Americans have always had a certain fascination with the French people, their language, and their culture. Does this mid-engined, French-speaking, gray-market 1983 Matra Murena (a car that was never imported to America) that I found at a car show a few years back have the same appeal? Let’s find out.
The English language is filled with words borrowed or outright pilfered from the French. Case in point: After the Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066, English-speaking Anglo-Saxons took the opportunity to upgrade many of their Germanic-based words with their fancier French counterparts. So while the lower class raised cows, pigs, fowl, and oxen (all of Germanic origin), the nobility dined on beef, pork, poultry, and mutton, all words taken from French. This also provided a comfortable separation between the names we use for what we eat versus the animals from which the food came.
We’ve been lusting after the French ever since. Even today, the silent “-et” at the end of a word connotes class and distinction, even if done ironically, such as when we pronounce Target as “tar-zhay”
An exotic car with an exotic animal painted on the hood?
Back to the French bon vivant at hand. The genesis of the Murena is complex, being produced by a partnership between French conglomerate Matra, Simca, and Chrysler Europe. Our own Tatra87 has already covered the history of the Murena in exhaustive detail, so I won’t waste bytes here repeating what T87 already covered so thoroughly.
All cars need some kind of visual distinctiveness, lest they all look the same. But you can deviate only so far from what is expected by buyers of any particular time and place: Deviate too far, and you end up with a flop like the Chrysler Airflow or GM Dustbuster minivans. To me, French cars have always occupied an uncanny valley between what is acceptable to American buyers and what is not.
In this regard, the Murena does not fare too badly. In fact, I didn’t even know it was a French design when I first saw it. The Murena presents a fairly typical 1980s wedge profile, complete with obligatory pop-up headlights. There is a lot of Japanese influence here – If you squint really hard, you can see hints of a Toyota Supra, MR-2, the second-generation Mazda RX-7, and Mitsubishi Starion in the design (although the Murena predates all of these cars). The wheels are fairly generic 80’s turbine-style – nothing too offensive here. Really all that is missing is a set of louvers over the hatchback glass.
There are few clues to the French origins on the interior, other than the bottom-spoked, centerless steering wheel. Other than the oddly upholstered dash, the interior is fairly typical ’80s fare as well. Lots of rectilinear shapes, chunky switchgear, and Day-Glo colors. So where’s the French weirdness? Patience.
Did I mention that the Murena’s engine is in the middle? Murena buyers could choose from a 91 hp 1.6 liter four, or a 116 hp 2.2 liter four. The featured car, however, appears to have the top dog “Préparation 142” (so called for 142 PS it produced) 2.2 with dual Solex carbs. That 142 PS translates into a not-too-shabby-for-1983 140 hp. I say appears, because it also only sports the single exhaust of the lesser model, so some of this go fast gear could have been added later. Whether it is a true 142 or not, the featured car sports a custom, body-color front air dam. It appears to have had a rear spoiler at some point, as borne witness by the drill holes on the rear deck panel. So when do things get weird?
What’s this, three abreast seating, in a sports car? With a floor shifter, no less – Watch the hands, mister! My old 1981 Plymouth Reliant had a bench seat and a four on the floor, and I remember that driving with a center passenger in front could be, ahem, awkward.
While a traditional two-seat sports car implies a monogamous relationship, that third seat is just pregnant with possibilities. What kind of plus-one might occupy that burnt-orange velour, button-tufted center seat? A wingman of some sort? Your coke dealer? (It was the ’80s, after all). Some sort of ménage à trois, an arrangement so unspeakable, so taboo that we English speakers can only talk about it using a French euphemism? Ooh la la!
Indeed, this very car is the product of just such an open marriage, with contributions from Matra, Simca, Chrysler, and even a five-speed transmission from Citroen thrown in for good measure. Good luck with the paternity test on this one.
