They were Blanc (504), Jaune Soleil (3319), Rouge Java (511) and Vert Derby plus for specific years the following:
Bleu Caraibes (508), Blue Ciel (509), Jaune Tilleul (506), 1968-1969
Blue Ciel d'etre, Bleu Imperial, 1969 onwards
Gris Fume (black), Rouge Amarante 1969 - 1970
Gris Metallise or Gris Argent, 1970 onwards
Vert Corinne, Bleu President (greenish blue), Gris Sideral and Rouge Sarde 1972 onwards
The numbers in brackets are Glasurit paint codes.
The May 1977 Chrysler UK brochure and card shows four exterior colours for the Bagheera S. They were Terre de Feu (rose metallic) and Orange Vulcain (non-metallic) with brown/white check seating and trim plus Blanc Neve (non-metallic white) with green/white trim and Gris Electric (grey metallic) with blue/white interior. Blanc Neve is Nitrolac 3321, Orange Vulcain is Nitrolac 3362, Terre de Feu is Verilac 8360 and Gris Electric is Verilac 8361. Cars were offered at £5370.30 incl. taxes for a standard LHD car. Dealer supplied Hodec RHD conversions were £624 extra.
Other Matra Bagheera colours from 1974 to 1980 are known if you need them, contact me for details. A special edition Courrèges model was possibly the first mono-colour car being finished all over in a satin white including exterior mirrors, wipers, wheels etc. The 'leather look' interior was actually stitched vinyl.
They were produced in 5 colours originally all with brown interiors: a check pattern cloth seating in 1.6 models, and a plain colour buttoned style velour material in 2.2 models. The following letter codes are Talbot paint codes.
The metallics were: Platine (PFV), Corail (PVW), and Vert Hudson (PJV) whilst the plain colours were Blanc Neve (PWY) and Bordeaux (PRW) (this colour was a plain Nitrolac at debut but changed to a Vérilac thereafter and each has a different code). They all had a brown/white check (1.6) or brown/honey velour (2.2) interior trim.
For model year 1982 the Bordeaux colour was dropped and they added Rouge Mephisto (PSX) non-metallic and Titane (PKY) metallic, with grey/white check (1.6) or black/grey velour (2.2) interior trim. This was also now the interior colour for the white cars.
For 1983 cars Matra dropped the Platine and Corail colours, and added the non-metallic Jaune Mimosa (PCX) and three metallics: Bleu Colombie (PNW), Cannelle (PVV) and Pearlescent Bleu Columbia but this only on the 'S'!
The dark Columbia blue came in two versions, one from Nitrolac and the other from Vérilac. The standard 1983 cars had the metallic blue from Nitrolac, whilst the 'S' models were painted with a pearlescent metallic blue from Vérilac. According to the paint code label on the cars, these blue 'S' models used code 8405 N. The 'N' here stands for Nacre and 'Bleu Columbia Nacre' translates as 'Blue Columbia Mother of Pearl', hence a Pearlescent Columbia Blue. However the number is incorrect as it should be 8406. Code 8405 is the 1981 metallic Bordeaux colour, whilst Matra in their own documentation, Talbot, Du-Pont, Glasurit and others list the 1984 Matra Pearlescent Blue Columbia as code 8406.
Finally there were a few cars sprayed Black (PXY) to special order. The 'S' models were only available in Red, White, Blue or Silver all with black/grey interiors.
Nitrolac manufacturer codes were: 3321 Blance Neve (white), 3397 Bordeaux (maroon), 3401 Rouge Mephisto (red), 3403 Noir (black), 3404 met. Bleu Colombie (note different spelling) and 3405 Jaune Mimosa (yellow).
Vérilac paint manufacturer (all metallics): 8391 Vert Hudson (dark green), 8392 Corail (rose), 8393 Platine (gold), 8403 Titane (silver), 8404 Cannelle (bronze), 8405 Bordeaux (maroon), and 8406 (or 8405 N on the car label!) Bleu Columbia Nacre.
The bronze 2.2 cars had a brown/black diagonal striped velour trim as did the 1983 dark green 2.2 cars. The blue and yellow 2.2 cars, like the '83 2.2 red, white and silver cars, had a grey/black diagonal striped velour, in place of the plain buttoned velour.
The original Espace (Series I) came to the U.K. in 1985 with two petrol versions: 2000GTS and the higher spec. 2000TSE and four colour options. Pimento Red (704) a plain finish, and three metallic finishes: Stratos Blue (436), Mercury silver (647) which is the same as the Titane on the Murena, and Meteor Red (707). The diesel model was not officially imported.
In 1988 the facelift version - the Espace Series I Phase 2 - replaced the original car still only petrol versions for the U.K., and the colours increased to one plain colour and seven metallics. The plain colour was still Pimento Red (704). Three normal metallics were Stratos Blue (436), Mercury silver (647) and Emerald Green (988), whilst there were four more metallics that incorporated the pillars and roof panels too. These were Manchurian Blue (437), Granite Green (609), Carbon Grey (662) and Volcanic Red (712).
