Gordini

Gordini
Division
Industry Automotive
Founded 1946
Headquarters Les Ulis, France
Parent Renault Sport

Gordini (French pronunciation: [ɡɔʁdini]) is a division of Renault Sport Technologies (Renault Sport).[1][2] In the past, it was a sports car manufacturer and performance tuner, established in 1946 by Amédée Gordini, nicknamed "Le Sorcier" (The Sorcerer). Gordini became a division of Renault in 1968 and of Renault Sport in 1976.[3]

History

Gordini Type 32
1950 Simca Gordini T15s, as raced, and retired, at the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans by José Froilán González and Juan Manuel Fangio

Amédée Gordini tuned cars and competed in motor races since the 1930s. His results made Simca (the French assembler of Fiat) to hire him for its motorsport programme and to develop road cars. Their association continued after World War II.[4]

In 1946, Gordini introduced the first cars named after him, Fiat-engined single-seaters raced by him and Jose Scaron, achieving several victories. In the late 1940s the company opened a workshop at the Boulevard Victor in Paris, entering into sportcar and Grand Prix races.[5] Gordini and Simca started to diverge in 1951 because of political conflicts.[4]

Gordini competed in Formula One from 1950 to 1956 (with a brief return in 1957 with an eight cylinders engine), although it achieved a major success in Formula Two during that period.[5]

After its Formula One programme ended Gordini worked with Renault as an engine tuner, entering Renault-Gordini cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans between 1962 and 1969. It also tuned engines for Alpine, a rival sports car manufacturer also associated with Renault. In 1957, Gordini and Renault manufactured the Dauphine Gordini, a modified version of the Renault Dauphine which was a sales success.[6] Gordini-tuned Renault cars also won various rallies during the 1950s and 1960s.[7] In 1963, the Gordini company planned to move its headquarters to Noisy-le-Roi. At the end of 1968, Gordini retired and sold a 70% majority stake from his firm to Renault.[8] Renault-Gordini was moved to Viry-Châtillon in 1969 and became a sport division of Renault, before be merged with Alpine to form Renault Sport in 1976.[3] On 1 January 1976, René Vuaillat became director of Gordini.[9] The Gordini company name became wholly owned by Renault in 1977.[8]

Renault sold Gordini-badged performance versions of models including the Renault 5, the Renault 8 the Renault 12 and the Renault 17.

In November 2009, Renault announced that it would be reviving the Gordini name for an exclusive line of hot hatches, in a similar fashion to Fiat's revival of its Abarth name.[10] Modern models to bear the name include the Renault Twingo and the Renault Clio.

Models

Renault Twingo RS Gordini
Renault 8 Gordini

Car colours

Since its early Renault models the most characteristic colour scheme of Gordini cars has been bleu de France (the French motor racing colour) with white stripes,[12] although different combinations have been used over the years.[13]

Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position) (results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Chassis Engine Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1950 Simca Gordini Type 15 Gordini Straight-4 GBR MON 500 SUI BEL FRA ITA
France Robert Manzon Ret 4 Ret
France Maurice Trintignant Ret Ret
1951 Simca Gordini Type 15 Gordini Straight-4 SUI 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA ESP
France André Simon Ret Ret 6 Ret
France Robert Manzon Ret 7 Ret 9
France Maurice Trintignant Ret Ret Ret Ret
France Aldo Gordini Ret
1952 Gordini Type 16 Gordini Straight-6 SUI 500 BEL FRA GBR GER NED ITA
France Robert Manzon Ret 3 4 Ret Ret 5 14
France Jean Behra 3 Ret 7 5 Ret Ret
Belgium Johnny Claes 8
Thailand Prince Bira Ret 11
France Maurice Trintignant Ret Ret 6 Ret
Simca Gordini Type 15 Simca Straight-4 Switzerland Max de Terra Ret
Gordini Straight-4 Thailand Prince Bira Ret 10
Belgium Johnny Claes Ret 14 DNQ
United States Robert O'Brien NC
France Maurice Trintignant 5
Belgium Paul Frère Ret
1953 Gordini Type 16 Gordini Straight-6 ARG 500 NED BEL FRA GBR GER SUI ITA
France Jean Behra 6 Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret
France Maurice Trintignant 7† 6 5 Ret Ret Ret Ret 5
United States Harry Schell 7† Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret 9
France Robert Manzon Ret
Argentina Carlos Menditeguy Ret
Argentina Roberto Mieres NC Ret 6
United States Fred Wacker 9
Simca Gordini Type 15 Gordini Straight-4 Argentina Pablo Birger Ret
Belgium Georges Berger Ret
1954 Gordini Type 16 Gordini Straight-6 ARG 500 BEL FRA GBR GER SUI ITA ESP
France Jean Behra DSQ Ret 6 Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret
France Élie Bayol 5
France Roger Loyer Ret
Belgium Paul Frère Ret Ret Ret
Belgium André Pilette 5 9 Ret
France Jacques Pollet Ret Ret
Belgium Georges Berger Ret
Argentina Clemar Bucci Ret Ret Ret Ret
United States Fred Wacker Ret 6
1955 Gordini Type 16 Gordini Straight-6 ARG MON 500 BEL NED GBR ITA
France Élie Bayol Ret Ret
Argentina Jesus Iglesias Ret
Argentina Pablo Birger Ret
France Robert Manzon Ret Ret Ret
France Jacques Pollet 7 10 Ret
Brazil Hermano da Silva Ramos 8 Ret Ret
France Mike Sparken 7
France Jean Lucas Ret
1956 Gordini Type 32 Gordini Straight-8 ARG MON 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA
Belgium André Pilette 6† DNS
France Élie Bayol 6†
France Robert Manzon 9 9 Ret Ret
Brazil Hermano da Silva Ramos 8 Ret Ret
Belgium Andre Milhoux Ret
Gordini Type 16 Gordini Straight-6 Brazil Hermano da Silva Ramos 5
France Robert Manzon Ret
Belgium André Pilette 11
France André Simon 9

(† indicates shared drive)

References

  1. "Renault revives Gordini". Renault. Archived from the original on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  2. "Renault Sport range". Renault. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  3. 1 2 Smith, Roy P (2010). "The Winds of Change: 1974–1979". Alpine Renault: – The fabulous berlinettes. Veloce Publishing. pp. 180–181. ISBN 978-1-845844-04-2.
  4. 1 2 Lawrence, Mike (1996). "Gordini". A to Z of Sports Cars, 1945–1990. A to Z. Motorbooks International. ISBN 1-870979-81-8.
  5. 1 2 "Constructors: Gordini (Equipe Gordini)". Grandprix.com. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  6. "Gordini" (PDF). Renault. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 September 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  7. "Renault Manufacturer Profile & Rally History". Rallye-info.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  8. 1 2 Smith, Roy (2008). "Gordini the name on the engine". Alpine and Renault: The Development of the Revolutionary Turbo F1 Car 1968–1979. Veloce Publishing. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-1-84584-226-0.
  9. Cléon - Association RENAULT HISTOIRE sur Association RENAULT HISTOIRE
  10. Joseph, Noah (10 November 2009). "Renault revives the Gordini name for exclusive line of hot hatches". Autoblog.
  11. "Renault-Gordini History". Renault Sport South Africa. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  12. Smith, Roy P (2013). "Gordinis for the Road and track: 1958–1979". Amedee Gordini: A True Racing Legend. Veloce Publishing. p. 256. ISBN 978-1-845843-17-5.
  13. "New Renault Clio RS Gordini Coming in 2014 with 230 HP". Autoevolution.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
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