It all began in 1966, when Matra entered three sports cars in the summer race at Le Mans. Equipped with a V8 engine from B.R.M., however, the Matra M 620s all failed in the race. For sports car use, B.R.M. upgraded the engine from the 1.5-liter era of Formula 1 to a displacement of just under two liters. A year later, Matra entered the MS 630 successor - initially further powered by the V8 - and it failed again.

Despite this failure, Matra continued the project. However, in 1968, a critical change was made. Mantra used its own V12 transmission in the MS 630 at Le Mans, producing a whopping 420 hp. Henri Pescarolo drove a sensational race - at night in the rain even without windshield wipers - and saw second place within reach. But a serious accident involving Mauro Bianchi in the Renault Alpine A 220 littered the track with debris and clouds of smoke, which meant that Pescarolo was unable to drive through unscathed and ended up in 24th place.

The following year, the MS 640 was to replace the MS 630 and finally give Matra its first victory at the Sarthe in 1969. To achieve this, the former Deutsch & Bonnet aerodynamicist Robert Choulet was engaged. Choulet designed a streamlined coupe, using the chassis from the MS 630, and based his design on the shapes of the 1967 CD SP66. The car had rounded shapes, upright rear fins and covered rear wheel arches. And now ZF came into play: The futuristic racing machine was to be powered by the 5DS25/2 with integrated limited slip differential. The ZF transmission had already been noticed at Le Mans because the successful Ford GT 40 was already equipped with the 5DS25 in certain engine versions.

The 5DS25/2 has five spur-synchronized forward gears and one reverse gear with paddle shifters. It is designed in such a way that the manual transmission and the final drive are housed in one casing. The final drive consists of a spiral-toothed bevel gear and is equipped with a ZF multi-disc self-locking differential (Lok-O-Matic). The front part of the transmission housing is designed as a clutch bell housing and is used to accommodate the clutch release device with an external actuating lever. This allows the transmission to be flanged directly to the engine and forms a closed block with it. Due to its ingenious design, the 5DS25 had long since become an icon in its own right, and quite a few manufacturers followed with orders to ZF. In the classic racing scene, a relatively large number of legendary cars are still actively used in racing - which is why ZF has been offering reproductions of the 5DS25 for years, both as a complete unit and as spare parts.

The designed prototype "MATRA MS 640-01", which had been intended for the 24-hour race of Le Mans and had left the workshops of Vélizy at the beginning of April, was only two weeks old at that time. On April 16, 1969, Matra was allowed to take the prototype out for a test drive at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Matra again entrusted the race car to Henri Pescarolo. However, disaster struck on the very first lap — the car developed underinflation and took off on the Hunaudières straight of the circuit before bursting into flames at the edge of the track. The 26-year-old Henri Pescarolo suffered severe burns and a fractured spine and stayed away from the racetrack for many months. The test car was completely destroyed.

Subsequent examination revealed that the doors twisted when the car was driven at high speeds, resulting in deformation of the top edge of the car. The coupe became unstable at the speed of just over 300 km/h, lost traction and the fatal take-off was the consequence. After the accident, the second prototype was immediately withdrawn, so the MS640 never saw racing action.

However, the company stuck to its goal of winning Le Mans and focused on the MS650 project. Ultimately, this led to the development of the MS670, which saw three successive victories in 1972, 1973 and 1974 - each time with Henri Pescarolo at the wheel. In 1972 he won with team-mate Graham Hill and in 1973 and 1974 with Gérard Larousse.

It was not until 37 years later that the Matra MS 640, completely reconstructed on the initiative of a privateer and according to original plans, hinted at what might have been. None other than the French racing driver Henri Pescarolo himself, got behind the wheel of the rebuilt racing car. He conducted speed tests with the 640-02 at the Brétigny Air Force Base on April 26, 2006. Unlike 1969, the car was equipped with electronic sensors and gauges using new technologies and on-board computing. This allowed real-time control of the car's aerodynamic balance, the 12-cylinder engine and its mechanical and dynamic operating parameters.

For several hours, Pescarolo performed acceleration runs with the 640-02, interrupted only by brief stops for readjustments. At each stop, of course, the focus was on the aerodynamic setting. Three times the ground clearance was lowered by 15 mm to reduce the lift force that causes the car to lift off at the front. In the end, the front end of the Matra was positioned at just 7 cm above the ground, which finally satisfied the driver. To everyone's delight, Henri Pescarolo managed to almost break 300 km/h by the end of the morning after numerous aerodynamic improvements.

Pescarolo seemed visibly happy, noting after the drive: "The way it's set up now, the car is no longer dangerous. With a more powerful braking system, which would allow me to drive the entire track at very high speed, and with better engine power, I could have easily reached 300 km/h."