Other Renault colours would appear to have been accepted on special order as we know of at least two others still in existence, one in Bamako Ivory (103) and another in a plain dark blue (code unknown) which have not been changed since they were new. More variants and colours were available in France, and a special limited edition model was produced near the end of the Phase 2 before the Series II came out, and this had a different colour. This model was the Baccara with Connolly Leather interior trim and air conditioning and the paint colour was Pluto Grey (262).
Yes, you can, but there are a number of modifications you will need to do. The most expensive alteration will be to the cylinder head if you wish to use the Tagora head. The Murena head has extra material to take the engine reaction bar mounting bracket which is not present on Tagora heads (although the casting may be there on late ones). You will need to have the head modified to the same as the Murena one. A machine shop will have to build up the alloy and then machine it to shape. It can be done, and if you take along the old Murena head as a pattern, there should be no problem.
The camshaft is a soft profile, the same as the standard Murena! The inlet manifold, carburettor, and the exhaust manifold, are all different but I assume you will be using the original parts, so they should present no problem. If you do use another cam, or have one modified, remember you MUST use new rocker arms with a new or modified cam, or keep the original followers, and have them refurbished, and keep everything IN THE SAME PLACE, with one important exception. The inlet and exhaust arms are different. The exhaust ones have oil holes. I have found too many engines where these rockers are in the wrong positions which can lead to premature wear. So if you find any out of position, you must return them to the correct sides. In fact, with all engine strip and rebuilds you should always keep all parts in the same places unless things were definitely wrong before. The distributor, water pump, crankshaft pulley, and sump, are also different of course, so the originals should be used. There will also be other items like the engine mountings, dipstick tube, and various brackets where you will obviously use the Murena ones not the Tagora ones.
The flywheel needs a cut in it to mark the TDC point, so if you use the Tagora one, you need to modify it. Since flywheels can be 5 or 7 hole you cannot necessarily change them but if you did, and because you are changing the crank pulley, you should strictly have the engine re-balanced. You could also have the flywheel lightened slightly at the same time. There are also two modifications you need to make to the block. If you check carefully you will see that two (if I remember right) of the bolts holding the engine to transmission, go the opposite way. So the thread is in the bell housing and the block must have clearance holes. A Tagora block will have all holes threaded, so you need to drill those two out. Finally, there is a casting lug that sticks out and will foul the RH drive shaft coupling. You must cut this off first or damage your CV gaiter.
IMPORTANT
Whilst talking about 2.2 engines, if you are going to remove the engine and transmission unit, don't mess around trying to undo all the electrical connections and removing the wiring loom. Matra made it easy for you. The engine loom has a plug near the ignition coil. Simply unplug it, and unbolt the earth, and leave the loom on the engine. Similarly when refitting an engine make sure the loom is fitted correctly first and once the unit is back in, simply plug the loom back in to the main loom and refit the earth.
If you are going to remove the cylinder head, you MUST back off and lock out the timing chain tensioner before releasing the timing chain. (I find many have not done so - have mechanics forgotten how to work on engines?!) If you don't do this, the bits will fall out inside and you will be faced with a major strip down to retrieve the parts from the sump and refit them. Second, if you have the head skimmed, don't forget that you MUST have the upper timing case attached at the time so it is skimmed too. It is dowelled to the head and if it is not skimmed the combined head face will have a step in it! Originally the documentation stated there was a thicker (1.5mm) head gasket which was really to compensate for a 12 thou head skim, but these are no longer available. With regard to the 2-litre engine from the Chrysler 2-Litre, this has a shorter stroke and domed topped pistons and these domed pistons must never be fitted with a Tagora/Murena 2.2 head, especially with a high lift camshaft. 2.2 engine torques There are other key facts but if you don't know them you should consider whether you should be doing the work unaided...
No, not easily. The 1.6 and 2.2 chassis are different around the rear specifically for the different engines. If you want to upgrade a 1.6 the better engine to use is the Peugeot 1.9 which is similar as it is a sort of development of the Simca 1.6 engine type. However, I personally do not condone changing engines in any car to a different type as there are so many things other than just making them physically fit, and most are beyond the average owner. If you don't know what these are then it proves my point. Regarding the Peugeot engine an 8-valve 1.9 with a bit of tuning can easily develop 139 horse power so not too dissimilar to the 2.2 S on power. Or you could use a 16-valve fuel injected version for even more power! If you do uprate your engine power, don't forget to make sure the brakes are working well, and you have good tyres, to handle this extra performance. The Murena 1.6 has smaller rear discs than the 2.2 model, and has different rear semi-trailing arms with a narrower rear track than the 2.2 and once you have enlarged the engine and given it 2.2 levels of power it really should have similar rear brake components and suspension geometry if it is to perform correctly... and that is not something you can easily upgrade. It would also be costly as the 2.2 uses unique (and expensive) rear discs and a different brake compensator plus all trailing arms are expensive. The 2.2 drive shafts are longer than the 1.6 so they cannot be used but then if you have fitted a 1.9 power train then I expect you will have to have special drive shafts made anyway to mate the inner ends to the Peugeot transaxle output and the outer ends with the Talbot hubs.
Back to top
