This stunning Matra preceded a legend

The Matra MS 630 on display is a Type MS 8 model, as raced at the 1967 Le Mans 24 Heures, powered by a powerful but temperamental BRM V8 motor. Two MS 630 competed at La Sarthe with this BRM unit in 1967, with both examples failing to finish the race.

The BRM motor was subsequently swapped for a 4.7-litre Ford V8 for the later 12 Heures de Reims and 1,000 Kilometres de Paris at Montlhery that season, with podium finishes eluding the Matra team once more.

For the 1968 competition season, the Ford V8 was retained for the majority of the European-based races, with the MS 630’s success rate improving on the lame 1967 season. However, late in the 1968 season, at the 1,000 Kilometres de Spa, Matra debuted its Type MS 9 MS 630, powered by the fearsome new V12 engine, developed in-house by Matra.

This effective new V12 powered the Matra’s new MS 640, which replaced the MS 630, and ultimately went on to power the dominate MS 650 models that took a hat trick of victories at Le Mans between 1972 and 1974.

Photography by Tom Shaxson.