The

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and wea ...

Company's racing team, under the names of Matra Sports, Equipe Matra Elf and Equipe Matra Sports (after a takeover by Simca in 1969 as Matra-Simca Division Automobile), was formed in 1965 and based at

Champagne-sur-Seine Champagne-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Demographics The inhabitants are called ''Champenois''. See also *Communes of the Seine-et-Marne department The foll ...

(1965–1967), Romorantin-Lanthenay (1967–1969) and

Vélizy-Villacoublay Vélizy-Villacoublay () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris from the center and east of Versailles. Its inhabitants are called Véliziens. ...

(1969–1979). In 1979 the team was taken over by

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...

and renamed as Automobiles Talbot.

Motorsports history

In the mid-1960s, Matra enjoyed considerable success in

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

and F2 racing, particularly with the MS5 monocoque-based car, winning the French and European championships. In , Jacky Ickx surprised the F1 establishment by posting the third-fastest qualifying time of 8:14" at the German

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around the village a ...

in his 1600cc

Matra MS7 The Matra MS7 was a Formula Two racing car built by Matra, which occasionally raced in Formula One as well between and . While only modestly successful in Formula One, the car dominated Formula Two from late 1967 through 1969. Jacky Ickx, Jean-P ...

F2, which was allowed to enter alongside the 3000cc F1 cars. In the race, he failed to finish due to a broken suspension. StewartJackie19690801MatraFord

1973-05-27 Francois Cevert, Matra-Simca 670

Matra entered

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

in when

Jackie Stewart Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cha ...

was a serious contender, winning several Grands Prix in the Tyrrell-run

Matra MS10 The Matra MS10 is a Formula One car entered by the Matra International team during the 1968 Formula One season. It, along with its V12-powered sibling MS11, was Matra's first purpose-built F1 car and won three races in 1968, taking Jackie Stewa ...

which competed alongside the

works team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

. The F1 team was established at

in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. The car's most innovative feature was the use of aviation-inspired structural fuel tanks. These allowed the chassis to be around lighter, while still being stronger than its competitors. The

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

considered the technology to be unsafe and decided to ban it for . Matra

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Jean-Luc Lagardère made a strategic decision for the championship: the Matra works team would not compete in Formula One. Matra would instead focus its efforts on

Ken Tyrrell Robert Kenneth Tyrrell (3 May 1924 – 25 August 2001) was a British Formula Two racing driver and the founder of the Tyrrell Formula One constructor.Setright, L. J. K. "Tyrrell: A Shrewd Talent-spotter", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Autom ...

's privateer team (renamed

Matra International The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell (1924–2001) which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the e ...

) and build a new DFV powered car with structural fuel tanks, even though it would only be eligible for a single season. The decision was even more radical given that Matra was seeking a partnership with Simca, which would preclude using

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

-branded engines for the following year. Stewart won the 1969 title easily with the new

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotive industry, ...

-powered

Matra MS80 The Matra MS80 was the fourth Formula One car produced by Matra (following the MS9, MS10 and MS11). The Ford Cosworth DFV-powered car (engine 3000 cc, estimated at around ) took Jackie Stewart to the Formula One World Championship title in 19 ...

, which was designed by

Gérard Ducarouge Gérard Ducarouge (23 October 1941 – 19 February 2015) was a French Formula One car designer whose career in motorsport started in 1965 when he joined Equipe Matra Sports. His Matra MS80 car, entered by the privateer Matra International te ...

and

Bernard Boyer Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

, and corrected most of the weaknesses of the MS10. It was a spectacular achievement from a constructor that had only entered Formula One the previous year. France became only the third country (after the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

) to have produced a winning constructor, and Matra became the only constructor to have won the Constructors' Championship without running its own works team. Like

, Lotus and

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formu ...

, Matra experimented with

four wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer cas ...

during the 1969 season. Johnny Servoz-Gavin became the one and only driver to score a point with a 4WD car, finishing sixth with the

Matra MS84 The Matra MS84 was the fifth Formula One car produced by Matra (following the MS9, MS10, MS11 and MS80). Development The car was built at Matra's Formula One base at Vélizy-Villacoublay in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, designed under the ...

at the Canadian Grand Prix. The MS84, along with

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won fo ...

's BT26A, was one of the last

spaceframe In architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space structure ( 3D truss) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span large areas with ...

cars to compete in Formula One. For following the agreement with Simca, Matra asked Tyrrell to use their V12

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

rather than the Cosworth. Stewart got to test the Matra V12, but since a large part of the Tyrrell budget was provided by

, and another significant sponsor was French state-owned petroleum company

Elf An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...

, which had an agreement with

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

that precluded supporting a Simca partner, the partnership between Matra and Tyrrell ended. Matra V12 engines powered the

Shadow A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two- dimensional silhouett ...

DN7 car in two races of and then cars built and entered by the

Ligier Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champ ...

Formula 1 team from –, and again (under the name ''Talbot Ligier'') from -, winning three races (the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix,

1981 Austrian Grand Prix The 1981 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on 16 August 1981. It was the eleventh race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship. The 53-lap race was won by Frenchman Jacques Laffite, driving a Talbot Lig ...

and

1981 Canadian Grand Prix The 1981 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Île Notre-Dame, Montreal on 27 September 1981. It was the fourteenth race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship. The race was run in wet conditions, and ended afte ...

Jacques Laffite Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1. ...

´s victory at the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix was the first Formula One victory for a French team and a French engine, as well as the first all-French victory in the Formula One World Championship. The company was also successful in endurance racing with cars powered by the

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The f ...

