Matra-Ford

Origins

The Matra-Ford partnership was the title-winning chapter of the French aerospace conglomerate's brief Formula 1 adventure. Matra had entered F1 in 1968 with its own V12 in the works MS11, but a parallel partnership with Ken Tyrrell's Matra International outfit — running Matra MS10 and MS80 chassis with Ford-Cosworth DFV power — proved far more competitive. The MS80 was designed by Bernard Boyer and Tyrrell ran it for the 1969 season with Jackie Stewart driving.

Golden Era

1969 was the championship year. Stewart took six Grand Prix victories — South Africa, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Britain and Italy — and won both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships. The Italian Grand Prix at Monza was the most dramatic, with Stewart taking the lead by a hundredth of a second over Jochen Rindt's Lotus in one of the closest finishes in F1 history. The MS80 was the second car ever to win a Formula 1 World Championship without being entered by its constructor (Tyrrell entered it; Matra built it) — a quirk of the regulations that would not survive.

Legendary Cars

The MS10 of 1968 was the first Matra-Ford and gave Stewart three race wins in the Tyrrell-entered car. The MS80 of 1969 was the title-winning chassis — coke-bottle bodywork around the DFV, distinctive nose, slimline cockpit. The MS84 of 1969 was a four-wheel-drive experiment that failed.

Lows and Reinventions

After the 1969 championship Matra demanded that the works partnership return to its V12 engine for 1970. Tyrrell — who knew the Cosworth DFV was still the better engine — declined and ran customer March 701 chassis instead in 1970 before producing his own Tyrrell 001 mid-season. Matra continued its V12 programme as Matra-Simca for 1970–1972 with limited success; Tyrrell then went on to win the 1971 and 1973 titles with his own chassis under his own name. The Matra-Ford partnership therefore lasted only 1968–1969, but it produced one of the cleanest title campaigns in F1 history.

Modern Era

The Matra-Ford MS80 is celebrated as the chassis that put Jackie Stewart's first championship onto the board. It survives in restored form and appears at major historic meetings. The story of Matra's F1 era as a whole is one of corporate ambition outpacing patience — the works V12 programme never won a title, but the customer-engine partnership that lasted a single season produced both Drivers' and Constructors' Championships and launched Stewart's legend.