Technology in race cars (51): Sacha-Gordine - ready for the movies

Created on April 22, 2025

Text:

Gerhard Schütz

Photos:

Archiv Gerhard Schütz

Sacha-Gordine (1953) - Presentation at the press event in the workshop

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - The driver sits almost as low as ten years later in the Lotus 25

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - Three men and their baby: Naris Perkins, Sacha Gordine, Cesare Vigna (from left)

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - A free-thinking team: Perkins (left) and Vigna

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - The model: This car would not have had to hide even in the sixties

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - The cooling air inlets on the model

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - Ventilation of the rear through eight holes in the bodywork

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - Ladder frame with grille for the bodywork

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - Elegantly disguised technology. The central filler neck for the two side tanks in front of the driver

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - Fully packed central engine rear. Elaborate struts in the side tank

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - Front axle: independent suspension with transverse torsion bars

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - Separate water coolers with exhaust air ducting at the side behind the front wheels

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - De-Dion tube and filigree trailing arms made of cast magnesium for low unsprung masses

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - The magnesium engine block of the 1.5-liter V8

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - crankcase. In the foreground the installation opening for the two oil pumps (dry sump lubrication)

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - Crankshaft bearing with integrated lubrication

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - Chassis from behind with the two exhaust air ducts

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - Elaborate steering linkage. The ventilation hoods for the extra-large drum brakes are also clearly visible

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - A thoughtful Sacha Gordine studies the drive: clutch housing, transverse gearbox, differential housing above and flanges for the half shafts

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - Even a racing transporter for the "Ecurie Sacha-Gordine Paris" was already being considered...

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Sacha-Gordine (1953) - sports car vision, coachbuilt by Michelotti

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Summary

Reinventing the racing car - this motif runs through the entire history of racing car technology right up to the 1980s. One person who tried it back in 1953 was the French film producer Sacha Gordine. Together with a former Porsche engineer, he created an impressively advanced racing car - which never drove a single race.

This article contains the following chapters

All new
Chassis
Chassis
Engine
Cooling - a unique selling point
Drive
Abrupt unhappy end
Attention: Danger of confusion!

Estimated reading time: 6min

Preview (beginning of the article)

France is the motherland of motor racing. The first major car race took place in France. French racing cars were very successful until the 1930s. Just think of the many years of dominance of the Bugatti 35. However, they increasingly fell behind against the politically supported Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union in Germany and Alfa Romeo in Italy. The project to create a national racing car in France in the 1930s also failed miserably. After the world war, Gordini and Talbot kept the blue flag flying high. In 1956, Bugatti made a huge attempt in its final stages with the revolutionary Type 251 ( including a central transverse engine, De Dion axles front and rear), but failed at its debut in Reims and disappeared from the scene.

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