A wet British Sunday (“Again?” I hear you say). Let’s instead remember a wet French Sunday.
Going to our favourite Sunday market in south west France, there was clearly an informal gathering of classic cars going on, perhaps meeting to run for a lunch somewhere. Ideal Curbivore circumstances. Let’s take a wander around the highlights, in the gentle rain…..
First up, and the car that first caught our attention, is this 1958-64 Simca Aronde Monaco hardtop. The Aronde was Simca’s mainstay throughout the 1950s, and the 1958 P60 was closely derived from the earlier Simca 9 Aronde and the 1955 Aronde 90.
Power came from a 1.3 litre 4 cylinder, giving some 57bhp.
To me, this is a French take on the Sunbeam Rapier, which I consider to be a compliment. Paul’s CC on the Aronde range is here.
A tidy looking car, and seemingly configured for the weather.
Simca’s larger car in this period was the Vedette, which the company inherited when it purchased Ford of France in 1954. This is a 1954-57 Vedette Regence, at the time the top of the Vedette, and Simca, range.
The styling suggests, to me anyway, evidence of the Ford heritage. It’s not very far at all from something Ford in the UK or even Germany would have done, or been told to do.
Perhaps surprisingly for a French car, the Vedette had a V8, albeit only 2.4 litres. This was derived from the Ford flathead V8, and had been used by Ford of France since 1948.
Rubens’ thorough CC on the Vedette, its engine choice and South American exile is here.
Later cars had more flamboyant styling, with larger tailfins and a squared off roofline. The compact American car look endured until 1961, although the four cylinder Ariane ran to 1963.
France’s favourite Simca was probably the Simca 1100, one of the first hatchbacks with a transverse engine with an end-on gearbox, the modern template.
The car was introduced in 1967, two years after the Renault 16, a year before the Austin Maxi and seven years before the VW Golf.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, this car was a frequent best seller in France, and successful in markets such as Spain as well.
Sold in North America as the Simca 1204, this car was the basis for the Chrysler (later Talbot) Horizon, the European cousin of the Omnrizon, and the larger Simca 1307/Chrysler Alpine hatchback, and hence it was much more significant than first glance might suggest.
The Simca 1100 had another derivative, that is less well known. The Matra-Simca Bagheera sport coupe used the drive train from the 1100, albeit mounted in a mid engined position and driving the rear wheels.
The car was introduced in 1973, and was designed and built by Matra, a diverse French engineering business with significant aerospace and defence interests. It was the latest in a series of Matra sports cars.
It was built on a steel backbone chassis with a composite body.
The other main novelty of the car was the interior: this car had three seats arranged across the car as a single driver’s seat and a twin bench passengers. Quite cosy, and probably unique.
And also offered in very 1970s colours and trims. That long gearlever was common to the Simca 1100 and all its European derivatives.
The power normally came a 1.3 litre engine, though later cars had 1442cc versions.
Does the Renault 4Cv need any introduction? To many, this is France’s Beetle, and the similarities are certainly there, and not just the styling.
Developed during the Second World War below the radar of the occupying German forces, the 4CV was launched in 1946.
The car was sold from 1946 to 1961, and for the last 6 years alongside its nominal successor, the Dauphine.
Of course, there was a Peugeot 404, in this case a tidy example with a driver and passenger keeping dry.
Surely this car needs no introduction on CC?
Also present was this tremendous Peugeot 404 Coupe.
There was no Citroen DS at this gathering, so this car moves immediately to the position of favourite, for me. My most wanted rear drive French car? Could well be.
The 404 Coupe and convertible was actually assembled by Pininfarina in Turin, and shared little that was visible with the saloon.
Really, what’s not to like about this?
There might not have been a Citroen DS but there was a Traction Avant, in this case with pre-war Citroen style yellow wheels.
This is a post war car, distinguished by the bonnet louvres rather than vent panels. Other Curbivores may give us more details.
We heard one Frenchman declare “C’est la voiture de la Gestapo!” (That is the car of the Gestapo.) Memories last a long time.
Another Citroen worth remembering was this Citroen Ami 6, the car I called the greatest ugly ever. I haven’t changed my opinion.
bracketed by a Renault 4 and a Peugeot 203 just to prove we were in France.
To finish, a close up on the Peugeot 203. Just another seminal French car.
Actually, I like wet Sundays after all!
No love for the Renault Juvaquatre wagon? It carried its’ 1938 styling through to the end of the ’50s because the 4CV’s vertical, inline, water-cooled rear engine made a wagon version impossible. Both were replaced by the Renault 4.
