1971 Matra MS120B

There are winners and losers in sports. It is just the nature of the game. Politics, for better or worse, is also very much a part of the game. And when Matra suddenly lost Ken Tyrrell and Jackie Stewart and would try to refocus for the future, it was a sure bet politics had come into play. Politics has a way of muddying the waters and making the way ahead uncertain. As a result, performance suffers. And out of the political mess surrounding a number of entities, the Matra-Simca MS120B was charged with forging the path for Matra.

Merging and acquisitions were something Mecanique Aviation Traction, or Matra, had come to be used to. In fact, Matra would branch out into diversified media, weaponry, defense, aerospace, and even telecommunications through mergers and acquisitions. Matra would then get into the automotive and racing industries once it purchased Automobiles Rene Bonnet during the early 1960s. Once owned by the Floriat family, Matra was never known to sit still and let others lead. In many ways, the company would become known for being focused, taking risks, knowing what it wanted and putting everything it had into a project just to lead in a field of pursuit.

This would be the situation the company would find itself heading into in 1969. Matra had been doing things on its own. But it would use its vast array of fields to create the highly innovative structural fuel tanks that helped to reduce weight while maintaining strength and rigidity. The team had been highly innovative and rather successful, but its greatest opportunity for success was right there before them. Unfortunately, many different doors around the deal were closing and closing fast. It was likely the deal would be for a short period of time. Would it be worth it for Matra to go after?

Matra's integrated fuel tanks would be outlawed come 1970. Tyrrell and Stewart were under contract with Ford. Matra would have used the Cosworth engine for 1969 but was involved in negotiations to have its automotive department taken on by Chrysler, a direct competitor to Ford. At the same time as negotiations were going on concerning the takeover by Chrysler, Matra would be in negotiations with Simca to then become the engine supplier once Cosworth had left the scene. This had even more political implications since Elf, the petroleum supplier used by Matra, had an exclusive agreement with Renault that precluded them from supporting Simca, another French engine supplier.

Despite the political mess, Matra would seize its opportunity, and it would turn into the runaway season Matra had hoped for. Jackie Stewart would win six races and would demolish all comers to earn the World Drivers Championship, while Matra would also claim the Constructors' title along with Ken Tyrrell.

However, after the celebrations waned, the reality would set in for Matra. For the first time since entering Formula One, the company really didn't have it all together. Figuring out its way forward after putting so much time and effort into the one season with Tyrrell and Stewart would leave them on the 'back foot.' And in 1970, it would show. Neither Jean-Pierre Beltoise nor Henri Pescarolo would manage anything better than a 3rd place, and both drivers would finish well down in the driver's standings at the end of the year. In the case of Matra, which would manage to retain Elf as its fuel supplier, the team would go from Constructors' Champions to a distant 7th in the standings the following year.

A significant portion of Matra's budget during the 1969 season came from Ford through Tyrrell. With that supply of funds gone, Matra would be forced to carry on with what it had. And what it had at the end of the 1970 season was an in-house powered MS120 chassis.

Unlike other chassis of the time using wedge shapes and 'Coke bottle' designs, Matra's Bernard Boyer would go a different and distinctive route with his car designs. Instead of a heavily contoured design, Boyer would seek to use the upper surfaces of his designs to create the necessary downforce for his cars. Therefore, his MS120 would be flat and wing-like with the driver positioned high in the middle with a wraparound portion of bodywork and windscreen to provide some protection, but mostly, to improve aerodynamic efficiency over the top of the car.

Boyer, and others, believed in the car, or were forced to because of the limited budget and would focus on tweaking the 120 for use in the '71 season. What would become known as the MS120B, the car would be very similar to the 120 apart from some evolutions.

Aft of the nose, the 120B would also sport differing sidepod designs; it would depend on the type of circuit. Wedge-shaped partitions added to either side of the chassis held the fuel. In some places where less drag was important, a shroud could be attached to the top of the structure to give the sidepods a much more 'Coke bottle' look. These same options would be retained for the MS120B.

The front and rear suspension arrangements of the MS120B would be nearly an exact copy of its predecessor. Coil spring, double wishbone suspension arrangements would be used on the front and the rear right, along with ventilated disc brakes. However, one of the biggest changes from the 120 to the 120B would come toward the back of the car. Not only would an airbox be used at different times throughout the year, but also a smooth piece of bodywork covering the engine and leading right to the leading edge of the massive rear wing. Boyer's idea of using the upper surface for aerodynamic downforce would be tantamount to this evolution.

Still, there would be a lot of similarities. The car would even use the same V12, 3.0-liter Matra engine. However, there would be small changes and tweaks to the engine between the two chassis models. While the 120 would produce 435 hp at a little more than 11,000 rpm, the 120B would end up receiving a power upgrade. In the case of the 120B, the engine would produce 440 hp at just 11,000 rpm. Unfortunately, the MS120B would end up weighing about 30 pounds heavier, and therefore, needed the extra five hp. This would never be more obvious than when looking at the performance numbers. Despite the five extra horsepower, the additional weight would actually give the 120B a slower zero to 60 time than its predecessor and would only equal the time and speed of the 120 over a quarter of a mile. All of this would help to add up to Chris Amon finishing 11th in the Drivers' Championship and Matra remaining 7th in the Constructors' Championship standings.

The obvious loss in direction would cause the MS120B to fail to live up to the potential everyone believed existed after the team dominated 1969 with Stewart behind the wheel. Many failed to realize the politics behind the scenes affecting the team. But what they would see would be the failed success on the circuit. Matra had lost its way. Unfortunately, for the company, the MS120B could not help clear up the waters for the team. The way would remain uncertain and it would undoubtedly lead to Matra withdrawing as a team from Formula One just a few years later. From then on, this mighty amalgamation of industries and potential would be reduced to supplying engines to customers, something it would do throughout the 1970s and for a short period in the early 1980s.

Sources:
'Matra MS120B (1971-1971)', (http://histomobile.com/m5/l2/matra-ms120b/1559499835.htm). Histomobile.com. http://histomobile.com/m5/l2/matra-ms120b/1559499835.htm. Retrieved 14 June 2012.

'Matra MS120 (1970-1970)', (http://histomobile.com/m5/l2/matra-ms120/1316460955.htm). Histomobile.com. http://histomobile.com/m5/l2/matra-ms120/1316460955.htm. Retrieved 14 June 2012.

'1970 Matra-Simca MS120', (http://www.supercars.net/cars/3163.html). Supercars.net. http://www.supercars.net/cars/3163.html. Retrieved 14 June 2012.

Wikipedia contributors, 'Matra', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 6 June 2012, 20:10 UTC, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matra&oldid=496327583 accessed 14 June 2012

By Jeremy McMullen