Amédée Gordini

Who was Amédée Gordini?

Amédée Gordini was an Italian-born race car driver and sports car manufacturer in France.

Gordini was born in Bazzano, Province of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. 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. After serving in the Italian army during World War I, in 1926 he married and settled in Paris, France: parenthood quickly followed. Based in France, he raced Fiat cars in Grand Prix motor racing events and at the 24 hours of Le Mans. 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, Fiat's French "General Representative". Pigozzi was a close friend and business partner of Giovanni Agnelli: the Agnellis owned Fiat. Since 1928 Pigozzi had been assembling Fiats at Suresnes, 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, and out of this Simca 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 natural bond between Gordini and Pigozzi existed naturally, partly because they were both Italian expatriates who had moved to France after the war. 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 soubriquet "le sorcier de la mechanique", and staying with Simca till 1951. From the 1940s, his son Aldo joined his racing team as a mechanic and occasional driver.