The
Matra 530 is a
sports car created and built by the
French engineering group
Matra.
The first real Matra
In 1965 Matra's CEO
Jean-Luc Lagardère decided to develop a sports car more accessible to the ordinary, non-racing public, a
voiture des copains (car for friends), as successor to the
Matra Djet. The result was their first sports car (the Djet was a
René Bonnet design) M530, named after Matra's R530
missile, designed by former
Simca designer Philippe Guédon. Like its predecessor, the car was built upon a
steel frame with
polyester body and had a
mid-engine. To accommodate for both
2+2, mid-engine layout and a reasonable boot, many engine options were considered. Finally, it was decided to purchase the running gear from
Ford in
Germany: the 1700 cc
Ford Taunus V4 engine and
gearbox stemming from the
Taunus 15M TS were chosen. This setup is compact enough to fit between the rear seats and the boot. The other interesting features of the M530 were its
targa top roof, pop-up headlights and most notably the outstanding
avant-garde design.
M530A
The first 530 (badged
Matra Sports M530A) was shown to the public on March 7, 1967 at the
Geneva Motor Show. It had a 70 DIN
hp Ford 1700 cc
V4 engine, which gave the car a top speed of . It went on production one month later. In its first two production years, the chassis has been built by Carrier in
Alençon and assembly took place at French coachbuilder
Brissonneau et Lotz in
Creil. The engine bay of...
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