Bonnet Djet 1962 to 1964
When you think back at any of the mid engine sports cars from the 60’s, your thoughts often go to Ferrari or Lamborghini. Well, they were not the first to produce a production mid engine car for sale to the public. The first mid engine car in production was a car designed and manufactured in France. It was designed and sold by Rene Bonnet and went into production in June 1962. The car was presented as the Bonnet Djet.
The Djet is a 2 seat sports car and powered by a Renault 8, 4 cylinder, mid-engine mounted. Starting with the original configuration it had an output of 65HP. In later versions with the Renault 8 Gordini tuned engine the output was increased to 80HP. It has a 4 speed gearbox from a Renault Estifatte van.
The fibreglass body for the Djet was made by Matra, another French company and was bonded directly to the chassis.
There were 4 different configurations of the Bonnet Djet over the 2 years of 1962 to 1964.
Matra Djet 1965 to 1967
When Rene Bonnet ran into financial problems in late 1964, Matra who was already supplying bodies, took over the original company in October 1964. Matra made a few minor design changes and it was back in production in April 1965.
When Matra started production back up it made 2 models. The DjetV that was powered by a Renault 8 Major engine and the Djet VS which came with the Renault 8 Gordini tuned power plant. There were 3 different configurations on the Djet from 1965 to 1967. The last Djets, now just labeled as the Jet6, came out in 1968. They had the 1255cc Gordini engine.
There were very few of these vehicles produced and it’s estimated production is around 1500 cars. This makes them a real collector car and not a sport car you see at many car shows.
Below is a video that will give you an idea of just what is like to drive this rare car.