Georges Martin (14 March 1930 – 29 July 2017) was a French engineer, a graduate of the Special School of Public Works, "mechanical-electrical" section. He designed automobile internal combustion engines, including the Poissy engine that powered various cars from Simca, Chrysler, Talbot, Plymouth, and Dodge from 1961 until 1991, as well as the successful

V12 Matra Sports engine The Matra Sports V12 engine is an automotive internal combustion engine for sports car endurance racing and Formula One. It won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times. Characteristics The Matra Sports V12 is a four-stroke, water-cooled all-alumi ...

for Matra's

Formula 1 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, ...

team.

Biography

Martin joined

Simca Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simca bough ...

in 1959, and from 1966 worked at

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 we ...

where he designed the

. In the

design office, he designed the famous Poissy engine that was in production in various displacements for 30 years, from its first appearance on the

Simca 1000 The Simca 1000 is a small, rear-engined, four-door saloon car, saloon which was manufactured by the France, French automaker Simca from 1961 to 1978. Origins The origins of the Simca 1000 lie not in France but in Italy. Simca's President-director ...

in 1961 to the last production under Peugeot ownership in 1991, where it was fitted to the

Peugeot 309 The Peugeot 309 is a small family car that was manufactured between 1985 and 1994 in England, Spain and France by PSA Peugeot Citroën. It was originally intended to be badged as a Talbot and, as development progressed, to be called the Talbot ...

. This engine was characterized by its reliability, power and torque for its limited displacement. It was fairly advanced for its era, having an aluminum head and sump, five main bearings, and a reasonably high compression ratio, but was sometimes criticized for having a noisy valve train. The valve noise was the result of a design decision to prioritize reliability over comfort, resulting in the fitment of a double chain that did not require a tensioner but which was noisier. The engine was successfully rallied in the 1970s and appeared in a number of cars from Simca, Matra, Chrysler, Talbot, Peugeot, Plymouth, and Dodge. Martin joined

at the end of 1966, thanks to his former colleague at Simca,

Philippe Guédon Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince Philippe, Coun ...

, who later became CEO of Matra. Arriving at Matra, he did not really know what was expected of him. It was

Jean-Luc Lagardère Jean-Luc Lagardère (10 February 1928, Aubiet – 14 March 2003, Paris) was a major French businessman, CEO of the Lagardère Group, one of the largest French conglomerates. Jean-Luc Lagardère was a '' Supelec'' engineer. He began his caree ...

who told him that he would work for

. The objective was to design an engine that would develop 150 hp per liter. The result of Martin's efforts was the

for

Georges Martin
sur 'http://sitematrarama.free.fr/' which supported Matra in its victories at Le Mans from 1972 to 1974 as well as a number of Formula One Grand Prix victories.

Bibliography

* Auto Passion, n^o 69 - juin 1992. * L'Auto-Journal" du 15 mars 1990.

Notes and references

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, George French automotive engineers People in the automobile industry 1930 births 2017 deaths 21st-century French engineers 20th-century French engineers