The Matra Bagheera is a sports car built by the automotive division of the French engineering group Matra in cooperation with automaker Simca. It was marketed as the Matra-Simca Bagheera until its final year of production, when its designation was changed to the Talbot-Matra Bagheera following Chrysler Europe’s demise and subsequent takeover by PSA.
In December 1969 Matra and Simca entered into an agreement that rebranded Matra’s racing cars as Matra-Simcas and give Matra access to the Simca dealer network in France and the Common Market. The first joint project of the new liaison was development of a replacement for the Matra 530, which had not reached either its targeted market or its projected sales volumes.

Work on the new car began in 1970 under project code M550. Development was led by Matra’s head of engineering and design Phillipe Guédon and Chrysler-Simca product planner Jacques Rousseau. Additional direction for the design was provided by Chrysler-Simca planner Marc Honoré.
The engine, gearbox and many suspension elements came directly from the Simca 1100, this new Matra was to be a mid-engined car rather than front-wheel drive like the donor car.

Chrysler-Simca’s planners also wanted a car with more than just two seats. Guédon agreed, but he was also not satisfied with the 2+2 arrangement used in the M530, feeling that the rear seats were too small to be really useful. The M550 sat three abreast.

Eleven prototypes were built and used for road-testing in environments ranging from Saharan Mauritania to Lapland, as well as for crash-testing. Development was complete by the end of 1972. The car was built in Matra’s factory in the commune of Romorantin-Lanthenay in the department of Loir-et-Cher in central France.

The Bagheera was unveiled to the press at an event held at Lake Annecy on April 14, 1973. The public release of the car took place at the 1973 24 Heures du Mans.