THE ALPINE-GORDINI V8

Réédition partielle de la collection Alpine Renault - Construisez l’Alpine A110 1600S Berlinette

THE PERFECT ALLIANCE

Throughout the 1960s, Alpine's appetite for racing continued to grow, but it wasn't until the arri-val of Amédée Gordini's V8 engine that victories finally arrived.

Before refocusing successfully, Alpine was involved in all aspects of motor sport: rallying, of course, but also speed and endurance, with the 24 Hours of Le Mans as its benchmark event, at which the team entered as a near-neighbour in 1963. The small four-cylinder engine of the M63 ('M' for Le Mans, '63' for the year), with its 1,000 cm3 and 95 bhp, was not sufficient enough to win a scratch race against the Ferraris, but the car was well made and gave cause for optimism.

The car did evolve, however: 1,150 cm3 and 105 bhp for the M64, 1,300 for the M65. But by 1965, rumours were circulating that Gordini was preparing a V8 for Alpine!

In the Sorcerer's lair...

For 1966, the cars' names changed (see textbox). The new A210 was still a 1300, but its V8 engine was no longer a secret. At the time, Amédée Gordini had not yet produced his first eight-cylinder en-gine; he had in fact been testing all kinds of mechanical solutions in his Parisian lair: 4, 6 or 8 cylin-ders, tumbled valve train, single or double overhead camshafts, with all kinds of different bore × stroke ratios... In 1953, Gordini experimented with a 3-litre in-line eight-cylinder engine developing 265 bhp for use in single-seater Grand Prix racing. So in 1965, this was not his first attempt at design-ing an engine for Alpine. It was a 90° V8, with a single crankshaft ("double-crankshaft" V-engines are rare, but they do exist), with four crankpins offset by 180° and turning on five bearings, topped by two cylinder heads with double overhead camshafts. One of its distinctive features was the fact that the camshafts were driven by pinions from the crankshaft, then by a chain running up to the cylinder heads. Gordini claimed an impressive 311 bhp at 7,800 rpm with two valves per cylinder, and 356 bhp at 8,400 rpm with four valves. However, it would never hold up at maximum revs!

The Alpine Renault A211 with its V8 Gordini engine, pictured here in 1967 at Montlhéry. With Mauro Bianchi or Henri Grandsire at the wheel. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Renault D.R.

The V8's first roar

It was in 1967 that Alpine was finally able to test the V8 engine. It was installed in a converted A210 to accommodate an engine that was almost twice as heavy and more than twice as powerful as the four-cylinder engine that powered it up until that point; it has to be said that the chassis was largely underused at the time. The traditional A210 was equipped with a 1,500 cm3 engine, with good results at the Le Mans 24 Hours, thus the V8-engined prototype was given the unofficial name of A211, meanwhile chassis engineers Marcel Hubert and Richard Bouleau were working on plans for the fu-ture A220, the Alpine designed to house a V8 engine from the very beginning. In the magazine Rétroviseur in 2006, driver Mauro Bianchi explained that, during the first tests, he had asked Amédée Gordini about the maximum revs allowed; he was told 8,000 rpm. Whereupon, he set off for a session and promptly broke the engine. With it replaced, he asked the same question again, which this time resulted in a cautious "7,500 rpm". He returned to the track... and broke again, after a slightly longer session. In the end, the revs at which the engine remained more or less reliable were around 7,000/7,200 rpm, i.e. considerably lower than what was supposed to give full power. As a result, the theoretical 310bhp was reduced to a more realistic 250bhp, almost 100bhp less than the very best! Still, it was regrettable that the new regulations limiting the displacement of prototypes to 3 litres for-tunately worked out in its favour.

Lack of development

In the end, the problem was more the limited capacities of the small factory than the shortcomings of its cars. By trying to do three things at once - single-seaters, endurance and rallies - Alpine was una-ble to be effective in all areas. The reliability of the V8 engine and its development suffered, as did the chassis, an area in which the Dieppe-based firm excelled. The A220 turned out to be too heavy, 100 kg heavier than the Porsche, not to mention too hastily prepared, since, as had become a sad habit at Alpine, it was ready only a short time before the preliminary tests for the 1968 Le Mans 24 Hours. The inevitable happened: the cars broke down, and worse still, Mauro Bianchi - who teamed up with the young Patrick Depailler in 1968 - was involved in a serious accident in his A220. Team morale was low, and it was no better the following year, when all four A220s entered had to withdraw. This was Alpine's last appearance with this generation of cars, Renault decided that its credibility was at stake after all these disappointments. The brand would return to Le Mans with different ambitions a few years later, but that would be a different generation of Alpine, and a different story altogether.

