The Simca Vedette has a fascinating story. It started out as the Ford Vedette, built in Ford’s French subsidiary, and using a revised version of the V8 60 flat head eight, now with 2351 cc (143 ci). That engine never caught on back home, so why not ship it off to France? Well, Ford wasn’t too excited about their prospects in France, so they sold the Vedette and the Factory to Simca, which was having success with their smaller Aronde.
This is the second generation Vedette, restyled to keep it looking fresh. The flathead V8 now sported 84 hp, in for 1959, the Rush-Matic automatic transmission. Americans didn’t have a monopoly on trendy slush-box monikers. The Vedette went on to have a long life in Brazil, after its French life ended in 1961.
So what rather wide-bodied airplane is that?
I’m just going to wing it 😉 and say DC-4. (Wild guess)
It’s a SNCASE S.E.2010 Armagnac
I’m not really that smart, I searched Sageta from the visible text on the plane nose.
Apparently it was another disappointing French machine and they only built 9
Well no wonder, who wants to say “SNCASE S.E.2010 Armagnac” when you can just say “Douglas DC-4”? (Not sure how contemporary they were, actually.)
Naah, DC-4 has a rather long and narrow body. I’d say it’s an Ilyushin IL-18.
Looks like DougD is correct, after googling it (never heard of such a plane!)
As for the car… 84hp from a V8! Boy, am I glad to have lived today! So many cylinder for such a pitiful output!
SAGETA Googled into this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNCASE_Armagnac
“The SNCASE S.E.2010 Armagnac was a large French airliner of the late 1940s built by SNCASE (Sud-Est). The aircraft’s disappointing performance and range prevented it from achieving commercial success. Although the SNCASE Armagnac did not have a sterling career, its passenger compartment design gave it a much roomier feel and greater capacity and foreshadowed the future wide-body jet airliners.”
“Société Auxiliaire de Gérance et de Transport Aériens (SAGETA)”
Yeah, the French seem jinxed when it came to commercial airplane. They tried it again later with Dassault Mercure, an airplane I actually has been in. Failed again, only a few were built (I wonder how much money they lose on that). Then they joined with the Germans and create Airbus, which finally succeeded.
don’t forget the concorde!
Wow; that was a big aircraft for the times; huge even. No wonder its performance was not up to snuff, and unprofitable to operate. Needed six engines!
Those Vedettes are getting scarce now there is a guy who turns up at every car event locally with an Ariane seeking information on Vedettes. Ive told him where some are in Tasmania but he claims their club cant find them. Flathead Fords never had much HP they rely on torque but the little V8 60 was popular for UK Fords like the PiLOT. The SIMCA ARIANNE is this body with a 4 banger aboard.
I don’t know what that airplane that is, but that car is what a 1957 Falcon could have looked like!
+1
If memory serves it was meant to be a US Ford compact, until they changed their mind and sent it to France
My late uncle bought a Simca Vedette new here in New Zealand back in the late 50s. It was traded in long before my time (for a Wolseley 6/110 I think) I’ve only only ever seen photos of it, but it was very light yellow with the rear wing inset white. A very pretty car and quite rare here now – last one I saw was an engineless example last year on trademe.
They are rare in NZ but must have been popular in OZ once Ive seen several including a pale yellow example in a paddock between Margate and Snug in Tas. Rush the name of the 4 cyl motor in the Aronde and Etoile Rushmatic was probably the tranny for it.
Reminds me of a Milky Green Matchbox (#33?) of a Ford Zephyr, I think It was, that I had growing up…I always liked it cuz it looked like a 59 Mercedes to me… Still has Good Paint after all these years Too. I still have it somewhere…
Was this related in anyway? Were these Tailfins on cars like this a Reaction to The Original Cadillac? Or Perhaps more to the Forward look of 57?
Before Ford’s “Light Car” project was sent to France to become the Ford Vedette, was the car always intended to be powered by the Ford Flathead V8?
Or were other engines considered such as the Flathead Ford Straight-6 or even an Inline-4 as well as the experimental Inline-5?