This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Renault 8 Gordini racing and road car which was the high performance equivalent of today's Renaultsport cars - built to provide the ultimate in performance and driving pleasure. To pay homage to these remarkable cars, which were distinguished by their bright Racing Blue paintwork and twin white stripes over the top of the car, these two special options are now available on the new Clio Renaultsport 182.

The Clio Renaultsport 182 is a remarkable car and as such a worthy distant successor to the Gordinis of the '60s and 70s. The distinctive Racing Blue paintwork is available as a no cost option and only with this colour is the option of twin Competition Stripes over the bonnet, roof and tailgate to give that Gordini look in 2004.

The Renault 8 Gordini provided dramatic performance in its day, sufficient in fact to win the Tour de Course rally on its first outing. Whilst the standard Renault 8 had a 956cc or 1108cc engine the Gordini was powered by a 1255cc engine with nearly twice the power. Consequently top speed went up from 81mph to 106mph whilst the standing 0-62mph time nearly halved from 22.3 seconds to only 12.3 seconds.

The new Clio Renaultsport 182 clearly upholds the tradition of its stablemate from 40 years earlier. With a 2-litre engine, the Clio 182 has more than double the power of the 1.2 16V version which powers a lot of regular European-spec Clios. Performance is equally scorching and the Gordini wouldn't see which way the Clio went. The Renaultsport 182 shows the Gordini the way home with a 0-62mph accelerationnn in only 7.1 seconds. That's 40 years worth of technical improvement for you - and this is from a cleaner more economical engine.

It's unlikely the Clio Renaultsport 182 will come to Australia.