This three-seat Matra is rarer than a Speedtail

The car? A Matra Murena. It might lack a central driving position like the McLaren or GMA T.50 but it shares three separate seats across the front with the engine behind your head. It also shares exclusivity – today, there are just 18 of them on UK roads, ensuring it remains a far rarer sight than the Speedtail or T.50.

The replacement for the Matra-Simca Bagheera was made only for the first three years of the 1980s. Fewer than 11,000 came out of the French factory in total, all left-hand-drive. It was available in the UK though and was not without its fans; Car magazine’s respected writer, LJK Setright, saying it was “endowed with a suspension so superb that it need never go slowly".

One thing more famous three-seaters can’t compete with is the Murena’s price: Bonhams has put an estimate of £10-15,000 on it. Idiosyncratic, rare, well looked after, ready to drive away and a bargain too? Could be…

The drive-through sale takes place at Bicester Heritage on 20^th March as one of Bonhams MPH “live and online” auctions with all bidding online or by phone. To see a walk-around video of the car click here. You can follow the sale online from here. Bonhams MPH sales put the emphasis on more affordable and modern-day classics. Also in the sale is a wide range of mostly British sports cars, saloons, 4x4s and competition machines, including some real rarities and project cars.

Images courtesy of Bonhams.