So what we have here is a direct antecedent to the Toyota MR2 and Pontiac Fiero, beating both to the market by several years. On paper it seemed like a winner, but alas, an exotic allure gets you only so far, and only 10,000 Murenas found a home over the four-year production run from 1980 to 1983. After acquiring Matra in 1983, Renault declined to continue production of the Murena, opting instead to use the innovative space-frame technology on their Espace minivan. c’est la vie.
Related Reading
Curbside Classic: 1983 Talbot-Matra Murena “Préparation 142“ – The End Of The Wedge
CC Outtake: 1982 Talbot-Matra Murena 1600 – What Is French For Rarity?
This example seems to sports a single downdraft carb. That would seem to rule out the 142 kit. It’s not clear from either your post or Tatra87’s if the dual Solexs were sidedraft or downdraft. Most of the dual Solex installations I’ve seen have been sidedraft.
An aftermarket manifold perhaps? That would help explain the single exhaust.
Yes, you are correct – I was fooled by the dual air horns. Probably aftermarket.
What the styling channels most (to me anyway) is the TVR Tasmin, produced at the same time even though that was front-engined. The Fiat X1/9 is an obvious influence as well and perhaps the TR7 but good luck getting three people of any size into those with all of the Japanese you mention debuting years afterward, if anything this could be seen in those shapes rather than the other way around unless, as in this case, a viewer was unfamilar with this one and knew of the others first, skewing the viewpoint. But this was certainly not influenced by the MR2, Supra, or second RX-7, it couldn’t be.
The three-abreast seating, while not unique in concept but perhaps in execution with three separate seats, couldn’t be a more stereotypically French idea and is probably the one thing that keeps the Murena somewhat interesting.
Now, the artwork on the front, well, that’s a special bit of personalization right there. Who would win a cagematch, the ground-bound stealthy Panther, or Pontiac’s Screaming Chicken that may or may not be flightless but possesses much disorienting plumage and a strong beak?
I see something of a resemblence to the Mitsubishi Starion/Chrysler-Dodge-Plymouth Conquest.
…which entered production in 1982, whereas the Murena started in 1980, so the Starion could not have influenced the design of the Murena — possibly the reverse, however.
Everyone makes “French mistress” jokes about the three-abreast seating, but I suspect the primary intent was more prosaic, making the car more practical for young families with a single child. Also, the center backrest folds down to become an armrest.
The predecessor Matra Bagheera had a similar seating arrangement, albeit with a single double-wide seat on the passenger side sculpted into a pair of buckets, rather then the three separate bucket seats of the Murena.
Those sure look like Camaro taillights.
I think this car is (or was) part of Myron Vernis’ eclectic collection. I recall seeing a swoopy metallic blue car with a hood painted like this one, in an article about his cars some years back.
Overall, I like very much, it is a unique iteration of the form, without being too weird. It works for me.
Entertaining read. The last few paragraphs made me chuckle out loud!
Yes, but that upholstered dash is incredibly creepy and hence quite the barrier to surmount.
And identifying the engine as “Preparation 142” just shows a total marketing disconnect with, uh, certain other similarly named products.
Still, I think it’s an attractive car that reminds me at least from certain angles of the Nissan 240 of about the same period.
A Murena that thinks it’s a Pantera. The Brougham interior intermingled with the 80s reminds me of the 2001 A Space Odyssey Bedroom Encounter scene. It’s a real head scratcher.
The whole story of Simca is complex, not just the genesis of the Matra Murena : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAv0fIZPgjE&ab_channel=DAM-DocumentairesAuto%2FMoto
Reminds me a bit of the “Saab Sonnett” , back in the “70’s”.
Linguistic quibble: mutton refers to the meat of sheep, not oxen, and oxen are just a subcategory of cattle, bred and raised primarily for draft labor rather than meat/dairy.
That center seat could be for “Lucky Pierre”, the third person in a “menage a trois.” Lucky in *everything* but legroom, I guess 🙂