Thanks for bringing this great selection of French greatest hits.
A 1204 in the US was the first time I ever heard of Simca. I saw it out front of my grade school in maybe 1971 when someone was picking up a kid. But my tastes run more towards the older ones. The Aronde hardtop is really cool.
And I am reminded that Chrysler seemed to be the only one of the American Big 3 that used its European subsidiary to provide the basis for a first American entry in the subcompact class. Even though Chrysler’s European experiment was fairly disastrous overall, Simca may well be the reason it continues to exist.
I will also admit to being a fan of the Pugs. I would happily accept either.
The Aronde has a bit of Volvo Amazon in profile, and the Vedette looks to me more mid 50s North American Chevrolet than Ford. Possibly due to the two toning. but the grille shape and even taillights seem closer to Chevy than Ford. A very nice selection of French autos.
Oh…what a candy store. As much as I love that 404 coupe, I’m also smitten by the yellow heels on the Citroen TA, which really sets it off. And then there’s the Ami, another favorite of mine. And the Aronde coupe. And…
What a fantastic set of vehicles to stumble across. That Simca Aronde Monaco is a real beauty especially in that shade of blue. The aftermarket wheels and green belt line colouring are not doing that Bagheera any favours. The Ami might be ugly but it has character!
Wow, I love that Bagheera! I’d love it under any circumstance, but the unique black/mint green color combination really does that car wonders.
The Peugeot coupe is stunning. And the small Simca hardtop is indeed very tidy for its time – surprisingly easy on the eyes 60 years on.
I never get tired of the low-slung TA – they’re a note-perfect expression of the 1930’s/’40’s, almost cartoonishly so, and are probably still showing up, line for line, as the period car of choice in many graphic novels in 2019.
The TA is a pre-war car, as evidenced by the wipers: they hang from the top of the windshield, instead of standing on the bonnet as the cars produced after WWII all had.
In my defence, I was told by a French Traction Avant owner that the easiest distinguishing feature on the per war or post war car were the cooling flaps and bonnet louvres.
Sorry c107, but you’re mistaken.
The wipers were on the top of the windshield until the Big Facelift of 1952, where Tractions got a bigger boot, turn signals, new interiors and new wipers.
Roger was right to trust his source. The only easily distinguishable difference between a 1940 Traction and a 1946 is the bonnet louvres.
Some very familiar cars for me!
Those Simca 1100 were everywhere when I grew up, they were a big hit in Holland. Our neighbor had one. A guy who studied at the same school always gave me a lift in his 1100 ti (which as being a ti, had a faster Weber carburettor). It was quite a good and sprightly car but I hated his choice of cassettes he always played… Two peculiarities the 1100 are well known of, the first one is their rattling engine (but indestructible), the second the speed they rusted.
The 404, my parents owned a Familiale (station wagon) which had a third row of seats. It was the car I learned to drive in (with the steering column gear stick). My father could not believe how good the brakes were, it was his first car with servo assisted brakes. This car also rusted away in a few years. A very good dynamically balanced car.
I have always loved that first series Ami. My parents had one as their first car and I can still remember sitting in the back going to the beach. When I got my drivers license I could never find a roadworthy example, they had all rusted away. In recent years the choice is much better as these are many imports from sunny southern France (but prices went sky high as well). Still on my should-ever-own-one list.
My parents, older brother and me in 1965.
Fantastic photo!
Btw, what os the one special car that really stands out here?
The beige Renault 4 is not you plain-jane-one-of-8-million quatrelle! See the tailgate? It has a fancy retractable window. Which identifies the car as a Renault 4 Super, a luxury version that was only produced for (I think) 1962/1963. Very rare today.
Well spotted! Respect!
There is also a Renault Caravelle parked across the street.
I deliberately didn’t crop that out of the shot, just to tempt…..
What a lovely collection of well loved cars with, I guess, original in-period mods. So nice to see many of the newer cars in the car park are French too.. I can’t pick a favourite, so many of them hit my sweet spot. A lot of these are cars from my childhood. Someone in the neighbourhood had a Simca Oceane, have we seen that on CC?
You made me homesick again!
The rear window in the Renault 4 TL is unusual. Normally there is a frame. This one seems to have a clam shell opening rather than a hatch. I never saw that version before.
The early and very rare ‘ Super ‘ model which did have a wind down window and you also have to fold down the double American style rear bumper to fold down the rear door.
Thanks!
