The Matra winner of the 24 1972 Hours of Le Mans for sale

We already know the highlight of the Artcurial sale which will take place at Porte de Versailles, in Paris, as part of the Salon Rétromobile (February 3-7, 2021). This is the Matra MS 670 that won the 24 1972 Hours of Le Mans in the hands of Henri Pescarolo and Graham Hill.

The estimate is wide: between 4 and 7,5 million euros! If the idea of ​​owning a prototype equipped with the legendary V12 makes more than one dream, the destiny of this car has aroused the anger of supporters of the Matra Museum in Romorantin (Loir-et-Cher).

Even Henri Pescarolo got involved: “ It's absolutely scandalous, the four-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Ouest-France was indignant. But that doesn't surprise me about the Lagardère son who continues to destroy what his father had done. He never gave his authorization for this car to be classified as a national monument »

The controversy was such that Thierry Funck-Brentano, co-manager of the Lagardère Group, was forced to justify himself. “ All the richness of our memories of the Matra saga in motorsport cannot compensate for the obligation for the Lagardère group to honor the consequences of an unfavorable court decision in January 2020 in a social law case of Matra Automobile, 18 years old after its closure »

The Bourges Court of Appeal ruled in favor of 296 former employees, finding that they had been “dismissed without real and serious cause” and ordered Matra to pay them compensation of 4 euros.

This article can be found in issue 2281 of AUTOhebdo already available in digital version and from tomorrow on newsstands.