In 1946, Gordini introduced the first cars bearing his name, Fiat-engined single-seaters raced by him and José Scaron, achieving several victories.

Gordini 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 (1899–1979), nicknamed "Le Sorcier" (The Sorcerer). Gordini became a division of Renault in 1968 and of Renault Sport in 1976.

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

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.

 

Headquarters: Les Ulis, France, 1946-1969

r8 gordini 1964-1973

The Renault 8 (Renault R8 until 1964) is a small family car produced by the French manufacturer Renault in the 1960s and early 1970s. It is a four-door saloon car with a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. The 8 also formed the basis for the larger Renault 10, introduced in 1965.

The 8 was launched in 1962 and ceased production and sales in France in 1973. By then the related Renault 10 had already been replaced, two years earlier, by the front wheel drive Renault 12.

They were produced in Bulgaria until 1970 (see Bulgarrenault), and an adapted version of the Renault 8 continued to be produced in Spain until 1976. In Romania, a version of the 8 was produced under license between 1968 and 1972 as the Dacia 1100. In total 37.546 Dacia 1100s were built.

The 8 was powered by an all new 956 cc Cléon-Fonte engine developing 44 PS. The R8's engine followed the pioneering example of the recently introduced Renault 4 by incorporating a sealed for life cooling system. A distinctive innovation on the French produced cars was the fitting of four-wheel disc brakes, a first for a saloon car of this size. However, when in 1965 Renault's Spanish affiliate introduced their own version of the Renault 8 for the (then tariff-shielded) Spanish market, it came with rear drum brakes.

A more powerful model, the 8 Major (model R1132), was released in 1964, featuring an 1108 cc engine developing 50 PS.

A still more powerful version, the 8 model R1134 Gordini, was also released that year, with a tuned engine of the same capacity but developing 90 PS. The extra power was obtained by a cross-flow head and twin dual-choke 40mm side-draft Solex carburetors. A four-speed close ratio manual transmission, dual rear shock absorbers and uprated springs were fitted.

The R1134 Gordini was originally available only in blue, with two stick-on white stripes. It was also distinguishable from the 8 Major by the bigger 200 mm headlamp units.

In 1965, the Renault 10 Major, a more luxurious version of the 8 with different front and rear styling, was released, replacing the 8 Major.

In 1967, the R8 Gordini (model R1135) received a facelift including two additional headlights (in effect Cibie Oscar driving lights), and its engine upgraded to a 1255 cc unit rated at 100 PS.

Alongside the new Renault 10, less powerful versions of the Renault 8 continued in production at the Flins plant. The 8 was still sold in France as late as 1973. FASA-Renault, the company's Spanish arm, continued to produce models 8 and 8TS (similar to the French-built 8S) until 1976 for the Spanish market, as well as components for the 8S and 8TS assembled in Mexico.

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