The Matabele was the last iteration of one of Sunbeam's most successful aero engines, the Cossack.

The Matabele fitted this with two of the blocks from the Saracen,[1] using aluminium instead of the Cossack's cast iron.

After taking the land speed record at 152.33 mph (245.15 km/h) with the Sunbeam Tiger, Segrave realised that his small, lightweight racing car would be inadequate to hold the record against the aero-engined leviathans now appearing in the contest.

A pair of Matabele engines were found in the Sunbeam works at Wolverhampton, previously from a powerboat.

Although loudly trumpeted as the "1000 HP" Sunbeam, the actual power was somewhere around 900 bhp (670 kW).