Forty years later...

In the end, Renault's decision to halt the A220 programme meant that development of the car, and in particular its engine, was stopped. As it happened, a passionate and competent collector was able to continue the development work on a surviving and restored A220: the chassis was optimised, as were the engine cooling radiators - overheating was one of the problems with the V8. The engine was en-trusted to Sodemo, a well-known company specialised in contemporary competition engines, particu-larly for Renault and Peugeot, with a vintage branch that restored old engines. Sodemo was thus able to complete the development of the Gordini V8, a process that had been completed too early. Amédée Gordini was right: his engine was capable of delivering 310 bhp without weakening - now that's a fact!

For more information...

1973, World Rally Championship

When Jean Rédélé had the idea for his first car, he had his eye on competition. The A106 was pow-ered by a Renault 4CV engine, and was nicknamed the "Mille Miles". Immediately, an 845 cm3 engine from the Dauphine Gordini (35 bhp DIN at 5,000 rpm) was used as a back-up. The year was 1958 and, despite the car's more than flattering results, Régie Renault kept a distant eye on its career. It had to be said that the car industry was in the middle of a 'boom', and there was no need to force the market to sell more and more cars. There was no need to push too hard to sell an ever-increasing number of cars. People wanted to enjoy the laurels of competition victory, but without any ostentation, and above all with a minimum of investment! Following the launch of the R8 in 1962, and the supply of its internal components to Jean Rédélé, the Dieppe-based manufacturer launched the A110, the evolution of the A108. The parts included four disc brakes and a five-bearing engine. Mignotet, the company's in-house tuner, fitted the 1,100 cm3 engine, which was increased to 80 bhp, enabling the Berlinette to win a number of championships during the season. Amédée Gordini then took charge of inflating the famous R8s that carried the same name, and the various upgrades (up to 1,600 cm3) were tested jointly by the Renault and Alpine racing departments, who had formed a close working relationship.

Finally reliable, the Berlinette A110 1800 enabled Alpine to win its first World Rally Championship title in 1973. Bernard Darniche dominated the Moroccan Rally and took an undisputed victory. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Renault D.R. / Archives et Collections

EVOLUTIONS

In 1971, the European Championship was won in style by Alpine, with drivers including Andersson, Darniche and Nicolas. The revamped 1600 S (derived from the R16 TS) performed extremely well, the handling was unrivalled, and the competition team led by Jacques Cheinisse was organised to perfec-tion. The next year, Mignotet switched from 1,600 and 1,680 cm3 engines to 1,800 cm3 engines. The figures speak for themselves: 1,796 cm3, 170 bhp DIN at 7,200 rpm and a torque of 19.5 mkg at 5,200 rpm, 685 kg. But the 1972 season revealed a chronic weakness in the gearboxes, which were ill-suited to this ratio of weight to power to torque. It was not until the end of the season that the rein-forced gearbox of the new R12 Gordinis was used. Tests at the end of the season were more than encouraging, and it was with great expectations that the newly formed Alpine-Renault team started competing in the brand new World Rally Championship (WRC) in 1973. The Manufacturers' title was awarded at the end of the season, prior to the introduction of the Drivers' and Co-drivers' champion-ship in 1979.

Snow tyres were not allowed during the Monte Carlo Rally. For this first event of the season, Alpine monopolised the podium. Andersson and co-driver Jean Todt, pictured here in action on a thick layer of snow, finished second. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Renault D.R. / Archives et Collections

