Unsung heroes: Matra Rancho

Walk down any street in the UK nowadays and there is one type of car you're pretty much guaranteed to see: the crossover, combining the chunky looks of an off-roader with conventional two-wheel-drive underpinnings and exemplified by the best-selling Nissan Qashqai. You may think crossovers are a 21st century phenomenon, yet there is a car that could lay claim to pioneering this market sector way back in the late seventies, long before the term 'crossover' had even been invented. I'm talking about the Talbot Matra Rancho, a vehicle derided in its day for having the looks of a 4x4 without the off-road ability but arguably just too far ahead of its time, which had it appeared thirty years later could have been a great success.

The first crossover, thirty years before its time?

The car was originally launched in 1977 under Chrysler ownership as the Matra-Simca Rancho, but was later rebranded as a Talbot following Chrysler's sale of their European operations to Peugeot. Mechanically and structurally it wasn't that revolutionary, being based on the chassis-cab of the Simca 1100 pickup, a design that dated back to the early sixties. The rear overhang was extended and a new fibreglass rear body fitted over the steel inner structure of the pickup bed, with a distinctive raised roof line, sturdy-looking black plastic mouldings around the wheelarches and lower panels, huge windows and a split tailgate like a Range Rover. Its off-road looks were completed with a roof rack over the cab and an optional pair of swivelling spotlights that could be mounted in front of the windscreen, so the Rancho was quite unlike a normal estate car.

It may have had the butch looks of a 4x4 but retained the usual front-wheel-drive layout, albeit with increased ride height and the larger 1442cc version of the Poissy engine also used in the Horizon. Granted, a Rancho won't go where a Land Rover will (nor was it ever intended to), but it was actually surprisingly capable off-road for a two-wheel-drive vehicle, aided by its relatively light weight, high ground clearance and chunky tyres, and this was especially so when fitted with the optional Raid Pack that included a limited-slip differential, sump guard and front-mounted winch. Among other options was an extra rear-facing folding bench seat, giving the Rancho a little-known claim to not only being the first crossover but also one of the first seven-seat MPVs.

Split tailgate like a Range Rover and seven seats. No four-wheel-drive though.

The Rancho did find a small niche as transport for the disabled, its high rear roof line making it one of the few cars capable of accommodating a wheelchair user without extensive modifications, and several examples were converted with a rear-mounted lift, some of which survive today. Another variation was the 'Decouvrable', a semi open-top version with a canvas roof and side screens in the rear section, and one of these is available for hire to those looking for something different as wedding transport. That's the car sorted, now I just need to find a bride!

What killed the Rancho was an equally innovative but more successful product: the Renault Espace. Matra came up with the concept for this pioneering MPV as a replacement for the Rancho and approached Peugeot-Talbot, who turned it down and must be kicking themselves for missing this opportunity. It was then offered to Renault, who seized the chance and made a great success of it, but with Matra now manufacturing for Peugeot-Talbot's arch-rival that meant no more Ranchos. Production ceased in 1984 after less than 60,000 had been built; relatively few were exported to the UK and most of these have long since rotted away and been scrapped.

B544 ANO is one of the best-known surviving Ranchos. This one is fitted with the Raid Pack.

Today Ranchos are a very rare sight in this country with only around a dozen left on the road, and they have acquired a cult following. The Matra Club can fill their show stands with as many exotic sports and racing cars as they like, but if there is no Rancho then visitors are disappointed. It may have been under-appreciated and deemed pointless in its day but its legacy and influence become clear when you look closely at subsequent developments: the outline of the first-generation Land Rover Discovery, especially in its original three-door form, bears a remarkable resemblance to the Rancho, and the spiritual successors of the Rancho now roam the streets in large numbers in the form of the modern-day crossovers.

My last unsung heroes piece on the Austin Maxi resulted in the purchase of just such a car, but as much as I would love to own a Rancho I don't expect that to happen and I'm happy to live my dreams vicariously through not one but two members of the Autoshite forum who have both recently purchased Ranchos for restoration. While the real cars may be out of reach for many, the Rancho's unusual looks certainly appealed to the toy manufacturers, with both Matchbox and Corgi (and probably others) making miniature versions, so you can at least have a small-scale example in your collection without too much difficulty. For being so misunderstood at the time, yet predicting such a widespread modern trend several decades before it emerged, I think the Matra Rancho really does deserve a place among the unsung heroes of the motoring world.