Amédée Gordini

Italian born French tuner and constructor, the sorcerer of engines, whose Gordini team raced in the early World Championship

Amédée Gordini

Italian born French tuner and constructor, the sorcerer of engines, whose Gordini team raced in the early World Championship

Amedeo Gordini was born in Bazzano, near Bologna, and as a young teenager was already working on cars for Alfieri Maserati. After army service for Italy in the First World War, he settled in Paris in 1926 and raced Fiats in Grands Prix and at Le Mans.

Henri Pigozzi made him head of Simca's racing department, and his talent for extracting performance from modest engines earned him the nickname the sorcerer of mechanics. He stayed with Simca until 1951, then in 1952 founded his own Gordini company to build racing cars, and France awarded him the Legion of Honor in 1953. Money remained short, and in 1957 Renault engaged him. He died in Paris in May 1979, weeks before Renault's turbo engine, developed by the division his company had merged into, won its first Grand Prix.

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