That other French car...

Ok, Executive decision :wink2:
It's been brought up before & we probably have the numbers now.

Does anyone know of Simca Clubs so I can start to include them into the club register?
Well not just Simca actually, any of the other minority French make.
 
That other French car.

gibgib said:
Ok, Executive decision :wink2:
It's been brought up before & we probably have the numbers now.

Does anyone know of Simca Clubs so I can start to include them into the club register?
Well not just Simca actually, any of the other minority French make.
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gibgib,
Good exec decision.

Simca Car Club of Australia. Pres.. Wayne Yeo. wyeo@optusnet.com.au
Ed & Media. Mr Kerry Ryan.komryan@optusnet.com.au
Secretary. James Duggin. jiduggin@rbe.net.au
Assistant Sec. Rob"Skip"Verhagen.

gibgib. If choosing a Simca logo please use the early Simca swallow design.
You will upset a lot of us Simcaphiles if you use the Chrysler Pentastar, or anything associated with Chrysler!

To further everyones education. The name "Aronde" is the old French word for swallow. :2cents:
 
Wayne Yeo... presently building a Simca 93a for Group Na (pre-'58) racing...

There are about six or seven of these either racing currently or under construction. They will, of course, be duly shephered by big brother Dodge when the time comes and the Minis become too difficult to deal with!

Kerry Ryan is the man with whom I spoke the other night. Quite the collector of things Simca, he has a very wide range of models at his home and in his shed. Not only that, he has an early 504 as a daily driver!
 
That other French car......

Westair said:
With so many views and replies I think a Simca Forum is warranted especially as I am planning to do a restoration and all help would be invaluable.
:D
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Westy,
Having insider information, Graeme C. I can provide some info on a little work done on your planned project.
 
Thanks for the idea Ray.

I for one am looking forward to learning more about Simca's & etc :)

Wildebeest, cheers for the email addresses.
I'll inform the Simca Club of this forum's existence & update the club register of aussiefrogs.
 
Ray Bell said:
Don't you like it when a plan comes together?

I might get some piccies of Wayne's embryonic car later in the week and post them. There's bound to be something interesting in there somewhere...
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There are two Simca Arondes entered in the Ampol Rerun,
Geoff Rose and Morrie Barret,
Graham
 
The only other French car..

Ray Bell said:
Don't you like it when a plan comes together?

I might get some piccies of Wayne's embryonic car later in the week and post them. There's bound to be something interesting in there somewhere...
Click to expand...

You are not wrong about plans etc. To have virtually everything Simca under one roof is great. My "favourites" page is filling up!

Looking forward to Wayne Y's picture progress report if you can manage it. :)

PS Sorry about Kerry Ryan's email mistake.
 
Don't worry about it... just blame the shift key!

Should be okay to get those pics this week. Just have to fit a trip to the Gold Coast into my heavy schedule.

What will be nice to see is when these guys with the Simcas start posting on here... start some good threads... maybe even find some hidden cars?

The word 'Simca' hasn't come up with the Aussiefrogs forum at the head of the google page yet, but it should happen.
 
I was wondering why a post could attract 100 replys in a day, then I see it's the regulars here :) ... So knowing little about Simca's why/when did the company fold ? Did any make an Australian Motor museum ?

- xTc -
 
Originally posted by XTC206
I was wondering why a post could attract 100 replies in a day, then I see it's the regulars here ... So knowing little about Simca's why/when did the company fold ? Did any make an Australian Motor museum
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I believe I've seen one somewhere like that... can't say where...

The company was bought out by Chrysler in the late fifties and then was a victim of their crash in the late eighties. The operation was sold, along with the Rootes Group, to Peugeot.

I think the Simca name had faded before that time, though... with Chrysler appearing on the 180 etc.

Remember, too, that Simca (really S.I.M.C.A. IIRC) came into existence to assemble Fiats in France.
 
XTC206 said:
I was wondering why a post could attract 100 replys in a day, then I see it's the regulars here :) ... So knowing little about Simca's why/when did the company fold ? Did any make an Australian Motor museum ?

