Your classic: Ginetta G15

| 23 Jun 2026

I suppose it all started back in the 1980s with the Mini vs Imp debate among fellow petrolheads at the University of Liverpool Motor Club.

While I had turned up with a Mini, I was converted to Hillman Imps by the joyous promise of a rear-engined ‘mini Porsche 911’ and the free-revving nature of the Coventry Climax-derived, all-aluminium, overhead-cam engine.

I was soon doing regular autotests and 12-car rallies in North Wales in my Imp, which was all great fun.

Classic car enthusiast Andy Green has restored his Ginetta G15 to perfection

While rebuilding a Hartwell Clubman Imp over the summer holidays, I’d seen for the first time in the glassfibre a Ginetta G15.

It set the desire for one of these pretty sports cars by the Walklett brothers, especially with it being based on the Imp engine and rear suspension I was accustomed to.

Five years later I started work at Lotus, where a colleague who’d had one for many years needed to sell it to fund a new washing machine.

Chassis 107 became mine in 1986, but, after sitting outside for years, it needed a full rebuild.

With previous chassis repairs using garage-shelving brackets, fortunately Ginetta was still supporting with spares and a new chassis was purchased from the factory – which by that time had moved from Witham in Essex to Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.

This Ginetta G15 is powered by a Hartwell-tuned Hillman Imp engine

With the body in primer, I spent happy hours trying to resolve the panel gaps (think early Lotus, but worse) and, being an engineer, to build it to better standards – using captive fasteners, for example.

Then, having a young family, the restoration slowed and aspirations also moved on.

I sold my 1974 MG Midget and bought a 1968 Lotus Elan. This was just before our son was born, on the understanding it would be let go if money became tight.

Luckily, more than 30 years later the Elan is still in my garage, but the Ginetta had effectively stalled, waiting for attention.

After 20 years, the Ginetta was reluctantly sold to help fund a Ford GT40 replica I was then building.

The Ginetta G15’s wheelarch extensions are inspired by the Volkswagen-engined Super S and Modsports racers

Although I had a Clan Crusader, another Imp-powered Special, it wasn’t the same and I came to regret my decision.

The urge to own a Ginetta G15 never went away, and I regularly scanned the classifieds looking for a suitable example, but I struck lucky in 2019 with chassis 257, purchased via a local classic car auction.

Previously restored and complete, it had been standing for more than 12 years so had a seized engine and clutch.

While the wide arches and front spoiler were not original to the road cars, they were factory-developed for the G15 Super S and then adopted for the Modsports racers.

I think the kit gives the car a better stance.

Driving the Ginetta G15 fulfilled a decades-long ambition for engineer Andy Green

I rejoined the Ginetta Owners’ Club to help fix my worn seats – being bespoke to the 800 cars made, they’re not easy to source.

However, they are of simple steel and glassfibre construction, so I was able to fabricate a set with help from a club member’s sketch.

With a reclined driving position, the interior feels more spacious than my GT40, while the cramped pedal area has been alleviated by adjustable pedal pads.

With my Hartwell 998cc engine refreshed and pressed back into service, along with a Rotoflex coupling from my Elan, I finally drove my G15, after more than 35 years.

The shakedown runs are still building confidence and the debugging list is getting shorter.

There is still plenty to do, but the plan is to continue enjoying it, on drives to the coast and to shows.

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