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The Matra Bagheera is a sports car
Sports car

A sports car is a term used to describe a class of automobile. The exact definition varies, but generally it is used to refer to a low to ground, light weight vehicle with a powerful engine....
 created by the French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 engineering group Matra
Matra

M?canique Avion TRAction or Matra was a France company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weapon which from 1994 was a subsidiary of Lagard?re Group and which now operates under that name....
 in cooperation with the automaker Simca
Simca

Simca was a France automaker and marque, founded in 1934 by Henri Th?odore Pigozzi . Simca was originally affiliated with Fiat, but later, after a period of independence, when Simca bought Ford's French branch, became increasingly controlled by the Chrysler, in 1970 becoming a part of Chrysler Europe and a brand rather than independent compa...
 and design by Greek
Greeks

The Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in Greek diaspora communities around the world....
 designer
Designer

A designer is a person who designs something. Perhaps the broadest definition is that provided by psychologist Herbert Simon: 'Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.' ...
 Antonis Volanis
Antonis Volanis

Antonis Volanis is a Greek people industrial designer, born in Thessaloniki in 1948. He has mainly worked in France , where he cooperated with Peugeot, Matra , Renault , Citro?n , Aerospatiale, Tefal, Donnay and many others....
. It was actually even marketed as Matra-Simca Bagheera to highlight the link. Named after the panther
Bagheera

Bagheera the black panther is an animal fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book ....
 from The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book is a collection of stories written by Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contained illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling....
, the Bagheera was created using stock Simca components, including the engines, gearbox and suspension elements, but unlike the Simca cars it shared them with, it was a mid-engined car (the Simcas in question, Simca 1100
Simca 1100

The Simca 1100 is an automobile built from 1967 to 1982 by Chrysler Europe's division Simca. It was replaced by the Talbot Horizon.The 1100 was the result of "Project 928", started in 1962, finalized by engineers Philippe Grundeler and Charles Scales....
 and Simca 1307
Simca 1307

The Simca 1307 was the name under which Chrysler Europe launched its new large family car in 1975. A modern, front-wheel drive hatchback, it was one of the first such cars in that class, along with the Volkswagen Passat, and became the 1976 European Car of the Year....
, were front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive

Front-wheel drive is a form of Internal combustion engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only....
).

The Bagheera's body was made of polyester
Polyester

Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate ....
, mounted on a steel structure.






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The Matra Bagheera is a sports car
Sports car

A sports car is a term used to describe a class of automobile. The exact definition varies, but generally it is used to refer to a low to ground, light weight vehicle with a powerful engine....
 created by the French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 engineering group Matra
Matra

M?canique Avion TRAction or Matra was a France company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weapon which from 1994 was a subsidiary of Lagard?re Group and which now operates under that name....
 in cooperation with the automaker Simca
Simca

Simca was a France automaker and marque, founded in 1934 by Henri Th?odore Pigozzi . Simca was originally affiliated with Fiat, but later, after a period of independence, when Simca bought Ford's French branch, became increasingly controlled by the Chrysler, in 1970 becoming a part of Chrysler Europe and a brand rather than independent compa...
 and design by Greek
Greeks

The Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in Greek diaspora communities around the world....
 designer
Designer

A designer is a person who designs something. Perhaps the broadest definition is that provided by psychologist Herbert Simon: 'Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.' ...
 Antonis Volanis
Antonis Volanis

Antonis Volanis is a Greek people industrial designer, born in Thessaloniki in 1948. He has mainly worked in France , where he cooperated with Peugeot, Matra , Renault , Citro?n , Aerospatiale, Tefal, Donnay and many others....
. It was actually even marketed as Matra-Simca Bagheera to highlight the link. Named after the panther
Bagheera

Bagheera the black panther is an animal fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book ....
 from The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book is a collection of stories written by Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contained illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling....
, the Bagheera was created using stock Simca components, including the engines, gearbox and suspension elements, but unlike the Simca cars it shared them with, it was a mid-engined car (the Simcas in question, Simca 1100
Simca 1100

