Forgotten '60s sports car that weighed less than a horse was banned years later

This forgotten ’60s sports car weighed less than a horse and ended up being banned.

The Ginetta G4 was made by a small West Yorkshire-based manufacturer.

Introduced in 1961, it was the road version of the Ginetta G3, a purpose-built racer.

However, it would be retired after 1969 – and face a ban years later.

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The forgotten ’60s sports car that weighed less than a horse

Both the G4 and the G3 used Ford-derived parts, coming off the back of a Ford-Lotus collaboration.

The G4 ’60s sports car came in three body styles, including a coupe and a convertible.

Anyone interested in racing could opt for the third option, which was a lightweight barchetta body style.

During the car’s eight-year run, there were three iterations.

The Series I ran from 1961 to 1963, the second until 1966, and the third from 1966 to 1969.

The second saw a longer rear end and a revised front suspension come into play, whilst the third had covered headlights incorporated due to new safety regulations.

You could say a lot about the G4, but you couldn’t say it was light – the car weighed in at approximately 992 pounds.

By way of comparison, horses can weigh up to 2,200 pounds.

But lightweight or not, this car was still popular, particularly with racing teams.

Which raises the question – why was it banned?

Why was the Ginetta G4 banned?

Strangely, it wasn’t during the G4’s initial run that it was banned.

It wouldn’t be until the 1980s that it would become prohibited.

Some kit car racing series had seen a lot of G4s entered into events, to the point where practically every car would be a G4 in some races.

As such, in numerous kit car competitions around the world, the G4 was made off-limits.

Ginetta responded by creating the G27, an updated version of the G4.

It saw some success but didn’t match the popularity of its predecessor.

Nowadays, the G4 remains a popular staple of vintage racing events.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a car facing a ban.

The ‘greatest car ever’ is banned in all 50 US states, as was the 1992 Dodge Daytona IROC R/T.

Some bans are a little more specific, like this 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, which was prohibited from competitions because it’d won so many.

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