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 The best source of information on
the remarkable Ginetta G4 is "Four Brothers' Four" by our friend Trevor
Pyman. Now out of print and hard to find, we sometimes find the odd copy which we
can sell to interested folk.
Over the years we have assembled detailed histories of
most of the
individual G4s produced and our records include copies of factory documents. There are some
gaps in chassis numbers as at the time the
likes of Lotus and TVR considered this fashionable and Ginetta saw no reason to buck the trend! We are
confident we can identify some of the not so real cars that are
about!
 The G4 was first produced with a round tube
chassis. Very early cars had different front suspension to the later
models and also a rare finned tail body moulding. Most round
tube cars also started life with a bonnet as illustrated in one of the pics on
this page but we don't know which because the webmaster has been pratting about
with them. If the car was
supplied with a standard Ford single downdraft Weber rather than the more
competition orientated twin 40 side-draft Weber then an additional hump/scoop
was bolted on. The "sensual" double hump bonnet was
developed later but many cars have gained this over the years.
In general the round tube cars were fitted with the
Ford pre-crossflow engine; 1000cc, 1200cc, 1300cc, 1500cc, and 1650cc in the
main. There were also other versions - buy the book! Both the period Ford and Austin A40
axles were
used during production. In general the Ford item was heavier, stronger but with
few available ratios. The Austin being lighter suffered
half shaft failure.
 By the time the Ginetta G4 chassis numbers reached the
mid 200s in 1966 production was moving over to a chassis made of square tubes.
There was no clean cut-off point in production. This is further confused by the
fact that almost every Ginetta G4R, the "Racing" version with
independent rear suspension, was built with a round tube chassis even after the
"standard" G4s were being produced with a square tube chassis.
As time went on the square tube cars were supplied with
Ford Kent engines, usually 1600cc. The last cars in the 1960s gained headlights
which flipped up manually only to flip down once the natural high speeds of a
Ginetta G4 were achieved! Many such cars have been subsequently fitted with an
earlier bonnet as they undoubtedly look much better.
 The Lotus/Ford/BRM/Vegantune twin cam engine was fitted
to many Ginetta G4s in the 1960s by the factory and by individuals. It is
still a
popular choice today, but please refer G4
Racing.
In 1989/1990 a batch of 30 or so G4s was made
by the factory which by that time had moved north of Watford, away from Witham.
This batch was essentially for the Japanese and European market but a few lucky
owners in the UK did manage to get their hands on one. The cars appear to be
from the original moulds and the square tube chassis vary very little from those
of the late 1960s. The axles we believe were Ford Escort or Morris Ital.
Most
were fitted with a 1700cc Kent engine and twin Weber 40 DCOEs. A 5 speed sierra
gearbox was used. We have the build list, specifications and original customer
list for these cars.
There are more details such as dash board moulding and
hard top windscreen shape that changed over the years but most of these are best
covered by buying Spadge a few pints in The Station Hotel, Framlingham.
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