The MS84 was built at Matra's Formula One base in Vélizy-Villacoublay, a suburb of Paris. Bernard Boyer directed its design, and Jean Bee (known as "Bunny") constructed it under Legan's direction. The car was run by the Matra International team of Ken Tyrrell, with full technical support from Matra and financial backing from Elf.
Unlike the MS80, which used an aluminium monocoque, the MS84 featured a steel tube chassis. The engine was mounted back-to-front at the rear, with the gearbox and transfer case positioned directly behind the driver. The four-wheel drive system was designed by Derek Gardner of Harry Ferguson Research. The Ferguson transmission and additional components made the car significantly heavier than the two-wheel drive MS80s, weighing 635 kg without fuel. The MS84 was one of the final Formula One cars to use a spaceframe construction, alongside the Brabham BT26A.
Like the Lotus 63, the MS84 first appeared at the Dutch Grand Prix. Jackie Stewart tested the car but chose to race his MS80 instead, a decision he maintained for the rest of the season. The car was retained as a spare at all subsequent rounds. Stewart believed a four-wheel-drive car could offer advantages in wet races, and he was fourth fastest in the wet Saturday afternoon session at the Dutch Grand Prix in the MS84, though it proved slow in the dry. He also tried it in France and at the Nürburgring and Monza, but these events were dry or hot and sunny, and the car was not needed.
At Silverstone, Jean-Pierre Beltoise gave the MS84 its race debut, finishing ninth, six laps behind Stewart's two-wheel drive Matra and three laps ahead of John Miles in the Lotus 63. Beltoise started from the back of the grid, having only had four flying laps in practice.
By its next race, the front differential had been disconnected, effectively making it an overweight MS80 with inboard front brakes. In this configuration, Johnny Servoz-Gavin drove the MS84 to sixth place in the Canadian Grand Prix, six laps down, earning a championship point. Servoz-Gavin, who had previously called the four-wheel drive car "undriveable," also drove it at Watkins Glen, finishing unclassified after falling sixteen laps behind, and at the Mexican Grand Prix, where he finished eighth, two laps down. For the Mexican Grand Prix, the torque split was 100% to the rear, meaning the car was effectively an overweight MS80.
Although a four-wheel drive successor, the Matra MS124, was projected, the MS84 was never replaced. After the 1969 season, Ken Tyrrell and Jackie Stewart split from Matra, and the car was of no further interest to Matra; its frame was cut up and discarded. In 2015, Matra specialists EPAF in Romorantin were commissioned to recreate the car using original plans and much of the original transmission. The recreation was completed in 2019 and displayed at the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille before residing at the Musée Matra in Romorantin.
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