If something a little weirder and a lot more French than the front-engined, rear-drive Cortina is your thing, look no further than the Renault R8 Gordini.
With styling that makes an ’80s Volvo look like Marilyn Monroe, and a rear-mounted engine coupled with swing-axle rear suspension, the R8 that launched in 1962 was a big deal.
Highlights included the revvy 956cc four-cylinder engine, independent suspension all-round and even four-wheel disc brakes.
That engine might have looked a bit small on paper, but it thrived on revs and could stay with the competition provided you were prepared to rev it mercilessly and work the standard four-speed manual (with no synchro on first) as hard as possible. Great fun.
And, of course, it was only a matter of time before the R8 spawned a high-performance Gordini variant. That happened in 1965 with a much hotter, 1108cc engine, tighter suspension and a lower ride height in an attempt to tame those swing-axles a little. But even better was to come.
By late 1967, the R8 Gordini had been through a couple of iterations and had emerged as the R1135 (factory code) model.
And the car featured here, owned by Jack Mantel, is one of those rare beasts. The latest changes had taken the five-bearing engine to a bored-out capacity of 1255cc and peak power to 77kW.
Throw in the five-speed manual box, lowered suspension and wider wheels, and it was about as racy as anything with four wheels got at a time when Georgie Girl by The Seekers was still topping the charts. And according to Jack, Renault’s efforts didn’t stop there.
“The Gordini had a hemi crossflow head, twin 42mm Webers, a close-ratio five-speed and even an extra fuel tank in the front. Then there were the extra spotlights mounted in the front, extra bracing built into the body to strengthen it, and the rear swing axles were fitted with four coil-over units.”
Jack also confirms that those four-wheel discs that were such show-stoppers in the mid ’60s, were also beefed up for the Gordini.
“The brakes were eleven-and-three-quarter inches and were power boosted. That was a huge brake back then. And inside you got full instrumentation including a big tacho and extra gauges.”
It’s estimated that only probably between 12 and 20 R8 Gordinis made it to Australia, and Jack’s pretty sure that they were all rallied to death which is why they’re so rare now.
“There were never many in the country and they were all raced and rallied, and smashed and bashed.”
That rarity is also why Jack’s car was sourced from South Africa, and he bought it at auction about three years ago. And like any R8 Gordini, it hadn’t exactly had a pampered life.
“This one’s been rallied, too. It’s a bit weather-beaten under the floor and it’s by no means a concours car.”
But Jack doesn’t seem to care about that, and is just happy he now has his hands on his all-time must-have car.
“My first car was an R8 when I was 16. But I’d always wanted a Gordini. They’re the real deal. It’s a really robust car and they handled really well. A bit like a Porsche, really; under full acceleration they dig in. And that motor was balanced and blueprinted from the factory, and were good for 8000rpm all day.”
For the record, Gordini was the work of one Amedee Gordini who was born in 1989 (right about the same time as Renault itself). He worked as a Formula 1 mechanic in the very early days of Grand Prix racing, and then became a Renault tuner, turning out all sorts of wonderful and fast machinery.
His cars – based on Renaults including the Dauphine, R8, R10 and R12 – were hugely successful both on racetracks and forest roads as well as in the showroom. But it’s probably the R8 Gordini that is remembered most fondly, largely because of its stellar record at just about every motorsport discipline.
Gordini retired in 1968, selling a 70 per cent share of the Gordini brand to Renault which later merged it with Alpine in the 1970s.
1968 RENAULT R8 GORDINI
- Production run: 5175
- Body: Steel monocoque, 4-door sedan
- Engine: 1255cc 4-cylinder, OHV, 2 x sidedraft carburettors
- Power: 77kW at 6750rpm
- Torque: 117Nm at 5000rpm
- Gearbox: 5-speed manual
- Suspension: Independent, coils, stabilisers bar (f). Independent, swing-axles, dual dampers (r)
- Brakes: 260mm ventilated discs (f & r)
- Wheels: Steel, 315
- Tyres: 135/90 15
- Performance: 0-100km/h: 11.0 seconds; 0-400m: 17.8 seconds