Bleu de France: ’65 Renault Gordini Replica
Well, this is a first for us at Mint. Although it isn’t a real Gordini, it is the next best thing. The Renault R8 succeeded the Dauphine but shared the same concept of lightweight, rear engine and rear wheel drive. The folks at Renault knew racing sells cars so they latched on to Gordini to help them prepare performance models and win races. Sort of like a French Carroll Shelby. And boy were they successful. Renaults were the giant killers of the day along with the Mini Coopers with an opposite engineering strategy. In 1965 in the tough Tour de Corse with its bumpy, twisty roads, the R8 Gordini actually won ahead of a works Alpine A110. The seller of this replica has an eye for details and we applaud that. Today’s featured car has mostly period correct accessories/equipment and we have some experience knowing how difficult that can be to source. Decked out in period livery, sporting Cibie driving lights, cooler-then-heck wheels, this is one bundle of fun. We like the Bleu de France exterior color and by coincidence it is the proper color for almost all French racing cars. This one will be fun to watch. All we know is that it will be less expensive than a real Gordini historic rally car. Click here for the listing.