Renault Gordini back

The old Clio Renaultsport with a 1965 Renault Gordini 8

Renault are about to announce the revival of the Gordini badge for a range of sporty Renaults to sit below the Renaultsport models.

I think you’ll probably have to be over 40 – or a Renault nut – to have any knowledge of the Renault Gordini. But you’re soon going to be a bit more knowledgeable if reports that Renault are about to revive the Gordini name are true.

There have been rumours for quite a while that Renault want to use the Gordini name on their ‘Sporty’ cars in the same way that BMW has used the Cooper name on MINIs and Fiat the Abarth name. And we’re told that this is finally going to be announced next week (w/b 9/11/09).

The plan is to use the Gordini name for a range of Renault cars to sit above the current offerings but below the Renaultsport range. They will get the Gordini badge and some ‘Sport’ trim and paint jobs – think big stripes up the car with loud alloys and bodykits.

It looks likely that the first model up will be the Twingo Gordini followed by the Megane Gordini and the Clio Gordini. It also seems likely that Renault will try to cement the appeal of the Gordini badge in car buyers minds with a Gordini race series.

The Gordini badge has been missing from the Renault range sine the eighties when the last Renault Gordini – the Renault 5 Gordini – was built. But the previous two decades had seen the Gordini badge attached to many Renaults including the Renault 8 and Renault 12.

We had half expected that Renault would also resurrect the Alpine name for some high-end fun with the Renault badge. Renault acquired Alpine back in the seventies and the old Alpine factory is where the RenaultSport models are put together. But it would seem that plans to produce a Renault Alpine have been put on the back-burner for now due to the recession.

Still, if Gordini does for Renault what Abarth has for Fiat and Cooper for MINI it will be a good move.