Fiat 850 saw justified respect for its product, with the Sportiva widely admired – especially in its S2 form – for its looks and general character.  It is usually given that Moretti built about 300 Sportivas and that 52 of those were of the S2 type.  Final sales occurred in ’71.