Mécanique Aviation TRAction (abbreviated as Matra) was a French industrial consortium, offering a wide range of products in the field of aerospace, weaponry and automobiles. It was founded in 1964 by Jean-Luc Lagardère by consolidating several other corporations that he owned.Matra Automobiles came into being when they bought out Automobiles René Bonnet. The company (led by young designer Gérard Ducarouge) had successful Formula 2 and 3 models running by 1966, and in 1967 an F2 Matra MS7 with ballast added (to meet the minimum weight for Formula One) turned competitive times in races. Matra designed a test-bed Formula One car, the Cosworth DFV-engined MS9, to research an entry into that series. The data gleaned led to construction of the Matra MS10, but the car wasn't ready for the start o