Vintage Thing No.29.1 - Ginetta G26

I've recently been contacted by Gareth Jones who owns this Ginetta G26. It's a rather smarter G26 than the one that we fetched home and Gareth is looking for some wheels with the right offset to fill the arches and make his car sit on the road properly. Mondeo wheels look wrong.

He says that "the Cortina wheel bolt pattern is quite common among Peugeots and many others, but the offset normally used on FWD cars is different, and the Ginetta needs something that’s deep-dish to make it visually correct too!"

Since my close up encounter with a G26, the styling has grown on me and I have to say that of the G26 family this version with the pop up lights is the best. Some angles still look a little odd but once you know where not to look you stop looking at it that way - don't you? Okay, it's like an itch that you've got to scratch and takes a little discipline but it's somewhere around the rear quarter that I feel it's a little awkward but only from a couple of angles. Let's maximise the positive and say that the other aspects of the Ginetta G26 are highly favourable.

And when you consider that this is a full four seater, uses standard Fiesta doors and the glass from a Fiesta then it's all the more impressive.

I was interested to hear Gareth echoing my ideas of sustainable motoring.

"The plan for the car is fairly simple, use it as a daily runaround. I’ve just sold my 1958 Peerless GT to free up some funds and my current everyday transport is a 1987 Polo, back when VW was making quality cars rather than just talking about it. While the Polo is cheaper to run than my bicycle, it’s not really exciting so the plan is to get the Ginetta recommissioned, then sell the Polo and just use the Ginetta. We have a normal car for family duties but I prefer to have something a bit more interesting. Interesting and less than £500 are tricky ideals to combine…

"As long as the Pinto gets through the MoT for emissions, it’ll stay. I think a Zetec engine will fit but there should be no reason why a Pinto can’t be reliable enough for daily motoring. My Polo has been almost 6 times around the earth and it wouldn’t even dream of breaking down. As for performance, the standard Pinto should be alright, I’ve had my fix of speed from quick motorbikes so cars don’t need to be that fast."

My mate has now sold his G26 to someone who intends to use it as a tow car for his Ginetta circuit racing car, so he's got one for its practicality, too.

The nice thing about Gareth's car is that - if I interpret his photos correctly - it's still got all its interior. This would include a dashboard from a Cortina, of course, but Ginetta managed to make this look quite at home (probably due to all the Fiesta parts surrounding it).

Gareth reckons that "the styling is a bit strange around the rear wheelarch so I think some larger diameter wheels would help, possibly with a gentle lowering too. Having said that, most cars now seem very heavy between the top of the rear wheelarch and the underside of the rear window so even with millions spent by the major manufacturers, ugliness abounds."

Maybe a deeper rear window would help. Quite where you'd get a larger rear screen is another question. And just look at the size of that big boot with its wonderfully generous lid.

As for the wider offset wheels, the ones on the earlier example were made by Weller Wheels, which are now part of the Polley Sport empire. And the Ginetta Owner's Club have a forum that can help, too.

Maybe the notchback Ginetta G31 avoids this slight awkwardness. If I ever see one, I'll scrutinise it closely.

(All photos courtesy Gareth Jones)