Amédée Gordini – a true racing legend
By Roy Smith
The complete story of Amédée Gordini, a man often called “The Sorcerer,” is available for the first time in English as author Smith seeks to emulate his previous books on the Alpine sports prototypes and Renault’s turbocharged F1 engine program. Gordini was a self-taught engineer unafraid of failure, and on the rare occasions when he did fail he simply picked up the pieces and moved on to the next project.
Smith examines Gordini’s life from his 1899 birth through his apprenticeships as blacksmith and wheelwright to his relocation to Paris where he opened a car repair shop. After Gordini entered his first race in 1930, his shop’s reputation quickly grew. By 1939 he’d won his class on the Monte Carlo Rallye in a Simca-Gordini, but just as things were looking good, Europe was blighted by WWII.
In its aftermath he started over, driving a Simca-Gordini to victory in the first race organized following the Axis surrender. Despite his early links with Fiat and Simca, Gordini’s name is most often associated with Renault (and Alpine), to the point that the turbocharged V6 engines that changed the face of Formula One carried cam covers emblazoned: Renault Gordini. The entire story is here, along with the first complete listing of all the Gordini racecars and their results.
Available for US$89.95/£55 from enthusiast bookstores or direct from publisher Veloce at www.veloce.co.uk
