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93-612: During most of its post-war activity, Simca was one of the biggest automobile manufacturers in France. The Simca 1100 was for some time the best-selling car in France, while the Simca 1307 and Simca Horizon won the coveted European Car of the Year title in 1976 and 1979, respectively—these models were badge engineered as products of other marques in some countries. For instance the Simca 1307

186-402: A Simca 1300 , with 1,294 cc (79 cu in) were added, while the old "1000" was also made available, as an even more affordable and frugal option. The 1967 Simca 1100 was one of the first hatchback designs to enter production with a folding rear seat, and in four body versions: three and five-door hatchbacks, as well as an equal-length four-door wagon, and a delivery van variant. It

279-648: A 200,000 French francs government prize. Dreyfus also scored a victory in the Ecurie Bleu Type 145 at Pau in 1938, using the model's fuel economy to beat the more powerful Mercedes-Benz W154 . Another Type 145 finished third in the same race. These victories combined with French patriotism ensured demand for Delahaye cars up until the German occupation of France during World War II . In early 1940, 100 Type 134N and Type 168 chassis were built and bodied by Renault as military cars under contract for

372-617: A controlling 64% by purchasing stock from Fiat, and they subsequently extended that holding further to 77%. Even in 1971 Fiat retained a 19% holding, but by now they had long ceased to play an active role in the business. Also, in 1964 Chrysler bought the British manufacturer Rootes thus putting together the basis of Chrysler Europe . All the Simca models manufactured after 1967 had the Chrysler pentastar logo as well as Simca badging. In 1961, Simca started to manufacture all of its models in

465-481: A far higher level of government subsidy than the government could contemplate. Both the “Simca-Grégoire” project and the government's own enthusiasm for micro-managing the French automobile industry were by now running out of momentum. Sensing that there was no prospect of putting the “Simca-Grégoire” into production any time soon, General Technical Director Grégoire resigned from the company early in 1947. Meanwhile, at

558-505: A former hydraulic machinery plant owned by the Morane family. Charles Weiffenbach was made operations manager. The company initially produced three models at this location: the 1.4 litre single-cylinder Type 0, and the twin-cylinder Type 1  [ fr ] and Type 2. All three had bicycle-style tiller steering, rear-mounted water-cooled engines, automatic valves, surface carburetors , and trembler coil ignition ; drive

651-550: A low volume line of limited production luxury cars with coachbuilt bodies; trucks; utility and commercial vehicles; buses; and fire-trucks. Delahaye made a number of technical innovations, particular in its early years. After establishing a racing department in 1932, the company came to prominence in France in the mid-to-late 1930s, first with the International record-breaking Type 138; then, the Type 135 that famously evolved into

744-450: A material for car bodies. A few weeks after the liberation Grégoire joined the Simca board as General Technical Director, in order to prepare for the production of the AFG at the company's Nanterre factory. For Simca, faced with a determinedly dirigiste left-wing French government , the prospect of nationalisation seemed very real. ( Renault had already been confiscated and nationalised by

837-426: A new transmission, and making a larger version of the rear engined, rear-wheel drive Simca 1000 "Poissy" engine , now displacing 1,118 cc (68 cu in) – up 160 cc (10 cu in) from the 944 cc (58 cu in) "1.0 litre" unit used in the 1000 ('Mille'), while the 1500 used a 1.5 L (92 cu in) engine. Later, a Simca 1200 , with 1,204 cc (73 cu in), and

930-474: A new, higher quality, and considerably sportier automotive-chassis line, with an appealingly distinctive appearance, improved horsepower, better handling, and a higher price-point. Delahaye was repositioned to appeal to a wealthier, younger, more sporting oriented customer base. Varlet was instructed to establish both the new drawing office, and the racing department, neither of which Delahaye ever had before. Weiffenbach hired Jean François, as Varlet's assistant, and

1023-655: A set of requirements for any producer wishing to establish a plant in Brazil. Simca claimed that their proposal and arrangement with Kubitschek pre-dated these rules and lobbied for exceptions. Simca also lobbied directly in Minas, but in the end were forced to present their own proposal, which was accepted with a number of conditions. The delays in passing the GEIA rules meant that Simca, which established its first plant in São Paulo ,

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1116-401: A single plant and, in 1961, to sell the old Nanterre plant. The 1950s was a decade of growth for Simca, and by 1959 the combined output of the plants at Nanterre and at Poissy had exceeded 225,000 cars, placing the manufacturer in second place among French automakers in volume terms, ahead of Peugeot and Citroën , though still far behind market leader Renault . The Ford purchase also added

1209-514: A takeover of Delahaye by Hotchkiss, after which Hotchkiss promptly shut down Delahaye car production. By the end of 1954, after a brief period selling trucks with the Hotchkiss-Delahaye nameplate, the combined firm was itself taken over by Brandt . By 1956, the brands Delahaye, Delage, and Hotchkiss were no longer in use. From its incorporation, Delahaye remained a private, entirely family-owned company, until it closed its doors for

1302-531: A transversely mounted engine and front-wheel drive , with all-around, modern independent suspensions with anti-roll bars ( double wishbones up front, and rear semi-trailing arms ), and disc brakes , rack and pinion steering , and folding rear seats, for maximum space utilisation and practicality. The 1967 introduced front-wheel drive Simca 1100 hatchback range was a top seller across Europe, and said to have (contributed to) convince Volkswagen to replace its entire, all rear-engined and -drive vehicle range, with

1395-549: A two-seater commercial version of the three-door hatchback available to French customers from December 1976. This, the 50 PS (37 kW) 1100 AS (for Affaires et Societés , businesses and companies) qualified for a considerably lower tax rate. During the first full year of production 1968, volumes were already strong with 138,242 vehicles made. Importantly, incremental sales appeared to come mostly from competitor manufacturers, since overall Simca production surged from 251,056 cars in 1967 to 350,083 in 1968, and volumes for

