Like many Gordini barquette sports-racers, chassis number 018 is a former single-seater, one of the five Type 11 chassis built in 1946 and 1947.
On July 18, 1947, at the Reims ACF Grand Prix, 04GC was driven by the future quintuple Formula One World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
For the beginning of the 1952 season, Gordini 04GC, fitted with a Type-18 twin-cam engine, was leased to Prince Bira. It was totally disassembled in Gordini’s premises in Paris. All the Type-15S-specific parts were welded onto the chassis, and a new purpose-built barquette (spider) body fitted. This chassis was then renumbered as 18, received the Type 18 engine (number 21) and was registered as 4098-BH-75 on June 12, 1952, ready to start a new life. There are only two Gordini “Sports” left in France in private collections. Gordini 18S is the only 4-cylinder barquette available for sale; the other is the property of the Schlumpf Collection/Cité de l’Automobile in Mulhouse.