Watch a Rarely-Seen Talbot Matra Rancho Come to Life after 26 Years in a Garage
If you’re familiar with the French automaker Matra, it’s probably for the company’s motor racing success in the 1960s and ’70s, or its road-going sports cars. However, the automaker also built one of the first crossovers, too (though no one thought to label them as such back then). The Talbot Matra Rancho, available from 1977 through 1984, might have looked tough and off-road-ready, but it shared underpinnings with the existing Simca 1100 family car. One of these weird machines was recently found in Budapest, Hungary, and revived after over 20 years in storage.
I interviewed the clip’s creator, Robert Petyko from the Old Skull Garage YouTube channel, for more details. The buyer has been looking all over Europe for one of these cars, and this one happened to pop up for sale online near him in Hungary. “I think he was looking for like five, six years before he bought this one,” Petyko said.
This Rancho looks decent at first glance, especially given the time it sat idle. The body and interior look decent but unsurprisingly need a thorough cleaning, and fortunately most of the missing trim panels, including the front bumper and spotlights, are in the rear cargo area. The mechanicals and underbody show signs of poor maintenance, though.
Matra made over 56,000 examples of the Rancho during the production, and they were available throughout Europe. “The biggest letdown with this vehicle is rust,” Petyko said, and this one suffers from that problem, too, especially along the lower body sills.
At the time of the Rancho’s launch, Matra Automobiles belonged to Simca, which was Chrysler’s European-focused division. Matra wanted to expand beyond building sports cars, so it raided Simca’s parts bin to create this crossover. In addition to the Simca 1100 chassis, the Rancho secured the 1.4-liter engine from the Simca 1308, a transmission from the Simca 1307, and the brakes from the Simca 1100 TI.
By any standard, the Rancho is a weird-looking, if endearing, crossover. Its two-door design looks more utilitarian than anything, with the raised ceiling in the rear cargo area accentuated by an enormous expanse of windows. A pair of spotlights integrate into the front bumper. There were also optional lamps on the base of the windshield. A fold-down, rear-facing third-row seat was available on later models to increase the total occupancy to six passengers, cramped as that might seem.
Despite the Rancho’s rugged appearance, it wasn’t too capable off-road. The only engine option was a 1.4-liter four-cylinder that made 77 horsepower on premium fuel, and a de-tuned version offered 75 hp on regular gas. The power went solely to the front wheels through a four-speed manual transmission. The later Grand Raid version featured improved all-terrain ability by getting a limited-slip front differential and taller ride height.
56,000 examples means the Rancho wasn’t particularly rare, but these got put to regular use, and as a result there aren’t a whole lot left. Petyko’s friend is still deciding whether to restore this Rancho or flip it, but he wants to sandblast the body to determine how bad the rust and previous repairs are before making the call.
To this author’s eyes, this Rancho doesn’t look too far from being roadworthy again. The engine runs, the interior just needs a deep cleaning, and someone could probably install most of the exterior trim as a weekend project. Hopefully the rust doesn’t deter the new owner—even though this little Matra’s not a sports car, it’s got plenty of personality and deserves to ride again.
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