I noticed C107 answered the question in a comment above as well. And I noticed another feature: pop-out C-pillar windows!
Yow! The 404 Coupe! Just to round things out, I’d take the 203 as well; I wish we had more French car get-togethers in the States. I ran into a British car gathering on my honeymoon in 2005 in upstate New York and had to stop and look around. Not too much French stuff, on the other hand.
I’m curious to hear from European readers, what are the legacy and memories of the Simca brand in France, or elsewhere in Europe? For so long, there were four mainstream French brands, even here in the US: Renault, Citroen, Simca, Peugeot. I say “mainstream” though that adjective didn’t really apply over here, but all were more visible than say Facel-Vega or Panhard. Today, has the Simca brand just faded in the average person’s memory, like perhaps DeSoto or Rambler here, or is it still visible and remembered, like Pontiac, or Saturn?
Basically Simca was killed by the Japanese invasion; Simca like Fiat were always at the low price end of the market.
There is no need to blame anyone, but one of the masterpieces of Simca in Europe in the late sixties early seventies was the 1100 series (1204 in the US).
In Europe all cars were very distinctable, the normal GL and GLS versions, were nice but the Special had two spotlights in its grille and different steel rims, but the cool one was the Ti, it had 2 spotlights in the grille but also two foglights under the front bumper and alloy wheels, which no other car had, they all had steel cool looking sport wheels but this thing had real light alloy wheels.
Thing was that there was a distinctable Simca 1100 for everyone, 3 door, 5 door, estate, panel van and even a very successful truckette.
This all disappeared with the launch of the Horizon, the 1100’s successor, there they had taken away the distinctive look of the different models ending up with a very bland looking car that was not offered with a Diesel engine and that could not hold a candle against the Golf, I mean even the Mk 1 Golf models were more distinctive, guess they copied it from the 1100 series from Simca !
Simca died in 1979, so in France, Gen Xers have a vague memory of the name, but Millenials generally do not. Pontiac and Saturn are recent departures from the scene and will fade away in due course.
I’d say Panhard was a mainstream marque, at least in France and a few neighbouring markets. They averaged about 30,000 cars per year until the 60s, whereas Facels made about 200 (if that), and almost all were exported. (Simca, by comparison, were more in the 200,000 units per year range in the 50s.)
I would doubt that many under 55 would remember the Simca brand in the UK. I do remember seeing adverts for the Simca 1501 and 1100 in my Dad’s ‘Observer’ Sunday Supplements in the early 1970s but all the newer models from around 1975 were branded ‘Chrysler’ in the UK. Would be a bit different in France I would suspect as the Simca name was retained for longer (e.g. the Simca 1307 was the Chrysler Alpine in the UK).
Thanks. I didn’t realize the Simca brand disappeared from the UK so long ago.
I recognize both the TA and 4CV from the Inspector Maigret TV series starring Bruno Cremer. It’s interesting watching people get in and out of suicide-door cars. They back into the cabin going in.
Such a great selection, Roger – thank you for taking us there. And I didn’t mind the rain… it only added to the ambiance.
That two-tone Vedette looks *very* American – all but the front grille. I can imagine it was quite a bit larger than many other cars around at the time.
And that Bagheera is gorgeous. Its seating arrangement does kind of mar sense, given the apparent width of the car. I would miss the fun of a floor-shift, but that would be a small price to pay for the added utility of a third seat.
Great piece.
(Wait… I just saw the floor-shift on the Bagheera! It’s just kind of poking up there all nonchalantly.)
Lovely bunch. The Aronde hardtop is a rare sighting, as is the early top-of-the-line Vedette.
However, the V8-60 was in use in French Fords since 1936, not 48. A quick search on CC might have been helpful…
Great post nonetheless, monsieur Carr. I’m tempted by the 203, personally.
CC effect: just saw a Citroen Ami on a British road for the first time in at least 5 years.
I love the Arronde Monaco. The hardtop roof gives a sense of occasion to a pleasant little coupe.
I agree with Paul that the yellow wheels really make the Traction.
I’m hopelessly in love with Arondes. I dream about them.
Here’s a new set of pics from Switzerland around 1962, featuring Arondes, Dynas, 2CVs, Borgwards, DKWs, and some busses.
https://www.vintag.es/2019/04/1960s-switzerland.html
I love the color and body style of the Renault 4Cv! It really does look like a Beetle. My husband loves to collect and fix up classic cars. He hasn’t found a Renault yet, but I’m sure he’s looking for one.