(Find the Majorette Collection Renault 8 on Ebay here)
The 1:64 world never rests. Seemingly every passing day a new brand appears, the Mattel juggernaut rolls on, and the proliferation of increasingly cheap 3D printers means there’s a whole industry of small model makers filling the niches that the bigger brands simply won’t touch. In amongst the chaos, it would be easy to think there are scarcely any real cars left that haven’t been shrunk down to small scale.
There are also those cars which, after release, leave you pondering why they’d been missing from 1:64 scale in the first place. Case in point is the new Renault 8 Gordini from Majorette’s Collection series.
Released in 1964, the Gordini has rightly earned a reputation as one of Renault’s greatest sporting models. Powered by an enlarged 1108cc, 95bhp version of the standard model’s Cléon-Fonte engine, the Gordini also gained twin Solex carburettors, an uprated suspension setup, and a close-ratio four speed manual gearbox. Coupled with a low kerb weight, the upgrades turned the humdrum saloon into a seriously capable machine. On the rally stage, the “Gorde” shone, winning three consecutive Tour de Corse victories, along with a host of other successes across the globe, including the 1970 Australian Rally Championship. It proved a force on circuits too, especially in South Africa where Gordini cars frequently won trophies in the gruelling Kyalami 9-hour endurance race.
The Collection Gordini replicates a post-facelift 1966 model, complete with the newly added Cibié-Oscar driving lights. And the Majorette offering is (as far as I know) the only true 1:64 scale Gordini ever produced. In fact, it’s the only true 1:64 Renault 8 of any variety.
More pedantic Lamley followers reading this will be quick to point out the existence of the Norev Renault 8, Miniabox’s Swarovski-studded Gordini, and three or four of you may even know about the 8 replicated by Spanish brand Paya. But none of the above are true 1/64 (though the 1/66 Miniabox is close), something that as we all know holds a huge amount of importance to collectors.
And for the price (around £8 in the UK), the Gordini and the rest of the Collection range certainly offer more realism than similarly priced competitors in my opinion. Once you’re inside the updated colour-matched display case (since my first look at the line in 2025 Majorette have revised the base the car sits on) there are no cartoonish, exaggerated proportions that can blight some premium Hot Wheels, and there’s less of a reliance on pad-printed decals for detail. No Mattel “fuzz” here! And with Majorette utilising separate parts for lights, bumpers, mirrors etc., there’s more detail on show.
Most Collection cars retain the trademark Majorette suspension clip, but the Gordini is one of the few that go without, but to no detriment. Some models that retain the suspension like the Bugatti Veyron don’t roll quite so well due to the pressure of the clip pushing down on the axles. But on the Gordini the treaded rubber tyres roll nicely. But this leads me to a criticism: the wheels are a touch too big and the chrome finish is slightly anachronistic, but any confident diecast customiser can easily swap them out, especially with the base being screwed on rather than riveted.
US readers are starting to see Collection cars in Target and Walmart, whereas Lamley followers in the UK have noticed stocks in larger Asda and Sainsbury’s supermarkets, as well as some branches of The Entertainer. Stock can be patchy though, so Ebay is your safest bet to secure one of the standout additions to Majorette’s flagship range. Check the link at the top of the article to search the listings!
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