Amedeo "Amédée" Gordini (23 June 1899 – 25 May 1979) was an Italian-born race car driver and sports car manufacturer in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Biography

Gordini was born in Bazzano, currently part of the

Metropolitan City of Bologna The Metropolitan City of Bologna ( it, Città Metropolitana di Bologna) is a metropolitan city in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy. Its capital is ''de facto'' the city of Bologna, though the body does not explicitly outline it. It was created by ...

in the

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

region of northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. He was a young boy when he became fascinated with automobiles and racing. In his early teens, he worked as a mechanic for

Alfieri Maserati Alfieri Maserati (23 September 1887 – 3 March 1932) was an Italian automotive engineer, known for establishing and leading the Maserati racing car manufacturer with the other Maserati Brothers. Maserati was born in Voghera. In 1903 he and his ...

. After serving in the Italian army during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in 1926 he married and settled in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

: parenthood quickly followed. In France, he raced Fiat cars in Grand Prix motor racing events and at the

24 hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

. He was a particular fan of the Fiat Balilla, released in early 1932. Using a Balilla chassis he developed a unique roadster which he used in his first races. In 1934 Gordini approached

Henri Pigozzi Henri Théodore Pigozzi (born Enrico Teodoro Pigozzi; 26 June 1898, in Turin – 18 November 1964, in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a car merchant and industrialist who is best known for having founded Société Industrielle de Mécanique et Carrosserie A ...

, Fiat's French "General Representative". Pigozzi was a close friend and business partner of Giovanni Agnelli, Fiat's owner. Since 1928 Pigozzi had been assembling Fiats at

Suresnes Suresnes () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,145 as of 2016. The nearest communes are Nanterre, Puteaux, Rueil-Malmaison, Saint-Cloud a ...

, in France, using a combination of imported and locally sourced components. In November 1934 Pigozzi's Fiat assembly business relocated to larger premises at

Nanterre Nanterre (, ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, bordering t ...

, and out of this

Simca Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simca bough ...

was born. Gordini had already established a strong reputation as a racing driver and as an engineer with a specialist's understanding of Fiats. A bond between Gordini and Pigozzi existed naturally, partly because they were both Italian expatriates who had moved to France after the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. Gordini rapidly found himself the head of the Simca motor racing department. He quickly showed a flair for improving the performance from the cars' basic Fiat designed engines without incurring massive expenditure, acquiring the sobriquet "le sorcier de la mécanique" (''roughly "the mechanic- wizard"''), and staying with Simca till 1951. From the 1940s, his son Aldo joined his racing team as a mechanic and occasional driver. The break with Simca arose over the extent of the manufacturer's support for Simca-Gordini participation at the top level of motor racing, including Formula 1.http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/con-gordi.html In 1952 Gordini founded the independent

Gordini 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 b ...

company to build a line of sports cars for racing. In 1953 the government of France awarded Amédée Gordini the Legion of Honor. The cars that Gordini sent to the race track in Le Mans were very fast. Gordini's engine tuner, also called the “sorcerer”, breathed Grand Prix performance into regular engines - a feat no one believed possible. The Musée National de l'Automobile de Mulhouse in

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...

featuring the

Schlumpf Collection Schlumpf is a surname. It is also the German word for smurf. (See also the link to the Wiktionary entry and the German version of this page.) Notable people with the surname include: * Dominik Schlumpf (born 1991), Swiss professional ice hockey de ...

has in its collection Grand Prix and road racing cars of the Gordini brand. Exhibits include a type 16 Grand Prix from 1954, a single seater type 32 from 1956 and the Gordini 26 S, the car driven by the famous French author

Françoise Sagan Françoise Sagan (born Françoise Delphine Quoirez; 21 June 1935 – 24 September 2004) was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Sagan was known for works with strong romantic themes involving wealthy and disillusioned bourgeois chara ...

. Despite racing successes, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, obtaining adequate financial support for racing had become increasingly difficult, and the business struggled financially without the backing of Pigozzi. Timely salvation appeared in 1957 when

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

engaged Gordini. During the final two decades of his career his technical skills were combined with the financial muscle of France's largest automaker to give birth to a succession of performance versions of mass market cars, starting with the

Renault Dauphine The Renault Dauphine () is a rear-engined economy car manufactured by Renault in a single body style – a three-box, 4-door sedan – as the successor to the Renault 4CV; more than two million were manufactured during its 1956–1967 ...

and including the

Renault Caravelle The Renault Caravelle is a sports car manufactured and marketed by Renault for model years 1958–1968 in a single generation — as a rear-engine, rear-drive open two/four-seater designed by Pietro Frua of Carrozzeria Ghia, using the floorpa ...

Renault 5 Alpine Turbo The Renault 5 is a four-passenger, three or five-door, front-engine, front-wheel drive hatchback supermini manufactured and marketed by the French automaker Renault over two generations: 1972–1985 (also called R5) and 1984–1996 (also called Su ...

Renault 8 The Renault 8 (Renault R8 until 1964) and Renault 10 are two rear-engined, rear-wheel drive small family cars produced by the French manufacturer Renault in the 1960s and early 1970s. The 8 was launched in 1962, and the 10, a more upmarket ve ...

, Renault 12 and the

Renault 17 Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

. In Brazil, technical changes in the Brazilian version of

, manufactured by

Willys-Overland Willys (pronounced , "Willis" ) was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (MBs) ...

, caused the company to rename this car model in 1962, releasing it with the popular nickname

. Gordini died after several months of acute illness at the end of May 1979, in Paris, less than a month short of his eightieth birthday. He was buried in the

Montmartre Cemetery The Cemetery of Montmartre (french: link=no, Cimetière de Montmartre) is a cemetery in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France, that dates to the early 19th century. Officially known as the Cimetière du Nord, it is the third largest necropolis ...

. He died a few weeks too early to be present for the first Formula 1 victory of the Renault V6 turbo racing engine, developed by the Renault Sport division into which he had merged his own company, and which he had built up since 1969.

Sources and notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordini, Amedee 1899 births 1979 deaths Italian military personnel of World War I Italian emigrants to France French racing drivers French automotive pioneers Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers French founders of automobile manufacturers Italian founders of automobile manufacturers Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Formula One team owners Automotive businesspeople