Here’s a rare sighting, captured in motion by Guillaume Vauchey at the Cohort. A bit camera shy I may add, as we only get to see its rear quarters. Still, Matras don’t appear often, not even at the Cohort, so we’ll give it a moment to shine here at CC.
The creative minds at Matra had in all their quirkiness a knack to anticipate future trends, and the Rancho is good example of that. Regardless of appearance, the Rancho came only in FWD, carrying a meager 80HP Simca 1.4 engine, and looking quite trendy in its Range Rover-like body. A RAV4 / CRV twenty years early? There was a bit of debate on the matter the one time it appeared at CC. It’s been a while since then, so don’t expect to see another again soon. But who knows? Maybe the CC effect will play in our favor?
Automotive History Capsule: 1977 Matra Rancho – The World’s First CUV
It would be a great personal camper!
I recall these from my youngster days. The front was quite butch looking with grille-covered driving lights, I never realized until much later that they were FWD only, not that that really slows it down all too much or too often if the tire choice is good enough.
That picture is interesting as the Berlingo/Partner/Kangoo/Whatever it is in front of it has the exact same form factor with the exception of adding a sliding door to the side. Normal driving position, tall rear for cargo or people – extremely common (well, everywhere but North America where only plus-sized vehicles succeed).
Matra and Kangoo comparison is not exactly correct. Matras front is actually the same as cars it’s based on, Simca 1100. Same approach was used by Renault in design of Kangoo predecessor Renault Express. In this case Renault 5 front was used. Kangoo on the contrary is new design with unique front and higher upright seating. Pictures of both Renaults:
Very interesting toys. Indeed, I have never seen these in The States. They look like fun vehicles. Probably, they are thrifty on fuel, too.
A teacher of mathematics had one when I went to school in the seventies. Thought It was one of the “coolest” cars in the teacher parking lot (as were a silver coloured NSU Ro 80 and a ivory coloured MB W180 = 220S “Ponton”).
This has to have been an inspiration for the Land Rover (not Range Rover, strictly speaking) Discovery. Though I suppose both design teams could have had the same ideas, the fact that the Rancho wasn’t that uncommon and had been around for a dozen years before the Disco launch suggest that there was more than a little influence.
Always loved the look of these, so of course…. 🙂
This one is a diecast model I took apart and detailed. Here’s the front view.
Speaking of cars inspired by the design, I’d say Toyota predates the LR Discovery Dman mentioned above with the 1982 Tercel 4WD (Sprinter Carib)
It is a small world. I saw the same exact car in Beaune, France nearly a year ago—June 11, 2022. I took several pictures, so I’m happy to complete the view of this rare vehicle.
Angle #2:
Angle #3:
Neat. That’s my kind of interior.
Angle #4:
Angle #5:
…and now, having gone to the Cohort, I see I shot the car a year after Guillaume. I’d never seen one before and was really impressed by the terrific condition the vehicle is in.
Incredible rare these days, most of them were trashed and rusted to dead.
I always wanted one, but somehow it never happened
What a fab find! I had the diecast Matchbox version many moons ago. Yellow I think. As a child in the early 80s I remember thinking it was just the coolest looking thing and wishing they sold the real life versions in New Zealand. I assumed they were comparable to a Range Rover in size and engine choice, and was shocked to discover later that they were small and FWD. Doesn’t matter though, they still look great all these years later!
Our next door neighbour had one of these and loved it – with three young kids and two retrievers it was incredibly practical. Her love affair was short-lived – within two years (and this was a car she bought new) the bulkhead had already rusted through below the auxiliary lights – so it was traded in for something much more boring before too many more holes appeared. So it’s amazing to see this survivor, and we probably can deduce why the auxiliary lights are missing!