All the boys at my junior chool longed for their dads to have one of these! I suppose they were one of the first SUV's- my own father hankered after one for a while, though in the end we bought a lovely Allegro estate instead which we still have. The UV-green colour really made them stand out- I have heard that the Rancho was the inspiration for the design of the Land Rover Discovery, after all, hey don't look ENTIRELY dissimilar.
It looked like a 4x4, but it was only front-wheel drive (based on a Simca saloon. Not much use off-road, then!) Land Rover adopted the kicked-up roofline for the Discovery later.
Do You Remember Matra Rancho?
Do You Remember Matra Rancho?