. The

sportscar A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

team was based at first at

and then moved to Le Castellet, near

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, France. The Matra MS670 won the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

. It also delivered the

World Championship for Makes The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and North ...

to Matra in both

and

Racing models

Matra MS1 The Matra MS1 (abbreviation of Matra-Sports-1 ) was Matra's first open-wheel formula racing car, and was built in 1965. It was powered by a naturally aspirated, , Cosworth MAE inline four-cylinder engine, producing , mated to a 5-speed Hewland ' ...

* Matra MS2 *

Matra MS5 The Matra MS5 is a Formula Two and Formula Three racing car, designed, developed, and made by Matra, which was used in the Formula Two class of two World Championship Grands Prix in 1966 and 1967. It was actively used in motor racing competitions b ...

Matra MS6 The Matra MS6 was an open-wheel Formula 2 racing car, designed, developed and built by Matra in 1966. The MS6 were used by Matra International in Formula 2 in 1966. Matra International was managed by Ken Tyrrell and the aim was to break the domina ...

* Matra MS9 *

Matra MS11 The Matra MS11 is a Formula One car used by the Matra team during the 1968 Formula One season, developed from the successful MS7 F2 car. It was relatively unsuccessful compared to its sibling, the Cosworth DFV powered Matra MS10 which Jackie St ...

Matra MS120 The Matra MS120 was the fifth and final Formula One car produced by Matra (following the MS9, MS10, MS11, MS80 and MS84). Development The MS120 was later developed to become the Matra MS120B, Matra MS120C and Matra MS120D. The car was built ...

Matra MS120B The Matra MS120 was the fifth and final Formula One car produced by Matra (following the MS9, MS10, MS11, MS80 and MS84). Development The MS120 was later developed to become the Matra MS120B, Matra MS120C and Matra MS120D. The car was built ...

Matra MS120C The Matra MS120 was the fifth and final Formula One car produced by Matra (following the MS9, MS10, MS11, MS80 and MS84). Development The MS120 was later developed to become the Matra MS120B, Matra MS120C and Matra MS120D. The car was built ...

Matra MS120D The Matra MS120 was the fifth and final Formula One car produced by Matra (following the MS9, MS10, MS11, MS80 and MS84). Development The MS120 was later developed to become the Matra MS120B, Matra MS120C and Matra MS120D. The car was built ...

Matra MS610 The Matra MS610 is a lightweight rally car and sports car, designed, developed and built by Matra in 1965. It was Matra's first sports prototype race car. It is powered (depending on the model) by a naturally aspirated, , Ford-Lotus twin-cam four- ...

Matra MS620 The Matra MS620 (sometimes referred to as the M620) was a Group 6 sports prototype built by Matra in 1966, and was the second such car built by the company. Fitted with a 1.9 litre version of the BRM Formula One V8 engine, four cars were buil ...

Matra MS630 Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and we ...

* Matra-Simca MS630 * Matra-Simca MS630/650 *

Matra MS640 The Matra MS640 is a sports prototype race car, designed, developed, and built by the French manufacturer Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was en ...

Matra-Simca MS650 The Matra-Simca MS650 is a Group 6 prototype race car introduced in 1969 for the International Championship for Makes. The MS650 replaced the previous Matra-Simca MS630. Racing History 1969 The car made its debut at the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans ...

* Matra-Simca MS660 *

Matra-Simca MS660C The Matra-Simca MS660 is a Group 6 prototype race car introduced in 1969 for the International Championship for Makes. The MS660 replaced the previous Matra-Simca MS650. Racing History 1970 The team entered three cars for the 24 Hours of Le Mans ...

Matra-Simca MS670 The Matra-Simca MS670 was a Group 5 prototype race car introduced in 1972 for the World Championship for Makes. The MS670 replaced the previous Matra-Simca MS660C. Racing history 1972 The MS670 only made one appearance in 1972, the 24 Hours of Le ...

* Matra-Simca MS670B * Matra-Simca MS670C * Matra-Simca MS680

Successes

* 334 races, all categories, spanning 10 years * 124 victories, 104 lap records * 1

World Drivers' Championship (1969, Jackie Stewart, MS80) * 1 Formula One World Constructors' Championship (1969, Matra-Elf International) * 5 French

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009– 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name ...

Championships (1966–1967–1968–1969–1970) * 3

European Formula Two Championship The European Formula Two Championship was a Formula Two motor racing series that was held between 1967–84. The races were held across Europe, and were contested both by drivers aiming to compete in Formula One in the future as well as curren ...

s (1967–1968–1969) * 3

French Formula Three Championship The French Formula Three Championship was a motor racing series for Formula Three cars held in France between 1964 and 2002. The series was merged with the German Formula Three Championship in 2003 to form the Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 ...

s (1965–1966–1967) * 2

(1973–1974) * 3 victories at

(1972–1973–1974) * 2 victories at Tour de France Automobile (1970–1971) Matra MS11 (3)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

As a constructor

( key)

As an engine supplier

( key)

Notes

References

External links

* http://www.matrasport.dk/ * http://www.epaf.fr Restoration & rebuild of Matra competition cars {{Matra car timeline Formula One constructors Formula Two constructors Formula One entrants Formula Two entrants French Formula 3 teams 24 Hours of Le Mans teams World Sportscar Championship teams French auto racing teams French racecar constructors Auto racing teams established in 1965 Auto racing teams disestablished in 1979