The Simca 1100 is an automobile built from 1967 to 1982 by Chrysler Europe's division Simca. It was replaced by the Talbot Horizon.The 1100 was the result of "Project 928", started in 1962, finalized by engineers Philippe Grundeler and Charles Scales....
 and Simca 1307
Simca 1307

The Simca 1307 was the name under which Chrysler Europe launched its new large family car in 1975. A modern, front-wheel drive hatchback, it was one of the first such cars in that class, along with the Volkswagen Passat, and became the 1976 European Car of the Year....
, were front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive

Front-wheel drive is a form of Internal combustion engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only....
).

The Bagheera's body was made of polyester
Polyester

Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate ....
, mounted on a steel structure. It was formed in the shape of a sleek hatchback
Hatchback

Hatchback is a term designating an automobile design, containing a passenger cabin with an integrated cargo space, accessed from behind the vehicle by a single, top-hinged tailgate or large flip-up window....
, with a rear hatch
Hatch

Hatch may refer to:* Hatching, also called "cross-hatching", an artistic technique used to create tonal or shading effects using closely spaced parallel lines...
 that allowed access to the engine mounted behind the passenger compartment. There was only one row of seats, but it featured an unusual combination of three abreast. The Bagheera remains one of the few three-passenger sports cars.

When launched in 1973, the Bagheera was only available with the 1.3 L straight-4
Straight-4

The straight-4 or inline-4 engine is a four cylinder internal combustion engine with all four cylinder mounted in a straight line along the crankcase....
 engine, belonging to Simca's Type 315
Simca Type 315

The Simca Type 315, commonly known as the Simca 1100 engine, was a straight-4 Overhead valve engine developed by Simca for use in its Supermini car s and economy cars....
 engine family. In 1975, the range was complemented by a 1.5 L version of the same engine. In 1976, the Bagheera underwent a major restyling, with basically only the rear hatch unchanged. Another change took place in 1978, when the dashboard was replaced again, and in 1979 the Bagheera was given conventional door handles in lieu of the previous "hidden" ones. Production of the Bagheera ended in 1980, when it was replaced by Matra Murena
Matra Murena

The Matra Murena was a 3-seat sports car produced from 1980 through 1983 by the France engineering group Matra and developed in cooperation with the automaker Simca....
, with 47,802 Bagheeras built in total.

The Bagheera is also notable as one of the few manufacturers in the world to have developed a "U engine
U engine

A U engine is a piston engine made up of two separate straight engines joined by gears or Roller chains. It is similar to the H engine which couples two flat engines....
" for this vehicle. As Matra engineers believed the Bagheera could use a more powerful unit, they created a unique construction out of two 1.3 L Simca straight-4
Straight-4

The straight-4 or inline-4 engine is a four cylinder internal combustion engine with all four cylinder mounted in a straight line along the crankcase....
 engines, joined side-by-side by a common pan unit, the two crankshafts being linked by chain. This resulted in a 2.6 L 8-cylinder unit, producing 168 bhp
Horsepower

Horsepower is the name of several non-International System of Units units of power . It was originally defined to allow the output of steam engines to be measured and compared with the power output of draft horses....
. However, Chrysler Europe
Chrysler Europe

In the 1960s, Chrysler Corporation sought to become a world producer of automobiles. The company had never had much success outside North America, contrasting with Ford Motor Company's worldwide reach and General Motors Corporation' success with Opel, Vauxhall Motors, Holden and Bedford Vehicles....
 (the parent company of Simca) was unwilling to pursue the project due to the developing fuel crises as well as its own financial problems. Thus, the U8-powered Bagheera remained as a prototype
Prototype

A prototype is an original type, form, or instance of something serving as a typical example, basis, or standard for other things of the same category....
 and only three units were ever built.

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