It entered production in April, incorporating modifications that included a new chrome bumper bar to provide much-needed protection for the front grill, a modestly reshaped dashboard to give the passenger more knee room, and a repositioned ignition key to facilitate access.

[5] For its first two years of production, the chassis was built by Carrier in Alençon and final assembly was done by French coachbuilder Brissonneau et Lotz at Creil.

Firstly, the engine benefited from changes made by Ford to their own product line, including use of a different carburetor, which raised power output to 75 CV (55 kW).

Secondly, Matra closed a deal with Chrysler Europe, to sell their cars through the Simca dealer network from 1970 onwards and jointly develop the M530's successor.

The testers commended the Matra's refinement, handling and steering, soundness of construction and finish, while noting that its performance was 'not outstanding'.

[7] Introduced at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show,[citation needed] the Matra Sports M530 LX was a minor redesign of the M530 A by Michelotti.

French artist Sonia Delaunay, creator of the Orphism art style that emphasized colour and geometric shapes, painted a pre-production M530 at the request of Lagardère in 1968.

The car was first shown in yellow at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show, and the next year appeared at the 1972 Montreal Auto Salon in silver.

Created after Chrysler-France assumed control of Matra, the changes necessary to adapt the transaxle to the Chrysler engine made this version too expensive to produce.