Matra Djet

The Matra Djet was a French sports car designed by René Bonnet and modified by Matra. The car had various names in its life from 1962 till 1967: René Bonnet Djet, Matra Bonnet Djet, Matra Sports Djet and finally Matra Sports Jet

The Djet

The car started out as the René Bonnet Djet (later known as Djet I) in June 1962. The car was named Djet, because Bonnet thought the French could not pronounce the word jet correctly. It was powered by a 1108 cc Renault 8 mid-engine mated to a Renault Estafette gearbox, giving a top speed of or, in the Djet II with an uprated Gordini engine, . The fiberglass body was made by Matra, which was glued to a steel chassis. Matra also provided the factory where the Djets were built, in Romorantin. It had a very modern design with disc brakes and independent suspension with wishbones and coil springs all around. The car accommodated for two people, there was no back seat as the engine took that place. The car measured 3.80 m (length) by 1.40 m (width) by 1.15 m (height) and weighed only . The 1962 Bonnet Djet was the worlds first mid engined production road car beating the de Tomaso Vallelunga introduced in 1963. The Lamborghini Miura was not introduced until 1966 four years after the Djet. There were 198 Bonnet Djet produced during the two years before Matra took over Bonnet, and the car became the Matra Djet in 1964 and a further 1491 cars produced before production ended in 1968. There were less than 60 de Tomaso Vallelunga produced before...
Read More