Renault has been steadily mining its back catalogue for new ideas. Its latest one-off turns to one of the most important performance names in the company’s history. The Renault 8 Gordini Concept is a two-seat electric coupé that reinterprets the original rear-wheel-drive icon through a modern rally-inspired lens.

The Gordini story stretches back more than six decades. Amédée Gordini first worked with Renault on the Dauphine Gordini in 1957, but the Renault 8 Gordini of 1964 established the formula more clearly. With its rear-mounted engine, rear-wheel drive and distinctive double white stripes, it became an accessible performance car and an important training ground for drivers including Jean Ragnotti.

The new concept exaggerates those familiar proportions. Measuring 4.12 metres long, 1.88 metres wide and just 1.27 metres tall, it sits low and wide on 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels. Squared-off arches, a broad track and a muscular rear section reference the original car’s rear-engine layout, while six round headlights reinterpret the rally lamps seen on period competition cars. Carbon is used for the bodywork, which is finished in a three-layer blue inspired by Bleu de France.

Renault describes the styling as having a café-racer spirit, with unnecessary trim stripped away and historic references worked directly into the body. Even the familiar Gordini double stripe becomes part of the structure, continuing through exterior elements and into the cabin.

The 270 hp electric drivetrain drives the rear wheels, maintaining one of the defining characteristics of the original Renault 8 Gordini despite the completely different source of propulsion.

The cabin continues the pared-back approach with brushed aluminium, Alcantara, blue corduroy-trimmed bucket seats and digital instrumentation presented through round displays.

The Renault 8 Gordini Concept remains a one-off design study rather than a production preview, but it will join Renault’s heritage collection after its tour of public appearances.