Experience intimate threesomes in the crazy and rare Matra Bagheera

Developed in collaboration between Matra and Simca, the Bagheera was introduced at the 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans and, based on first impressions, was a conventionally handsome sports car. But when we looked inside, we noticed the somewhat unconventional seating arrangements. There aren’t many cars that have three seats arranged side-by-side, but the folks at Matra felt that these would be an advantage over the small rear seats, or rather jump seats, in the 2+2 model. The argument that led to such a triple combination again in Bagheera’s successor, Talbot Matra Morena.

The coupé, named after the black panther Bagheera from Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book”, got off to a great start: by the end of 1973, 65 impressive cars were rolling off the assembly line at the Matra Romorantin plant every day. Today, these plastic French flounders are so rare that you’re more likely to see a McLaren F1 than a Bagheera on the street. Especially since this model, now up for auction, is only one of 57 examples converted to right-hand drive by Walchry Motors of Walton-on-Thames – of which only four are probably still in existence today.

If you have a penchant for rare French sports cars, don’t hesitate to bid on this Matra at Historics Auctioneers’ Bicester Heritage auction on September 23: you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better example than this. The car, which was completely rebuilt from 2014 to 2020, was completely disassembled at the beginning of the restoration, and then the entire floor assembly was repainted, welded and painted. The composite body also received a fresh coat of paint, and the black leather interior and suede upholstery were brought up to 1a standards. While the Bagheera only had 1.3 and 1.45 liter engines with a maximum of 90 hp at the time, this model had a 2.2 liter four-cylinder engine that was also used in the later model Morena with a nominal power of 118 hp. Sitting on a set of attractive, custom Minilite style wheels, this Bagheera is ready to impress you and a couple of your favorite passengers on the local back roads.

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