- xTc -
Click to expand...


finances plus maybe the oil crisis of the 70's :confused:

peugeot acquired the french chylser unit in the late 70's
 
Originally posted by pugrambo
finances plus maybe the oil crisis of the 70's :confused:

peugeot acquired the french chylser unit in the late 70's
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Of course the bits I've already posted are right, but the oil crisis had nothing to do with it...

Chrysler was in huge trouble financially because of their lack of American production compared to GM and Ford. They didn't have the buying power of the other companies and therefore couldn't sustain the price levels and therefore were in trouble competing in that (all important) market.

Then there were issues that had never been addressed... the styling people didn't spend time discussing what impact their styling would have on production costs or how they might make small changes that could save money.

The transport people well knew that they could only fit two cars on a rail flatbed truck because the cars were about two inches too long to fit three... but they never told anyone. Freight costs were 30% higher than they need be.

The engineering department did a huge job of making the cars reliable, but too few people found out because pricing was put out of kilter by the problems enumerated.

The company had borrowings all around the world and lurched from one financial crisis to another. Finally, Lee Iacocca came in and found out about all these things, did a massive job in achieving the impossible required by the US Government (which was being lobbied by GM and Ford to let Chrysler die) and enable a billion dollar loan to be obtained so they could carry on.

The real punch line to all this is incredible.

These US loans to companies in trouble had been going on for years. They put a fairly high interest rate on the Chrysler loan which made it necessary for Iacocca to get the ball rolling quick smart and pay it back ASAP.

He arranged to pay it back after about two years, turning the company around in a very Walter P. Chrysler manner, but then found the US Government didn't have a system in place so the loans could be repaid!
 
gibgib said:
Simca 1000 looks like a Renault 8!
The engine's in the back too.

<img src="http://www.philseed.com/images/sim1000ral74a.jpg" alt=" - " />
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Firstly, a big thanks to Ray for initiating this new area. Simcas are under-rated, if a relatively short-lived marque. I well remember driving Arondes in Adelaide in the late 1960s - some issues with plastic quality and a dreadful column change but overall quite sweet, good handling and well-equipped cars for the day.

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the Simca 1000 predated the R8. They (in common with the Hillman Imp and Hino Contessa, and I suppose the NSU Prinz, all had elements of Corvair.

There is a nice Simca 1000 in Perth (and a couple of Hino Contessas for that matter).

Comments please!

JohnW
 
That other French car.

Ray,
Your essai on Chryslers problems showed how, among other things, how the demise of the Simca name came about. One of the reasons for my earlier suggestion that if the Forum is planning a logo they ignore any of the Chrysler types,ie Penta and the swallow design that looks like a Nike flash! Us old Simcaphiles have long memories :mad:

Simca or S.I.M.C.A.=Societe Industrielle de Mecanique et de Carrosserie Automobile. Established 1934.

John W.
Yes the plastic interior trim was terrible, the later P60 Aronde even more so.
Most plastic in French cars of that time was poor, a carry over from wartime when things like radio knobs were made from milk! Peugeot 203 pull knobs suffered from this decay.
The Aronde, both the 90A and P60, had combination cable and rod operated gearchange. A proper floor change was a popular accessory. This consisted of a full gearbox top cover with lever. :cool:

The Simca 1000. Information I have is that it came out in 1963. It was a design exercise from FIAT who even then were behind the scenes. I believe it was penned by Dante Giacosa.
I bet the Renault 8 and the Simca 1000 were positioned at opposite ends of the motor show salons in that year!
 
matty said:
a few years back I bought a 1957 Simca Vedette for 2 cartons of B & H extra mild. It ran for about 6 months until the head cracked. A guy I worked with came in a told me to come out the front and have a look at something. When I got out side I saw the ol' Simma billowing smoke down that was being blown down the road for abiut 100m. Very very funny.
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Hi,

Do you know what ever came of this car?, I'm looking for the front over-riders from a Versailles which is the 1957 model Vedette.
 
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