Gordini

Gordini

Type	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). 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.

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.

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. Gordini and Simca started to diverge in 1951 because of political conflicts.

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.

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. Gordini-tuned Renault cars also won various rallies during the 1950s and 1960s. 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. 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. On 1 January 1976, René Vuaillat became director of Gordini. The Gordini company name became wholly owned by Renault in 1977.

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. Modern models to bear the name include the Renault Twingo and the Renault Clio.

Models

Renault Twingo RS Gordini

Renault 8 Gordini

• Dauphine Gordini (1957–1967)
• Renault 8 Gordini (1964–1970)
• Renault 12 Gordini (1970–1974)
• Renault 17 Gordini (1974–1978)
• Clio Gordini RS (2010–present)
• Twingo Gordini (2010–present)
• Twingo Gordini RS (2010–present)
• Wind Gordini (2011–2013)

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, although different combinations have been used over the years.

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

(† indicates shared drive)