Roy's Matra Enthusiasts Website
I am the Murena and general technical advisor for the Matra Enthusiasts Club UK, which caters for owners worldwide of Matra road cars from 1964 to 2003. I also now run my own business Redwood RS and can help you restore your Matra for the road. The club also caters for the René Bonnet Djets from 1962 to 1964. Matra, who supplied the Djet bodies, took over Bonnet during 1964, continued the Djet under the Matra-Sports name until 1968 when it was replaced by a car of their own design - the M530A.
The company:
MATRA, from Mechanique Aviation TRAction, originally owned by the Floirat family, and specialising in missiles and weaponry, was a large French company with international links, and included Matra Communications, Matra Datavision, Matra Défense, Matra Marconi Space, Matra Hachette, etc. and Matra CEO Jean-Luc Lagardère formed the Lagardère Group which encompassed them all. Matra Automobiles was only a small part of this empire, and was closed in March 2003. Initally Pinninfarina acquired the Matra Engineering, Testing and Prototype facilities but later sold their interest to Segula Technologies. For more information see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matra and the present company Matra MS producing electric solutions for transport.
The car marque:
Matra's previous model range consisted of mid-engine sports cars: the Djet/Jet ('62-'68), followed by the M530A ('67-'72), (Matra-Simca) Bagheera ('73-'80) and (Talbot-Matra) Murena ('80-'84); plus the (Matra-Simca) Rancho ('77-'84) and the highly successful (Renault) Espace ('84-'02) multi-seater 'people carriers' - or MPV's as they have become known. The last Matra was the Renault Avantime ('02-'03) a large luxury 4 seater coupé based on the last Espace chassis.
The Espace was originally conceived and designed by Matra Automobiles as the P18 prototype at the end of the seventies and initially offered to their partners Talbot (previously Simca) France to replace the Rancho. When new owner PSA turned it down, owing to a lack of spare funds and possibly foresight, Matra negotiated a contract with Renault instead, to supply the necessary mechanical parts, plus distribution through their dealer network, and the later Matra P23 prototype became the first Renault Espace. The rest, as they say is history! With Renault taking over Espace production themselves for the first time, from 2003, Matra made the Avantime for a short time up to their closure.
Alternative parts, Contact links, FAQ pages, Suppliers, UK club meetings
To join the club or advertise in the club magazine: for details and a zip file. click here 
November '09
New index for Alternative parts, Contacts, FAQ's, Press Articles etc. click here July '10
For a list of meetings, mainly in the U.K., or the latest news. click here July '10
This is a 1983 Murena 2.2
Personal 'For Sale' area. Nothing to do with Matra, simply some items of mine for sale
If you wish to contact me, use this quick link
This website was last updated 10th July 2010