Gordini Type 15S
Amédée Gordini — 'Le Sorcier' (The Sorcerer) — was one of the most remarkable figures in French motorsport history. An Italian immigrant who settled in Paris, Gordini possessed an almost supernatural ability to extract extraordinary performance from ordinary components. The Type 15S, built in the immediate post-war years, was the car that established his legend.
The Type 15S was based on the Fiat 1100 — a humble Italian family car that, in standard form, was about as far from a racing car as could be imagined. But Gordini's modifications transformed the little four-cylinder engine beyond recognition. Through careful porting, revised valve timing, increased compression, and meticulous attention to every component, Gordini extracted 75 horsepower from just 1,089cc — an extraordinary specific output for the late 1940s and from technology that was fundamentally pre-war.
The chassis was equally transformed. Gordini built a lightweight tubular frame and clothed it in a streamlined aluminum body that weighed barely more than a bicycle. The total car weighed approximately 525 kg — an astonishing figure that meant even the modest engine could propel the Type 15S to 175 km/h. The car was nimble, responsive, and capable of embarrassing much more powerful machinery on twisting circuits.
Gordini raced the Type 15S himself and through a small team of drivers in the late 1940s, competing in French and European racing events. The cars were perennial giant-killers, regularly finishing ahead of larger-engined rivals through a combination of lightweight construction, mechanical reliability (most of the time), and the sheer determination of Gordini and his tiny team. The sight of the blue Gordini cars punching above their weight became one of the defining images of post-war French motorsport.
Gordini's workshop on the Boulevard Victor in Paris was legendary — a cramped, chaotic space where genius and poverty coexisted. The team perpetually ran on a shoestring budget, with Gordini often making parts himself when he could not afford to buy them. The Type 15S cars were constantly being modified, rebuilt, and improved, meaning that no two were exactly alike.
The Type 15S led directly to the later Gordini racing cars, including the Formula One machines of the 1950s, and established the relationship with Renault that would produce the legendary Gordini-tuned road cars. Today, surviving Type 15S cars are priceless pieces of French motorsport heritage.
The Gordini Type 15S is an ultra-rare historic racing car. Authentication is the critical concern — with so few built and continuous modification during their racing lives, establishing the provenance of any specific chassis requires expert research. The Fiat-based engine components are simpler to source than might be expected, but Gordini's modifications were unique. The lightweight aluminum body is vulnerable to damage and corrosion. These cars surface very rarely at auction — when they do, they are events in themselves. The French historic motorsport community and Gordini registry are essential resources. Any purchase should be accompanied by thorough historical research.
The exact number of Gordini Type 15S cars built is not precisely documented — Gordini's workshop records were incomplete, and cars were constantly being rebuilt and modified. It is believed that between 6 and 10 Type 15S chassis were constructed between 1946 and 1950. The cars were hand-built at Gordini's workshop on Boulevard Victor in Paris. Some chassis were rebuilt into later specifications (Type 16, Type 17) as the team evolved its designs. Surviving examples are among the rarest French racing cars in existence.