After the end of World War Two, many large world powers joined the race for the creation of nuclear weapons and the means for using them.

The Matra factory in France also carried on research, development, and experimentation of ballistic rockets. In parallel, the company’s factory, laboratories, and engineering staff also carried on peaceful pursuits. The Matra factory developed and manufactured the body of several sports automobiles. These were unique models, which are infrequently seen on the road…

In 1985, sports automobile races were planned in Ashkelon. The Ralex Autoservice garage was represented in these races by the Matra Bagera automotive beauty, with its wedge-shaped body, a rear drive gear, and a centrally located motor. The seating in this automobile is low, and one feels as if sitting in an airplane. Sitting is very comfortable, in a half-reclining position. As well, the steering wheel is half-bent, like in an airplane. Beside you, there is space for two passengers.

The Matra Bagera immediately attracted curious attention to itself. Where did this beauty come from?

Two weeks before the races, Rafi Hershkowich, the owner of the Ralex Autoservice garage, still had no idea which automobile to exhibit at the races. To prepare a simple car to be drive for the races? Not very interesting. Rafi wanted something extra-ordinary, and asked his secretary to look over all the paper and journal ads. He worked while she shouted to him:
”There’s an Opel!”
”No. I don’t want an Opel.”
”There is a Menta!”
”Couldn’t be a Menta. Maybe a Manta?”
”Yes, yes. A French-manufactured Manta.”
”Then it’s not a Manta. Could it be a Matra?”
Rafi came into the office. The ad said: “French-manufactured Manta.” It could only mean one of two things: It was either a German Opel Manta, or the French Matra. Obviously, the ad had a typo. Rafi reached the owner of the automobile. The owner confirmed:
”Yes, it’s a Matra, but only half the car. Without a number. Without anything. Half a car – because everything is rusted, completely eaten through."
Rafi went to take a look at the car.

There was only about a week and a half left before the races. Four days and four nights, without a break, Rafi and his automotive specialists worked on the car. But how to begin work on a car that’s a complete wreck? The nightmare was difficult to imagine, even the worst possible nightmare. Parts were missing. For this car, the team had to be creative and made certain things 'fit'.

On the forth day of work, the chassis was completely assembled. It was possible to install the rear axle, the front suspension, all the accessories. The car stood on its wheels with a new, powerful skeleton. All the difficult profiles were completed and all rigid elements were mounted. This was very important, since the body of the car was fibreglass and was mounted to the steel elements with only glue, various resins and tars, and securing rivets.

After all this, the usual work ensued: the painting, assembly, and mounting of all the small parts and details. In two more days, the Matra Bagera was ready to race. Today, it is located in the Ralex Museum.

One day, Rafi Hershkovich was reading an article about something that happened during a car race. Until the beginning of the 1960s, all race-car drivers sat leaning towards the wheel, half-bent, straining. In those days, races began with the driver running across the track, getting into the automobile, turning it on, and only then, the racing competition could begin. The article described a race where the driver “flew” into his car so quickly, that without having time to more comfortably sit in the car, he started the automobile in a half-lying position, and pressed on the gas…He won the race and an idea occurred to many in the business: this position could be one of the secrets to success. In the 1960s, construction of sports cars in which the driver would have to be oriented in a ‘half-lying down' position began. The center of gravity of the automobile is lowered, the streamlining is improved, the stability is increased…

An automobile appraiser – shamai – once called Rafi:

What a Matra was, Rafi already knew, not through stories or hearsay, but from personal experience, from his experience with the Matra Bagera. One sits in a half-lying position in a Matra. It’s difficult to explain the pleasure of driving this automobile. Of course, the car was terribly disfigured. The front of the car was mangled from a terrible blow. However, within a week, the automotive beauty Matra Murena was completely restored and Rafi gave it as an anniversary present to his wife.

And so, there are now two Murenas in Israel, the Matra and the Bagera, and they are both in the Ashdod Car Museum.

A Glance From the Past Into the Future

You must agree, that at first glance, it’s difficult to believe that this automobile is almost 20 years old. And it is not because the automobile is in perfect working order, but because it looks great and (still) modern in the year 2004! Even the unfashionable “blind” headlights look fantastic, but try and imagine what an impression this automobile created in the distant nineteen hundred and eightees... 

The wedge-shaped body, the rear drive gears and the centrally located motor – this is already more than serious. When you get into the car and sit down (in actuality, lie down) and grasp the steering wheel of this rare beauty, you immediately notice how low the car sits: the body literally spreads along the floor, the feet press against the pedal assembly, the right foot involuntarily strums the hard gas pedal.

The wheel... It’s worth talking about the wheel separately. It is unusual in that it is “trimmed” on the bottom part (so that it would not press into the knees and interfere with movement into, and out of, the automobile; however, training is still needed to make these movements more comfortable). The wheel is unusually small, but with its own square cut! “Why would this be needed?” you may ask. It sounds so uncomfortable! But, it’s very comfortable, and how! In the zone of "correct" hand position (remember your driving lessons – hands at 14:50), there are recesses for the fingers. But even if you want to grasp the steering wheel in an “incorrect” position, the arms are still positioned equally, comfortably, and surely.

