Frenchman Henri-Theodore Pigozzi had been importing
Fiat’s for a time, and realised it
would be even more lucrative to produce the Italian
cars under license for the French market, thus
in 1934 La Société Industrielle
de Mécanique et de Carrosserie Automobile,
or simply Simca for short. It would become an
overnight success by building the Fiat 500 Topolino
and 508 as the Cinq and Huit respectively.
By
1938 the Nanterre facility (on the Seine) was
building some 20,000 cars per year. Following
the war the company would resume production of
the Cinq and Huit, then in 1951 the company would
manufacture their very own iteration, the Aronde.
The new car would become an overnight success,
it soon being exported and garnering a stellar
reputation for quality and reliability. Following
the success of the Aronde, the company set about
designing and manufacturing other genuine French
iterations, while also expanding its operations.
Unic was bought in 1951, then Ford’s French
operation was purchased three years later, greatly
adding to the production capacity. In 1959 Simca
acquired Talbot, but by then Chrysler had obtained
a 15% stake in Simca as it grew its European
manufacturing base (the British Rootes concern
was also in Chrysler’s sights).
By 1963
Chrysler held a majority share, at a time when
their small 1000 and more modern 1100 and 1301/1501
models would ride the crest of unappalled popularity.
By the early 1970’s Chrysler owned 100%
of the company, but financial difficulties in
the US would see the company sell of its foreign
subsidiaries, Simca being sold to Peugeot-Citroën
in 1978. Simca would be renamed Talbot, but even
that name would be dropped a few years later.
1962 - 1978
The Simca 1000 was an immediate success when it was
launched at the 1961 Paris Salon, winning a huge
allegiance of fans and enjoying a wonderfully long
production run of 16 years, in which time some 1.6
million would be made. More>>
1967 - 1982
Following on from the success of the Simca 1000, the 1100 would provide Simca with the perfect platform to allow export sales. The result of "Project 928", design of the 1100 had stated back in 1962 under the watchful eyes of engineers Philippe Grundeler and Charles Scales, being first shown at the Paris Auto Show in 1967. More>>
1975 - 1979
The Simca 1307 was launched in July 1975. A modern, front-wheel drive hatchback, it was one of the first such cars in that class, along with the Volkswagen Passat, and became the 1976 European Car of the Year. It was a classic front-drive, medium-sized, five-door hatchback family saloon. More>>