THE 1800

The A110 1800 Berlinette will only be available in a racing version. The factory lines up its Group IV cars with sharpened versions and an unbeatable power-to-weight ratio (185 bhp, 650 to 700 kg de-pending on the rally). They were called A110 bis. Weight was drastically reduced, and the bodywork components, made of fibreglass and polyester resin, were slimmed down to the maximum. So much so that the bonnets and roof are no longer suitable to sit on! The wings have been widened, and front deflectors and even a spoiler have been added, while the headlights have been streamlined. The door handles have been replaced by push-buttons to save even more weight. The Weber twin-barrel carburettors were replaced by fuel injection, which made it possible to increase power. The rear drivetrain with double wishbones was adopted from the A310 to improve grip. The R12 Gordini gear-box with reinforced gears was approved, while the disc brakes came from the R16. Throughout the season, three different types of bodywork would be on display. The driver line-up was made up of three musketeers: Bernard 'La Luge' Darniche, Jean-Pierre 'Jumbo' Nicolas and Jean-Luc 'Le Fox' Thérier, with occasional contributions from Jean-Claude 'La Panique' Andruet, Sweden's Ove Anders-son and Jean-François Piot. The Championship consisted of thirteen events, but Alpine-Renault only contested ten of them, with the classification based on the nine best results.

Jean-Luc Thérier in action during the Rally of Portugal. He masterfully secured one of his three wins of the season. As you can see, he made full use of the Berlinette's exceptional manoeuvrability... in front of an audience that was little aware of the danger. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Renault D.R. / Archives et Collections

THE EVENTS

The 1973 season began with a magnificent result at the Monte Carlo Rally for Renault-Alpine. But three weeks later, Sweden brought snow and ice, and the drivers from the north of France were play-ing in their own backyard, especially as studded tyres were not allowed! The first Alpine to finish on the podium was Jean-Luc Thérier, behind the Saabs of Blomqvist and Eklund. In Portugal, from March 13 to 18, Alpine would have scored a hat-trick of victories had not Darniche, who dominated the event, been so unlucky. In the end, Thérier won ahead of Nicolas. With the team having skipped the East African Safari, everyone met up again in Morocco in May. Out of 66 cars, only 13 made it to the finish, including the three Alpines that were entered. Darniche won, Nicolas finished fifth and Thé-rier was seventh. It was in Greece, for the Acropolis, that the caravan met up again two weeks later. Jean-Luc Thérier caused quite a stir. Leading from start to finish, he finished more than seven minutes ahead of the Fiat 124 Spider driven by Finnish driver Aaltonen. Nicolas, after a fantastic re-covery following clutch problems, finished in third place. The Alpine-Renault team did not take part in the next two rallies. Waldegard dominated the Alps in Austria in his BMW, before being declassified. Darniche claimed first place and Nicolas finished just off the podium. During the San Remo from 10 to 13 October, Thérier reminded his rivals of his success. He "killed" the race from the very first special stage, and increased his lead even though it was Fiat's territory which, with Verini's 124, finished sec-ond ahead of Nicolas' Alpine. The season ended in Corsica on December 5 and 6, 1973. Darniche, who was driving a 1600 S version, withdrew due to mechanical problems, but the Alpines triumphed again, monopolising the podium (Nicolas, Piot and Thérier). At the end of the season, Alpine won its first Manufacturers' World Championship title. With seven wins and 160 points, the brand was ahead of Fiat and Ford. Jean-Luc Thérier was crowned French Rally Champion, and if the world Drivers' title had been awarded (it was created in 1979), he would also have won it!

AMÉDÉE'S TRICKS

Amédée Gordini never had the resources of a big factory, but throughout his life he had to fight against others who did. Gordini had to use his ingenuity and even his genius - he wasn't called the sorcerer for nothing - to compensate for the practical facilities he lacked, whether with Simca or later with Renault via Alpine. Where Ferrari and Porsche, for example, employed daring solutions because their factories could make all sorts of parts and afford to carry out numerous tests, Gordini had to keep things simple in his workshop, which was certainly well-equipped, but unsophisticated.

Gordini engines all share this hardiness that came from their humble origins, since most of them were originally mass-produced engines (Simca, then Renault 8) that had been reworked and modified. Gordini specialised in the use of double cylinder heads as a replacement for the crude original 'tum-bled' cylinder heads. However, as there was no factory available to cast such a cylinder head, it was practically hand-made, using a very special way of stamping steel parts.

NUMBERS AND LETTERS

It was in 1966 that the name of the Alpine endurance cars was unified with the other production sports cars. Up to then, the Le Mans prototypes had carried the letter M followed by the year of use, but the trouble was that, very often, older models were being driven; for example, the M63 competed not only in 1963, but also the following year... and again in 1965! Moreover, in single-seaters and rallies, the names of Alpine cars were given the letter A followed by a code (A270 for the F2s, for ex-ample, or... A110 for the Berlinettes). It was therefore decided to rename the M65 the A210, so there would never be an M66.