The Gordini of his childhood

Just two months after we said goodbye to our green 1962 Dauphine, another car has come into our lives. This time, it’s a Gordini, the most powerful version of the Dauphine ever produced by FASA.

One of the reasons we bought our previous Dauphine was that my brother-in-law, Pep, had fond memories of the Gordini that Francisco, his godfather, used to drive up to the village every Christmas to bring him his Christmas bonus. It was a light grey 1964 model.

This very Christmas, after lengthy negotiations, Pep has managed to get his hands on that very Gordini from his childhood. When Francisco passed away, the car – by then little more than a relic – was inherited by his nephew, who entrusted its restoration to his own son-in-law. Unfortunately, a lack of experience soon brought the project to a halt. Undoing the damage caused by this ill-fated restoration will require considerable skill and patience, particularly when it comes to sorting out the door hinges. At present, not a single door fits properly.

At first glance, the car appears to be in very good condition. The bodywork has all the charm of a classic car, with no obvious signs of rust or major dents – or, as we might say nowadays, no major battle scars. It has also retained a lovely, authentic patina. Interestingly, it is fitted with yellow headlight bulbs, just like French cars of the period. The areas where corrosion typically takes hold, such as the wheel arches and window surrounds, are in good condition. Unfortunately, being the range-topping version, the Gordini had carpets covering both the passenger compartment floor and the boot. These have trapped moisture and allowed rust to spread in those areas.

Mechanically, the Gordini seems to be in reasonable shape. It has covered 109,000 km, and it appears that the engine was replaced with a second-hand unit in good condition at around the 90,000 km mark. The Gordini shares the same engine capacity as the other Dauphines; its extra power comes from modifications to the cylinder head and valve timing, together with a larger carburettor. One detail that distinguishes it from the other versions is the rocker cover: chrome-plated and bearing the letter ‘G’ for Gordini, rather than the green cover stamped with the name ‘Ventoux’ found on the standard Dauphine.

Most of this Gordini’s kilometres were clocked up on short journeys around the Marina region, with the occasional trip to Gandía or Alicante. Francisco owned a bar, and when the car was collected, we found some old forms authorising the transport of spirits in the glove compartment. Given the Dauphine’s limited boot space, the roof rack must have come in very handy.

Francisco was also involved in honey production, which explains why family members still remember a particularly memorable trip to Guadarrama in the Gordini, along with three or four other journeys into the province of Cuenca to check on the beehives. The hives were moved from one area to another at different times of the year. Since Francisco was not particularly experienced when it came to long-distance driving, my brother-in-law’s father took the wheel of the Dauphine on these trips.

The car cannot have been started for more than five or six years, when it was taken out for a parade during the village festivities. To be honest, the thought of anyone daring to drive it in its current condition is rather alarming, given the state of the steering and tyres. This was the only car Francisco ever owned, and he continued driving it until the early 1990s. Despite all those years on the road, it seems that it never even passed an MOT test.

During the attempted restoration, the rear window was broken. Fortunately, a replacement was found, complete with new rubber seals. Given the shape of the window and how hard and brittle the original seals tend to become over time, removing it without breaking it must be quite a challenge.

Getting the car out of its hiding place and loading it onto the trailer proved more difficult than expected. One of the front wheels had seized, so we had to push the Gordini, leaving a rubber mark on the ground in the process. Luckily, we were only 10 km from home, and the car was soon on its way to its new resting place.

Getting the car out of its hiding place and loading it onto the trailer proved more difficult than expected. One of the front wheels had seized, so we had to push the Gordini, leaving a rubber mark on the ground in the process.

Luckily, we were only 10 km from home, and the car was soon on its way to its new resting place.

You may also read this post in Catalan and Spanish

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