Georges Lucien Raymond Martin (14 March 1930 – 29 July 2017) was a French engineer who designed automobile internal combustion engines, including the

Simca Poissy engine The Simca Poissy engine, commonly known as the Simca 1100 engine, was a straight-4, four-cylinder overhead valve engine developed by Simca for use in its Supermini car, superminis and economy cars, designed by the engineer Georges Martin (engineer) ...

that was produced from 1961 until 1991, and the Matra Sports V12 engine for

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

(F1) and endurance sportscar racing.

Career

Martin graduated from the Génie mécanique et électrique (Mechanical and Electrical Engineering) department of l'

École Spéciale des Travaux Publics École Spéciale des Travaux Publics, du bâtiment et de l'industrie (ESTP) is a French engineering school and grande école located in Cachan. History ESTP was founded in 1891 by Léon Eyrolles and was officially recognized by the State in 19 ...

(ESTP — the Special School of Public Works). He joined

Simca Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italy, Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simc ...

in 1959. In the Simca design office, he designed the Poissy engine that was in production in various displacements for 30 years, from its first appearance in the

Simca 1000 The Simca 1000, or Simca Mille in France, French, is a small, boxy Rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, rear-engined four-door saloon car, saloon, manufactured for 18 years by French automaker Simca, from 1961 to 1978. Origins The origins of the ...

in 1961 to the last use under Peugeot ownership in 1991, when it was fitted to the

Peugeot 309 The Peugeot 309 is a small family car that was manufactured between 1985 and 1994 in France, England and Spain by PSA Peugeot Citroën. It was originally intended to be badged as a Talbot (automobile), Talbot and, as development progressed, to be ...

. This engine was noted for its reliability, and for producing better than average power and torque from its modest displacement. It was fairly advanced for its time, having an aluminum head and sump, five main bearings, and a reasonably high compression ratio, but was sometimes criticized for excessive valve train noise. This noise was the result of the engine using a double-row

timing chain In a piston engine, either a timing belt (also called a ''cambelt'') or timing chain or set of timing gears is a perishable component used to synchronize the rotation of the crankshaft and the camshaft. This synchronisation ensures that the engin ...

with no tensioner, which was noisier than an equivalent single-row chain with tensioner. The engine was successfully rallied in the 1970s and appeared in a number of cars from Simca,

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a major French industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Its business activities covered a wide range of industries, notably aerospace manufacturer, aerospace, defence industry, def ...

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

Talbot Talbot is a dormant automobile marque introduced in 1902 by British-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément ...

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, and

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

. Martin joined Matra at the end of 1966, at the invitation of Philippe Guédon, a former colleague at Simca who later became CEO of Matra. Arriving at Matra, he did not really know what was expected of him until Matra CEO

Jean-Luc Lagardère Jean-Luc Lagardère (; 10 February 1928 – 14 March 2003) was a major French businessman, CEO of the Lagardère Group, one of the largest French conglomerates. Career Jean-Luc Lagardère was a '' Supélec'' engineer. He began his career in ...

told him that he would be developing a new F1 engine with a targeted

specific output Specific may refer to: * Specificity (disambiguation) * Specific, a cure or therapy for a specific illness Law * Specific deterrence, focussed on an individual * Specific finding, intermediate verdict used by a jury in determining the final ...

of 150 hp per litre. The resulting Matra Sports V12 engine gave Matra three consecutive wins at Le Mans from 1972 to 1974, the

World Championship for Makes The World Sportscar Championship was the world Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing series run for sports car racing, sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), from 1953 World Sportscar Championship, 1953 t ...

constructors title in 1973 and 1974, and a number of Formula One Grand Prix victories in

Ligier Ligier () is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Cham ...

F1 cars. Martin's last major project for Matra was a new 120° 1.5-litre turbocharged V6 F1 engine. The engine reached the prototype stage. Martin left Matra in 1992. A room in the Matra museum at Romorantin-Lanthenay featuring Matra's racing engines is named for Martin.

Personal life

Martin was married to Colette Martin, née Jouvet. Colette died on 31 January 2013.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, George French automotive engineers People in the automobile industry 1930 births 2017 deaths 21st-century French engineers 20th-century French engineers Formula One engine engineers

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading

External links