ALCONI TO RS

The recent introduction of the latest Mégane RS Trophy model from Renault Sport in South Africa rekindles memories of the tuning business that, 55 years ago, established the French brand’s performance credentials in South Africa and led to an upsurge of Renault 8 and 10 sales in the country.

While Gordini and Alpine were instrumental in the international motorsport successes of Renault from the 1950s up to the 1970s, it was Alconi, a name combination of the founders, John Conchie and Eric ‘Puddles’ Adler, that created a lasting performance legacy locally for the Diamond brand.

It started when the pair, trading as Alconi Developments, developed the venerable R8 into a winning saloon car racer. The local Renault subsidiary was so impressed with this performance version of the 8 (model 1132) and 10 (model 1190) that it was assembled in East London and sold new as the Renault Alconi through their local dealer network – covered by a full factory warranty…

ALCONI BLUE

Assembly and production of the first batch of 50 Alconi R8 vehicles started towards the end of 1964 and early 1965. A “French Racing Blue” colour was chosen but somehow the paint shop at the plant got the mix wrong, resulting in a bluishpurple hue. This became known as “Alconi blue” and all future R8 Alconis were made in this colour, while the R10s featured other colours as well.

The Alconi upgrades resulted in a power increase to 51 kW and performance close to that of the R8 Gordini 1100 and midway between the standard 8 and Gordini 1,255 cc. It sprinted from zero to 100 km/h in 12 seconds and could reach a top speed of 156 km/h. Around 500 Alconis were retailed, as well as numerous performance upgrade kits sold over the Renault parts counters.

GIANT-KILLERS

With their active racing and rallying sponsorship programme, offering a multitude of Alconi and Gordini race components, Renault (Africa) substantially increased its local sales. Numerous endurance and class race wins by the Alconi and Gordini R8s, including some real giant-killing feats, and rally domination established the small cars’ performance credentials.

LAST WORD

Alconi stopped trading in the early 1970s and in 1976 the Gordini and Alpine competition departments were merged to form Renault Sport, with the first Mégane RS seeing the light in 2004. Alconi cars left a lasting impression on the local performance scene, and these models are now highly sought-after collector items.

Perhaps Renault should again consider an Alconi version to supplement their RS model range?