Matra Veículos S/A (not related to the famous french carmaker) started business in 2001, with the production of the pickup truck Picape 2.5 TB-IC, that was developed according the objectives of the farmer and businessman Nivaldo Rubens Trama, to comply with severe use conditions, that was supplied by the Toyota Bandeirante (Land Cruiser 40 series) until then. The chassis was developed by Matra, where a fiberglass cab was mounted. The project uses many parts from other vehicles, so it required an investment of about US$ 1.5 million.
In 2002 the vehicle had a revision in it's cab and some little aesthetics changes. Initially it was available in standard and super cab versions, with drum brakes on the four wheels, the short chassis version having a standard fiberglass well-body bed, while the long chassis had opitions of aluminum or wood drop side beds or a van truck. The crew cab option was launched during the 10th Feira Internacional de Tecnologia Agrícola em Ação (agrishow) in 2003, as the option for solid disc brakes on the front. The looks are quite singular, specially because of the combination between the short front end and the tall cab (2.24 mts high). The dashboard has a square dashboard frame, and the instruments resume to speedometer, fuel level indicator, engine temperature indicator and trip kilometer counter.
Visibility is good, given it's height and wide glazed area and the build quality, despite being rustic, has good noise insulation, specially if you remember that part of the engine is right in the middle of the cab. However, the parts aren't properly fitted always, and there are burrs everywhere, but the fiberglass allows the interior to be washed, what turns it really easy to clean. The engine is a 2.5-liter International Maxion HS Turbo Diesel with intercooler, generating 115CV @ 3800rpm of power and a torque of 29.0 mkgf @ 1600rpm. The air intake is positioned very high, and uses a special air filter, specific for dusty terrains, thus ensuring a larger life span to the engine. The gear box is the same FS2305 used in the Brazilian Land Rover Defender, but mounted backwards. In 2003 there where standard, extended and crew cab version, with long or short chassis and RWD or AWD versions.
The performance is somehow surprising, being possible to easily keep cruise speeds of 70kph, with some juice left for overtakes. Over 80kph, however, the vehicle starts to feel unstable and apart from the good grip of the steering wheel the seat fail to provide grip to the drives body, demanding some effort to drive around corners. Also, the pedals are very near to each other, mostly because of the engine layout, but this factors are not that relevant into a work truck. The production numbers are not very clear, but information says that 116 were built, 46 of them that where sold to Argentina and Uruguay. In 2004 there where 23 dealers around Brazil, distributed in 8 states, and the company had plans to launch a microbus chassis and a 4-ton truck for the next year, but the company closed it's doors that year. The closing reason is not clear, but some say that Toyota might have bought the company to avoid competition for it's brand new Hilux in this specific market share.
