Matra MS630
The Matra MS630 was a sports car prototype that Matra built in 1967 and used in sports car races until the end of 1968.
Development history and technology
The Matra MS630 was the logical development of the MS620 from the year 1966. The car was flatter and longer and received large air intakes in front of the rear wheels to the V8 engine from BRM to cool better. The MS630 was considered one of the most advanced prototypes of its time.
As in the previous year, the Le Mans 24 Hours was the highlight for the Matra sports car team. The test run at the 12-hour race in Reims went badly wrong, as both works cars broke down early due to technical defects. Only two MS630 competed in Le Mans. Matra had learned his lessons from the problems of the previous year and did without a third vehicle in order to join forces.
Nevertheless, the Le Mans race was also a failure for Matra. Henri Pescarolo and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud's MS630 retired after a break in the rear suspension after 43 laps. The journey of the second MS630 also came to an end just before midnight. Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Johnny Servoz-Gavin stopped valve damage on the fault-prone BRM engine.
As early as 1966, Matra had experimented with a 4.7 liter Ford engine . An MS620 was sent to the Le Mans pre-tests with the unit, but it quickly became apparent that the engine was too heavy for the rather delicate lattice frame. This engine was used in the MS630 at the end of the 1967 season. Its tubular frame chassis was far stiffer and Henri Pescarolo led the race with the Matra Ford for a long time at the 1000 km from Paris this year in Montlhéry before an engine failure threw him out of the race.
In 1968 Matra developed a 3-liter 12-cylinder engine. In the future, this engine should not only power the sports cars, but was also used in Formula 1 , there in the MS11 . The MS630 was modified so that it could accommodate the new engine. The car made its debut at the Spa 1000 km race in 1968 . In 1968 only one car was used at Le Mans . The duo Pescarolo / Servoz-Gavin was second overall on Sunday morning when the suspension on the MS630 broke and the two had to give up.
The MS630 were still used sporadically in the sports car world championship in 1969 , before Matra completely switched to the new model, the Matra MS650 . At Le Mans , Jean Guichet and Nino Vaccarella , who had won the 1964 race in a works Ferrari , finished fifth in the overall standings.
literature
- José Rosinski: Matra, La Saga . ETAI, Boulogne 1997, ISBN 2-7268-8301-X .
