Go-ahead for Gordini
Renault Sport Technologies will reintroduce the Gordini brand with two new sports-oriented modelsThe rumour has been afloat for a while, but Renault has now confirmed that it will market two of its cars wearing the hallowed Gordini badge. Renault Sport Technologies (RST) will supply the finished cars, a Twingo Gordini making its global debut on November 25 and a Clio Gordini to follow subsequently.
According to Renault, the Twingo Gordini will be unveiled in Paris as a part of the 'Christmas in Blue' exhibition. Production models will go on sale in the European Spring (our Autumn) and the Clio Gordini will follow a few months after that.
Although Renault has not unveiled either car to the press yet, it's most likely they'll be finished in the same French Racing Blue with the two white stripes that graced the Renault-Gordini R8 of the 1960s.
The Gordini name may add cachet to the RST brand -- sort of like 'Ghia' to 'Fairmont' -- but has Renault begged the question? Will today's buyers understand or appreciate the association with the giant-killing small cars from 50 years ago?
Amédée Gordini, the Frenchman who lent his name to the brand, was born around the time Louis Renault built his first vehicle. Gordini entered the field of motor racing as a mechanic before building racing cars bearing his name in the period up to the 1950s.
Around the middle of that decade, Renault approached Gordini to support the company's motorsport activities. The company's 4CV (Dauphin) was a clean slate upon which Gordini could develop his ideas, but Gordini's greatest success probably came with his modified version of Renault's rear-engined small car, the R8.
This boxy little car scored its most enduring success in competition in the 1964 Tour of Corsica Rally when the Renault-Gordini R8 finished 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Its success in competition made the car a popular driver's choice in France.
At the time of publication, Renault Australia could not advise a local launch date for the Clio Gordini, but does expect the car will make it to Australia -- possibly very late next year. Since the Twingo isn't sold here, the modified car seems a very unlikely prospect, a view supported by a source at Renault Australia.
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