Bleu de France paint, two white stripes, six round headlights: the "Gorde" is back. Unveiled on 24 September 2026 at the Renault parade and then shown at the Paris Motor Show in October, the Renault 8 Gordini Concept reinvents the 1960s rally saloon as a rear-wheel-drive electric coupé. What it takes from the original, what it changes, and why the R8 Gordini remains a legend.
The R8 Gordini, the school of a whole generation
Launched in 1964, the R8 Gordini turned a rear-engined family saloon into an affordable racing car. Amédée Gordini tuned the small 1,108 cc four-cylinder, rated at 95 hp under the SAE standard of the time. In 1967 came the 1300 version, recognisable by its four headlights, with a five-speed gearbox. Its colours never changed: Bleu de France with two white stripes along its full length.
From 1966, the Coupe Gordini made the R8 the "school car" of a whole generation of French drivers, Jean Ragnotti among them. Engine and driven wheels at the rear, low weight, disc brakes on all four wheels: the Gorde taught people to drive fast, sometimes the hard way, in rallies and on circuits alike.
A rear-wheel-drive electric coupé
The concept keeps the spirit, not the four-door body. It is a two-seater coupé 4.12 m long, 1.88 m wide and only 1.27 m high. Its 270 hp electric motor drives the rear wheels, just as the original's engine did. The 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels, larger at the back, echo the R8's "everything at the rear" layout.
Renault says the car was created entirely in-house: an internal competition, more than 300 sketches, two 2/5 scale models, then a synthesis of the two. The spirit is that of a "café racer", as on the R5 Turbo 3E. A racing car detail: the front section has no bonnet shut lines and comes off in one piece.
Nods to the original
- six round headlights built into the front end, recalling the extra lamps of the rally R8s;
- the twin white stripe, now structural: grilles and lights line up on it, and it continues in blue on the dashboard cowl;
- a tri-coat pearl Bleu de France;
- striated Gordini lettering and a new "8" emblem made of eight segments;
- the waistline embossing, which now guides air towards a vent;
- rectangular wheel arches, bullet mirrors and a full-width bonnet grille.
Inside: blue on the dashboard
The cabin continues the theme: the blue stripe from the body carries on across the dashboard cowl, above the steering wheel and round-dial instruments. Colours and materials are by Thomas Altet and the exterior design by Kévin Goncalves, under design director Alexandre Malval.
What next?
Renault is not talking about production: the concept will join the future Collections Renault museum at Flins, due to open in about fifteen months. It follows the R17 electric restomod made with Ora Ïto and the R5 Diamant. For enthusiasts, above all it shows that the Gordini heritage still matters at Renault, sixty years after the first Coupes.
Stripes and badges are part of the identity of sporting Renaults. We remake the original graphics of the R5 Alpine and R5 Turbo to order, direct heirs to the Gordini spirit.
Sources: Renault press release of 24 September 2026. Images: media.renault.com, credits under each image.