MATRA 670. The name Matra derives from Mecanique-Aviation-Traction, a firm which made aircraft fusel

The refreshing thing about Matra was that they were so completely new to motor racing. They had no distinguished reputation or pedigree as automobile makers; they were aerospace, rocket and military equipment specialists who joined the car industry almost by chance.

Yet when they decided to go motor racing, primarily to publicise their name internationally, they did it with most impressive efficiency, defeated the establishment, and brought France back to the summit in a sport she used to dominate.

The name Matra derives from Mecanique-Aviation-Traction, a firm which made aircraft fuselages and other parts by sub-contract, then switched after the war to guided missiles and other complex devices demanding ultra-accurate manufacture. As they thrived, SA Engins Matra diversified widely, just one sideline being plastics. Among their many customers for these was Rene Bonnet, the "B" in the DB sports car concern and subsequent builder of a Renault-engined sports coupe, the Rene Bonnet Djet.

As a friend, Matra's chief Marcel Chassagny had put some money into Bonnet's struggling business, and when more and more was needed to keep it afloat, Matra were almost obliged to take the outfit over. Thus, late in 1964, one of France's biggest aerospace enterprises found itself with a car division building Matra Djets.

A new Taunus-engined model, the 530, followed, and next their energetic and far-sighted manager Jean-Luc Lagardere had them making a Formula 3 monocoque single-seater. This was extremely well designed and built, and was soon winning races, to the delight of the patriotic French.

Next Matra advanced swiftly into 2 litre sports car racing and Formula 2, then Formula 1, with substantial aid from the French Government and the state-owned Elf petroleum company. When announcing this intoxicating news in Paris early in 1967, Lagardere boldly added that Matra had two ambi-tions: the 1969 World Championship, and outright victory at Le Mans in 1970 with 100 per cent French cars.

He was over-optimistic; a Matra certainly took Jackie Stewart to the 1969 World Championship, but it had a Cosworth-Ford engine, not a Matra. And it was not until 1972 that they cracked the tough Le Mans nut, although they then atoned by winning it three times in succession and added two World Manu-facturers' Championships as well. To achieve their 100 per cent French victory, Matra had to have an engine.

After tentative early sports car dabbles in 1966 and 1967 with 2 litre BRM and 4.7 litre Ford V8 engines, they commis-sioned a specialist concern, Moteur Moderne, to build and develop an all-new 3 litre V12 unit designed by Georges Martin.

This was to serve both in Formula 1 single-seaters and in proto-type sports cars and the basic specifica-tion, with 60 degree cylinder banks, wet liners, 4ohc, four valves per cylinder and seven-bearing crankshaft, was redolent both of Ferrari and BRM V12 practice.

The workmanship, however, was superb, and initial power output encouraging at 385bhp at 9,500rpm. The unit was installed in an ungainly coupe, the Type MS630, on which non-French components included Lucas fuel injection, a ZF five-speed gearbox, ATE disc brakes and Goodyear tyres. So sports car racing gained a thrilling new exhaust note and some French blue to offset the preponderant reds and multi-colours of sponsored rivals.

The Type 630 ran extremely well against the 5 litre Porsches and Fords at Le Mans, moving up to second place before retiring in the 21st hour. Matra-Sports learned much from that first 3 litre foray, and in 1969, with pleasing new open bodywork both for the old 630s and new, more powerful 650s, they placed an impressive fourth, fifth and seventh. A win in the Paris 1000km race rounded off the season, and in 1970 Matra linked up with Chrysler-France, thereby easing their sales problems with the 530 coupe, and boosting their racing effort under the name Matra-Simca.

Total success for Matra-Simca came in 1974, when the MS670C with large rear wing, inboard rear biyikes and high engine air intake won nine races in a row, in Belgium, Germany, Italy, France (twice), Austria, USA, Britain and South Africa.

With cars still further improved, they now felt strong enough to "mix it" with the formidable Porsche, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo opposition, but apart from wins in the non-Championship Argen-tine and Paris 1000 km races, their season proved disastrous. In four races at Daytona, Sebring, Brands Hatch and Monza their best was fifth place, while at Le Mans all three cars retired with engine trouble.

A 1-2 success in the 8-day Tour de France was hard work and mild comfort, but 1971 saw the chastened French team confining their prototype efforts to Le Mans with just one Type MS660. Benefitting from experience in Formula 1, the engine gave 440bhp and the car had a first class chassis, but it retired in the 17th hour, and repeat wins in the Tour de France and Paris 1000km could not allay French despondency. Once bitten, twice shy, Matra again concen-trated on Le Mans alone in 1972, leaving Ferrari to clean up the World Manufacturers' Championship with a fantastic 10 out of 10 wins. Yet Ferrari abstained from Le Mans, where Matra on their fifth attempt at last won the great endurance race.

Two 480bhp MS670s, driven by Graham Hill/Pescarolo and Cevert/Ganley took the first two places ahead of a Porsche and an Alfa Romeo; an ambi-tion finally achieved although incon-clusively with nobody knowing which was fastest—Matra or Ferrari. "We will see next year" said Lagardere, and indeed in 1973 the world saw. The triumphant banshee shriek of Matra's 12-cylinder MS670s resounded over the world's circuits. They won at Vallelunga, Dijon, Le Mans, Osterreichring, and Watkins Glen; they lost one race to Ferrari at Monza, and one to Mirage at Spa, but they emerged as convincing, deserving champions for 1973.

Then they did it all again in 1974 with the further improved MS670C; this had inboard rear brakes, an aerofoil and still more torque from its engine, and scored nine devastating, consecutive victories at Spa, NUrburgring, Imola, Le Mans, Osterreich, Watkins Glen, Paul Ricard, Brands Hatch and Kyalami, in the face of Alfa Romeo, Porsche and Gulf-Ford opposition. Naturally they won the Championship—their second in succes-sion, and this together with three Le Mans wins in a row decided Matra-Simca that the time had come to with-draw from prototype sports car racing.

They had achieved their aim; "thanks to racing, Matra is known the world over" said Jean-Luc Lagardere, and apart from further engine development for Formula 1 use, the car division thereafter applied its energies to devel-oping the Matra-Simca Bagheera sports coupe.

Specification Engine : 60° V12; 79.7 x 50mm, 2,993cc; 4ohv per cylinder, operated by 2ohc to each bank; Lucas indirect fuel injection; Ducellier electronic ignition; 7-bearing crankshaft; 450 to 480bhp at 11,200rpm. Transmission : Two dry-plate clutch; 5-speed gearbox, Hewland or ZF (Porsche for Le Mans MS670B and C), in unit with final drive. Chassis : Monocoque centre section with tubular sub-frames; independent suspension at front and rear; front by upper rocking arms and lower wishbones with inboard coil springs; at rear by single upper and double lower links, twin radius arms and coil springs; coaxial hydraulic telescopic dampers; Girling hydraulic disc brakes. Dimensions : Wheelbase, 8ft 44in; track, 5ft Oin; approx. dry weight, 1,4851b.