Awesome car.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp5uT1n6 ... re=related
I loved all these small Renault 5 hot hatches from the late 70's and 80's when turbocharging was all the fashion with Renault and their F1 cars.
My late brother and I were responsible for the 1979 Renault 5 Gordini coming on to the UK market when in 1977/8, we had a 5TS converted to a 5 Alpine by California engineer James Rawlings's outfit Renaultsport in Egham,Surrey. He is back in the USA now.
Motor and Autosport magazines tested the car in 1978 and then people called Renault in Acton and asked if they could get one. The bosses at Renault then decided to bring the car to the UK in 1979 as a Gordini because Chrysler had the Alpine name pre-registered.
It was great fun that car because apart from a few LHD Golf GTI's, there were no other hot hatches in the UK during that year and a half.
We went on to buy two factory Gordini's after we sold the converted car.
So you could say that we were partly responsible for the 'Hot Hatch' revolution here in the UK.
Happy motoring memories as we all have ...
PS. I'll dig out a foto of the Alpine called 'Yellow Peril' in due course.
