Not a toy, and only for men?
05/29/2020
That's exactly what the headline above the Matra-Simca Bagheera ad said : Not a toy. And yet one might well think that a Bagheera is more of a leisure vehicle than a company car.
But the reason why the Bagheera should not be a toy was provided by the German advertisers via the description of the technical refinements of the car, such as a mid-engine and therefore the best road holding, an outstandingly aerodynamic body made of fiberglass with a favorable drag coefficient and therefore fast, or independent front and rear suspension and therefore a cornering speedster.
The unique selling point was, of course, the three seats next to each other, although the middle bucket seat only had a lap belt.
One statement, placed by the fuel filler neck, was probably the most daring: "At some point, every man should think of himself. The Matra-Simca Bagheera only cost DM 16,307.
Yes, that was cheap, but there are also said to have been many women who bought the car despite this slogan.
Here is all the advertising from back then, which can of course be found in high resolution in the Zwischengas archive . And you can also find a detailed report on the flat sports car online.