The instrument panel is modest and does not offer any excesses: the tachometer and speedometer, under which are located a row of control indicators fuel, temperature, and oil pressure. There is also a volt meter.

There is one more remarkable feature of this automobile – a third, centrally located passenger seat.

Perhaps, about 20 years ago, people were slimmer and shorter, but the three of us fit into the cabin not without some difficulty. However, it would be quite simple and comfortable to fit a child between the driver and right passenger. 

Now a little about the engineering. Here, one fondly remembers the joke (although it is sometimes remembered as an incident that actually happened): a police officer stops a Porshe Boxter and asks the driver to open the hood. The driver obediently complies with the request. Inside the hood – emptiness. The officer realizes, that there are, of course, cars where the engine is located in the back, but except for the “Zaporozhets”, he has never seen anything like this. "Well, all right," he says. "Open the hood that’s in the back!" 

The driver readily opens the back…and here things get interesting. The officer is dumbfounded. There is no engine in the back, either! The officer asks, dumbfounded: 
"And how do you drive?" "What do you mean, “how”? We turn the pedals!!!" answers the owner of the Porshe and disappears into the distance.

In actual fact, this “trick” could have been performed by an owner of a Matra much earlier than the Boxter made its appearance in this world.  Opening the “hood”, one finds only a spare wheel and the secondary generator. In the trunk, the lid of which is made of bent, smoky, 8-millimeter glass (a very rare thing – if it breaks, it’s almost impossible to find a replacement) is enough space for provisions, bought in a supermarket, for several days. But not for a week! One can stuff into the trunk everything that’s needed for a picnic, under the condition that the trip out of town will be short, and the itinerary – modest. Large purchases and long-distance trips – this is, clearly, not the Murena’s strongpoint. The engine is located behind the rear wall of the trunk (that is, right behind the back of the driver and passenger), and is opened with the help of a clip and lid.

The radiator is located in the front, and the water for the motor is fed through hoses which are extended under the floor panel of the car, which noticeably increases the volume of the liquid in the air conditioning system. However, this is, actually, for the better, since the motor responds positively to high revolutions. And so, little by little, unnoticeably, we’ve come to the most interesting part – the driving process.

In preparing this material, we just couldn’t decide where to perform our driving test – on regular, open roads or in a quieter place. We eventually settled on the latter option. And we were right, because on the road, this car would cause real shock. And so, when we picked up the car from its owners, there was a large gathering of onlookers, who wanted to know, “What is this? Is it a Porshe or a Ferrari?"

We went to a closed track with a combined surface (asphalt-gravel). It was a shame to drive the beauty on the gravel, since the car was of a respectable age. But please believe me, the car would be a good bet against many modern automobiles.

In answer to the turn of the key, the motor tastefully bellowed and growled somewhere behind the seat back...

The car was easily maneuverable in all respects: it precisely reacted to the turn of the steering wheel (without power steering), with minimal tilt on turning.

The acceleration dynamics were very energetic and sharply sportscar-like. The motor calmly behaved at 4000 revolutions per minute and calmly turned up to 6500 revolutions per minute.

The exactness and response of the five-step gear shift was striking as well.

All four wheels had disk brakes installed, as well as 15-inch cast disks with different dimensions of covers 195/60 (in front) and 215/60 (in the back).

To our question of whether the owner would be willing to sell the car at some point, we received an unequivocal and resounding: “Never!” So there you have it! 

A short history and a long life. After the Chrysler Corporation sold their overseas ownership to the French, the Маtrа company – a traditional parter of Simca/Talbot – found itself in a difficult situation. The РSА Corporation, which had bought Talbot, was not enthusiastic about financing any new projects. And to independently produce automotive sports models was simply impossible for a small company. The Мurena became the last automobile with the brand name Маtrа. 

Similar to its predecessors, the new sports car, which appeared in 1979, was a three-seat model, rear-drive, with a mid-section located motor. The automobile’s chassis was treated with a special method of hot galvanization and differed in its exceptional durability. It was said that the Murena could easily be driven on the road without a body. However, no evidence of experiments of this kind has survived.

The designers and builders were very successful with the automobile's design. Even now, more than two decades later, the automobile looks fantastic: straight, clean lines, precise proportions, a large presence with relatively small proportions. We must note that the German company, Saier, manufactured relics of this body type for a long time, mounted on many very different chasses. Front suspension automobiles were equipped with longitudinal beams (as in the massive models of Simca/Talbot), while the rear suspension models were made according to the design of МсРherson. All brakes were disk brakes.

Buyers were offered two kinds of motor capacity – 1.6 and 2.2 liter, familiar in the large series productions of Simca/Talbot. The first engine type was installed on a Talbot Solara; the second, on a Talbot Tagora. However strange it may seem, both of the power assembly units, initially intended for front-placed family sedans, were quite at home in a sports automobile with central components. Notably, no significant changes in the motors were necessary. 

Service at Matra Murena