Magic Matra

There are some racing cars that have impressed me on aesthetic grounds alone, whether or not they were competitively successful – (see Tecno PA123 and E731 feature coming up.)  Then there are those that inspire awe because of their innovative technology/race-winning prowess.  This is one of the rare examples of a machine qualifying under both headings.  The appeal of the Matra MS80, (and its predecessor, the MS10), is all the more understandable if you share my rivet-work fetishism and remember that the MS80 carried the peerless JYS to his first World Championship, with five Grands Prix victories, in ’69.

MS80

© Wouter Melissen

MS10

© Wouter Melissen

© Wouter Melissen

If you too are a rivet fan, you probably already know this car, but the Petrolicious feature on the Iso A3/C is always worth a revisit. 


















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Nearly Alfa - Part 2

Image
Once again, the control of Alfa Romeo by the state organisation, Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale – IRI – through its finanziaria, (financial entity), Finmeccanica, would be highly influential.  Not for the first time, the managements of Alfa Romeo and Autodelta were compelled to make decisions constrained by directives formulated on the basis of political expediency rather than engineering savvy.  Responding to recurrent government diktaks seeking to promote the use/consumption of Italian-made products, Finmeccanica ‘s nose intruded into the 890 engine project, stipulating that its turbochargers must be locally-sourced.  Accordingly, the KKKs were soon replaced by units made by the Alfa Romeo aeronautical manufacturing subsidiary, Avio.  Unfortunately, the performance and reliability of these was clearly inferior to the German blowers.  At this stage of the 890’s development, the induction characteristics were rendered furthermore problematic by the di...
Read more

The Zeltweg Solution

Image
Young, single minded, supremely confident and abrasive – such a character often makes waves but is usually defeated by the authority and inertia possessed of an elder generation of management.  But Ferdinand Piëch was a bit different.  Joining the ‘family firm’ – Porsche – in 1963, Piëch was already in charge of testing in 1966 at the age of 24.  As the son of Ferry Porsche’s sister, Louise, some may have thought there was a touch of nepotism about this – but Piëch would rapidly show that it was actually all about his ability and character.  Piëch (right) at the 1965 Targa Florio with Fritz Huschke Piëch soon became deeply involved in the creation and evolution of the Group 4/6 Porsche 906.  This was a ground-breaking project for Porsche as the car embodied the adoption of key, pure-race features, primarily, 200+ bhp, lightweight 6 cylinder engine, glass fibre body, super-light tubular space frame chassis and high focus on aerodynamics, (the 906 was the first P...
Read more

A Lack of Horsepower for the CART

Image
It’s generally accepted today that Ferrari did not create its F637 Indycar and F034 engine with a burning desire to actually race it, (though there are a few differing theories about this).   Rather, it was a tangible expression of the marque’s resistance to the proposal  for new Formula 1 technical regulations  being ventilated  in the mid-80s  by the FIA. Planned for the post-turbo era, these would exclude V12 engines.   The existence of an Indycar, ready to go, with the implied threat that this would become the focus at Maranello rather than Formula 1, was seen as effort and expense well worth expending.   In collaboration with the Indycar team, Truesports, run by Jim Trueman, a familiarisation/feasibility study began in ’85.   That autumn, Trueman took his driver, Bobby Rahal, to Italy and at Fiorano they showed what their car – a March 85C – could do.   Impressed with this, Ferrari delegated a small team, led by Harvey Postlethwaite, to ...
Read more