Renault 8 Gordini Returns as 266bhp Electric Concept

Nicknamed ‘la Gorde’, the original was a go-faster four-door family saloon with its engine and driven wheels at the rear. That layout made it a livewire on public roads, but gave skilled drivers plenty to work with on the stages: Jean Vinatier won the 1964 Tour de Corse in one, while a young Jean Ragnotti later cut his teeth in an 8 Gordini.

The concept drops the rear doors and bench but retains the basic setup, with a rear-mounted motor sending 266bhp to the back wheels. The old 8's three-box outline is still in there, though Renault has sharpened it to the point of caricature, with its compact length of 4.12m contrasting against a stocky 1.88m width.

The recessed shoulder line of the original has morphed into a sharp crease leading towards a vent in the rear wing, while squared-off arches swell around 19-inch front wheels and 20-inch rears like Popeye's forearms. The staggered arrangement gives the car a subtle rake where the original prided itself on symmetry. Up front, four round headlights sit deep in the grille-less nose beneath a prominent brow, with two driving lamps above a broad lower opening. The nose looks almost clamshell-like: there’s no bonnet shut line, and the whole panel lifts away in one piece. A huge diffuser dominates the blunt rear, which appears to have been lifted directly off the Turbo 3E. 

The design grew out of an internal competition that produced more than 300 sketches. Two proposals made it to the scale-model stage before Renault combined elements of both. 'The aim of this coupé is to inspire emotion and capture the imagination of all car enthusiasts,' says Alexandre Malval, Renault's VP of Design. 'And when I talk about emotion, I'm not talking about nostalgia, but real passion for cars.'

The restomod vibe continues inside. Renault has taken the original’s metal dash and round clocks as a starting point, then rendered them as a brushed-aluminium strip carrying individual digital screens. The seats are modern buckets, but with blue corduroy down their centres. Even the red stopwatch button feels like something an obsessive owner would commission.

Renault has given no battery capacity, weight, range or acceleration figure. Unveiled at its Carwalk in Paris on 24 September, the Gordini will appear at the Paris Motor Show from 12–18 October before eventually joining Renault’s future collection at Flins.

Officially, it’s a one-off. Then again, the R5 Turbo 3E began as a show car and is now headed for a production run of 1,980. Here’s hoping the reaction to this Gordini gives Renault reason to reconsider.