Description: 1968 and 1969 remain glorious years for French motorsport: The miniature reproduces the version driven by Jean Pierre Beltoise, who finished second behind the other Matra, equipped with a Ford engine and driven by Jackie Stewart, at the 1968 Dutch GP. In 1969, at the wheel of the Matra MS80 with a Ford-Cosworth engine, Jackie Stewart won the Formula 1 world title, giving a French-designed chassis its only supreme crown; at the same time, Matra had its own V12 singing in the hands of Jean-Pierre Beltoise. This national achievement is what Dinky Toys France, then under the Meccano-Triang banner, chose to celebrate from 1969 in its 1400 Series, under reference 1417. The miniature beautifully blends the two legends: a base engraved "MS.80" but topped with a meticulously wired silver V12, a French blue body with number 17, a driver figurine with a blue helmet, chrome suspensions and exhausts, and perforated chrome plastic hubs with black treaded tires. Small in size — 9.2 cm — but rich in detail, it remained in the catalog until 1971. The example offered is an original production, with the blue still deep, marked only by a few chips from use on the nose. A beautiful evocation of Matra's golden age in Grand Prix, to slip into any display case of French single-seaters. chrome plastic wheels; beautiful glossy paint quality; model in new condition! It will just need a little cleaning! Carefully applied decoration; variant with paper number and not decal; l