Matra MS640

High-Flyer

The history of Matra goes back to 1937, when the company was still called Capra (Compagnie Anonyme de Production et Réalisation Aéronautique), then in 1941 it was renamed Mécanique Avion TRAction, that’s Matra. In the early 1960s, Matra came down to earth from the air. In 1964, Automobiles René Bonnet was taken over, the company known for the famous Djet. At the same time, Matra’s boss, Jean-Luc Lagardère, gave his employees a clear instruction: ‘I’m giving you ten years to win Formula 1 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.’ In 1965, Jean-Pierre Beltoise won the first Formula 3 race with the MS1, and in 1968 Jackie Stewart won the first Formula 1 race in a Tyrell-Matra MS10. In 1969, Stewart became world champion with the Matra MS80 (powered by a Ford-Cosworth engine), and Matra also took the constructors’ title.

Le Mans was still to come, but that proved more difficult. The French made their debut there in 1966 with the MS620, but had no chance. No wonder, because the MS620 was powered by a strange 2-litre B.R.M. engine that not only couldn’t beat the evil Ford GT40s and Ferrari V12s, but was also unreliable. In 1967, the team was unable to win a single race, although the MS630 was an interesting development, particularly in terms of aerodynamics. However, the B.R.M. engine remained the weak point – at the end of the season, Matra tried a 4.7-litre Ford V8, which showed a slight upward trend. But the boss had completely different ideas: Lagardère was absolutely demanding a V12. ‘I wanted our engine to stand out from all the others just because of the sound it made,’ he explained. ‘You should be able to tell right away: that’s the Matra V12.’ Chief designer Georges Martin built the desired 3-litre engine, which proved to be too heavy for Formula 1, but was to be absolutely competitive in the World Endurance Championship. In 1968, Matra entered the 630M, and Pescarolo fought his way up to second place at Le Mans overnight, but then had to retire after 283 laps with a broken suspension.

Lagardère wanted more. He hired the young Frenchman Robert Choulet, who designed a car unlike any that had gone before with the Matra MS640. Excellent aerodynamics, coupled with its own V12, should make things possible at Le Mans. Henry Pescarolo drove the car during the first test drives at Le Mans in April 1969, but shortly before the end of the Hunaudières straight, the car took off. The prototype was completely destroyed in the accident, and Pescarolo suffered serious injuries. An investigation of the accident revealed that the doors of the MS640 had twisted, causing deformation at the top of the car – and a loss of downforce. The project was immediately abandoned, Matra concentrated on the more conventional MS650 – and aerodynamicist Choulet led Porsche to victory at Le Mans in 1970 with the long-tail 917. Of course, Matra’s time would come as well, with the MS670 the French team (and Pescarolo) then won three consecutive times in 1972, 1973 and 1974.

But the story of the Matra MS640 is not over yet. At the beginning of the new millennium, someone with a little money to spend remembered the extraordinary vehicle and asked Matra if any parts of the prototype were still available. Even better: Matra still had the old blueprints, the moulds for the bodywork, the original engine and the gearbox from the MS640 that had been involved in the accident. And so, over the years, the Matra MS640-02 was created from the wreckage (and with the help of Choulet and Pescarolo). Which Pescarolo then actually drove again at Le Mans in 2006, reaching almost 300 km/h – without taking off. Exactly this unique vehicle is now for sale at Bonhams in Paris 2025, with an estimated price of 600,000 to 800,000 euros.

We have more interesting racing cars in our archive.