August 15, 2009

Matra Djet

A little history

We have already seen how DB’s story ended when the two partners behind the venture, René Bonnet and Charles Deutsch, split during the early Sixties. Both started to build new and distinct models under their own names. René Bonnet’s car was the Djet, a spectacular little coupe introduced in June 1962. A lightweight automobile made of a fibreglass body on top of a steel chassis, the Djet relied on Renault components, namely a Renault 8 mid-engine mated to an Estafette gearbox. A strict two-seater, the Djet promised exceptional handling for the time as, beyond its centrally-mounted engine, it received all-independent suspension and disk brakes on all four wheels. Fitted with the 1.3-litre Gordini version of the R8 engine, later versions could reach 210 kph, a truly impressive feat in the Sixties.

The DB outfit had never been a large one. Alas, split into two halves, none of them could stay in business for very long, whatever the quality of their products. As soon as in 1964 René Bonnet was in trouble, and was taken over by Matra, a weapon manufacturer whose energetic CEO, Jean-Luc Lagardère, was willing to diversify its activities. The car was slightly improved, and became the Matra Djet, later renamed Jet. It was built until 1967, then replaced by the first true Matra road car, the M530, which marked a switch to Ford mechanical parts.

About the models

Model: Matra Djet V
Year: 1966
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.82 of its Nos Chères Voitures d'Antan press series
Acquired: brand new, in May 2007, in Souillac, France

A good model! Possibly the push-button door mechanisms would have look better with a bit of silver paint. My only other remark would be about the paint - possibly Ixo could have done good in selecting a different colour from the one already used for the Monte Carlo version of the same car. My rating is 13/20.

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Model: Matra Djet V
Year: 1966
Event: 1966 Rallye Monte Carlo, driven by Henri Pescarolo and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud (retired)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.27 of its Rallye Monte Carlo press series
Acquired: brand new, in April 2007, in Souillac, France

I liked the shapes of the Matra Djet since I had a toy one as a child (actually it was a rather accurate plastic model, probably a Norev), so I bought this one as soon as I saw it. Unfortunately, Altaya released the road version of the very same car the month after, so I could have saved my money on this model... Nonetheless it's good enough to receive a 13/20. Furthermore the only die-casts of the Djets from the '66 Monte Carlo I know about are from Bizarre, so comparatively this Altaya is a bargain.

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2 comments:

JDMike's Diecast Site said...

its a very nice version of the Matra rally by IXO, too bad I can't help you on the info on their Monte Carlo result.

i like the model very much! :-)

lorenzo721 said...

Thanks a lot, but anyway finding the missing information shouldn't be too difficult once I can make a trip back to France and have a look at my books and magazines. To find this kind of info here I have to rely mostly on the internet and rally racing isn't so well covered there, particularly pre-1970 events.