Gagarin and his Djet, Or the first Russian to drive a René Bonnet
In 1964 the aerospace company Matra, headed by Marcel Chassagny and Jean-Luc Lagardère acquired the automaker René Bonnet, which had just released in 1962 a small sports coupe made-up of composit and remarkably elegant : The Djet. In the hope of space markets, and also due to their admiration for the man, Matra, which soon would shine in Formula 1 (1969 World Champion with Jacky Stewart) and in Endurance at Le Mans (Win in 1972*, 73 and 74 with Henri Pescarolo) decided in 1965 to offer a coupe Djet to Yuri Gagarin, the car beeing renamed for the occasion : René Bonnet - Matra Djet. Indeed in 1965 Yuri Gagarin visited the Renault factory in Flin and it was the Renault powerplant of the R8 Gordini made there that powered the Djet. Here is a small report in Moscow in the footsteps of Gagarin and his Djet, including images and customs file which were treasured. As at the time Matra did not make yet the Espace (Space) for Renault, it is considered nowadays in Romorantin (Home of Matra) that Gagarin was not the first man in space, but the first Russian in (a) René Bonnet ...
Yuri Gagarin and his René Bonnet Matra-Djet before the titanium obelisk erected in Moscow Alley of Heroes in honor of space explorers. Copyright Matra - Lagardère, 1965, courtesy of Club René Bonnet - Matra Sports
Yuri Gagarin seems to be saying  "Well, dont you think my Matra Djet is elegant, " ? Copyright Matra - Lagardère, 1965, courtesy of Club René Bonnet - Matra Sports April 2011
Engineer cosmonaut Gagarin seems to conduct a pre-flight check of his car on the square located in front of the Moscow University. In refering to this French technology, American astronauts should dare not turn up their nose by visiting US campus in Chevrolet Corvettes! Copyright Matra - Lagardère, 1965, courtesy of Club René Bonnet - Matra Sports April 2011
The crowd gathers around the Djet in front of the French Embassy and confirms the interest of Muscovites to the beauty. Indeed the Djet attracts them due to the uniqueness of its streamlined shapes which contrast with the clumsy M-Gas, Gas-Volga, ZIL, ZIS and other creatures which were the offsprings of the planned economy of the time. Copyright Matra - Lagardère, 1965, courtesy of Club René Bonnet - Matra Sports April 2011
Not only officials and adults admire the Djet, but the children too ! Well, probably, the driver's personality is the main reason to go for it. Copyright Matra - Lagardère, 1965, courtesy of Club René Bonnet Matra Sports, April 2011
This document issued by the customs officialy states the name of the car as a "Matra Bonnet MBD", with a recipient named "Yuri Gagarin (cosmonaut)," and states the price at 14,200 New Francs, more than twice the cost a Renault-16, just released from the plant in Flin, and one quarter of the value of a brand new Jaguar E type. Copyright Matra -Lagardère, 1965, courtesy of Club René Bonnet - Matra Sports April 2011