Keepers Matra M530A

John Allan bought this rare and innovative mid-engined French sports car to restore. He’s still driving it more than 40 reliable years later

‘In 1978, a friend asked me to restore a car he owned. But on inspecting the car, a Matra M530, it was obvious that it needed too much work for me to undertake on top of my day job.

‘A year later, my friend, who by then had decided to emigrate to the USA, offered to sell me the Matra. Although it was in the same condition as I had seen it a year before, I figured that, as its owner, I would be able to restore it at my own pace in my spare time, so I agreed to buy it.

‘The M530 came with its original bill of sale. This showed that it had been purchased directly from Matra by the Chargé de Mission at the French Embassy in London. This makes it the only M530 ever to have been registered as new in the UK. ‘In 1980, I set about restoring it. The engine, transmission and interior were all fine, but I had to fabricate two complete chassis main members, which are essential to the rigidity of the car. Having done that, I resprayed the M530 in my garden, changing the body colour from French Blue to Diamond White, and it still wears that paint today.

‘ With the restoration completed, I was able to start driving it. I hadn’t owned a lefthand drive car before, nor had I driven one with a reverse pattern gearshift (first gear on the M530 is on the right of the

‘H’, rather than the left) but the M530 proved to be an easy car to drive.

It’s not a quick car, but it handles and rides well and will happily cover long distances in comfort.

‘I’ve taken my M530 to many car shows over the years, both in the UK and in continental Europe. On a number of occasions, most recently in 2017, it has also made the trip back to Romorantin where Matras were built from 1969 onwards.

‘In 2014, I decided to strip and rebuild the 1.7-litre engine. Even after 150,000km (93k miles) there was very little internal wear. Nonetheless, I treated it to new main bearings, big end shells, piston rings and timing gears. I also had the valve seats re-ground. ‘It’s probably the most reliable car I’ve ever owned, only letting me down once in 40 years when a finger on the clutch pressure plate broke in Alsace. I managed to drive back to my hotel, source a new clutch and fit it in the hotel car park!

‘I’ve not needed to carry out any additional work to the chassis since 1980, and the seats, trim and carpets are all original.

‘I have other cars, but I love driving my M530 and won’t be parting with it!’