1488-402: A very significantly 30 cm (12 in) longer wheelbase, and over 10 cm (4 in) greater width and height, the new 1100 offered much better interior seating space than the barely shorter small Simca 1000. In 1963, Chrysler took a controlling interest in Simca, approving the project to progress in 1964, with a production target of summer 1967. The short timetable included developing

1581-550: A visit by Juscelino Kubitschek before his inauguration in 1956, organized by a Brazilian General who had a family member employed there. He jokingly invited Simca to build a plant in Minas Gerais , his home state. Simca followed through and sent a letter of intent to this effect. In the interim, Brazil had formed an Executive Group for the Automotive Industry  [ pt ] (GEIA), which had established

1674-474: A whole new, front-engined and front-drive range, leading to the Mk ;1 VW Polo , Golf and Passat series. At just under four metres in length (3.94 m (12.9 ft)), the 1967 Simca 1100 series hatchbacks practically set the blueprint for European and Japanese C-Segment hatchbacks, defining most of their core design traits for several of the following decades. When first shown on Sardinia and at

1767-443: A year later, in 1968, it became painfully clear how far ahead the Simca 1100 series was, by contrast. Different equipment levels were defined as LS, GL, GLS and "Special" tags. Three- and five-door estate cars were also included in the range. The car was fitted with Simca Type 315 petrol OHV "Poissy engines" with 944, 1118, and 1294 cc variants, depending on year and market. A "stroked" 1118 cc engine displacing 1.2 litres

1860-573: The 134N , a 12 cv car with a 2.15-litre four-cylinder engine, and the 18cv Type 138 , powered by a 3.2-litre six-cylinder engine – both developed from their successful truck engines. In 1935, success in the Alpine Trial led to the introduction of the sporting Type 135 "Coupe des Alpes". By the end of 1935, Delahaye had won eighteen minor French sports car events and a number of hill-climbs , and came fifth at Le Mans . In 1936, Delahaye ran four 160 hp (120 kW; 160 PS) cars (based on

1953-562: The Agnelli family (which owned Fiat ) and Fiat's powerful political influence with the Mussolini government in Italy secured relatively favourable treatment for Simca during the years when France fell under the control of Italy's powerful ally, Germany . Despite France being occupied, Simca cars continued to be produced in small numbers throughout the war. Following the 1944 liberation ,

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2046-756: The Monte Carlo Rally driving a Delahaye. Delahaye also ran first and second at Le Mans . Against the German government-sponsored juggernauts Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union , Delahaye entered the Type 145 , powered by a complicated 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 -litre V12 . Called the "Million Franc Delahaye" after a victory in the Million Franc Race , the initial Type 145 was driven by René Dreyfus to an average speed 91.07 mph (146.56 km/h) over 200 km (120 mi) at Montlhéry in 1937, earning

2139-495: The Paris Auto Show in 1967, the 1100 was advanced in design, featuring a hatchback or wagon body, with folding rear seats, front disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, all-around independent front (double wishbones) and rear (semi-trailing arm) suspension, using front and rear torsion bar springs and anti-roll bars . Numerous permutations were available, with a manual, automatic, or semi-automatic transmission. The engine

2232-459: The Simca 1300 saloon. Both transverse and longitudinal engine placement were tested, and in 1963 the transverse-engine design was approved. The Simca 1100 was one of the first designs outside Fiat to feature a transverse engine with an end-on gearbox and unequal length driveshafts – now near-universal amongst small cars – a possible result of Fiat's influence as a major shareholder. With a modest vehicle length growth of 15 cm (6 in), but

2325-679: The VF3 . The pick-up / 'ute' model arrived in December 1975. In the United Kingdom, commercial models assumed the Dodge nameplate after 1976 and were called Talbots after 1979. The commercial models were sold as 'Simca Fixaren' ("the fixer") in Sweden, where they were fitted with a 66 PS (49 kW) version of the 1.3 litre engine. In addition to the dedicated van models, there was also

2418-615: The Volkswagen project across the Rhine, the authorities determined that GFA should produce the two door version of the "AFG", a small family car that had been developed during the war by the influential automobile engineer, Jean-Albert Grégoire . Grégoire owed his influence to a powerfully persuasive personality and a considerable engineering talent. Regarding the future of the French automobile industry, Grégoire held strong opinions, two of which favoured front-wheel drive and aluminium as

2511-456: The 1100 Special, introduced in 1970, distinguishing features of this performance version were its six-headlight and foglight arrangement, front disc brakes, front and rear spoilers, alloy wheels, matte black grille and single paint colour choice (red), items which would be adopted by the many 'hot hatchbacks' that would follow. Another early hot hatch was the Renault 5 Alpine (called Gordini in

2604-924: The 1100, the C2 project, was unveiled at the end of 1977 as the Chrysler Horizon - Chrysler's "world car" - and was an enormous success in the United States, where it sold as the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon. In Europe it was briefly sold as the Chrysler Horizon in the UK and the Simca Horizon in the rest of Europe, before being rebranded as a Talbot following Peugeot's takeover of Chrysler Europe. The 1100 remained in production alongside it in France until 1982 and elsewhere until 1985, also under

2697-577: The 1897 Paris–Dieppe race, followed in 1898 by the Marseilles–Nice rally, the Course de Périgeux, and the Paris–Amsterdam–Paris race. Delahaye's automotive company was incorporated in 1898 with investors George Morane – who had driven one of Delahaye's cars in the Marseilles–Nice rally – and Morane's brother-in-law Leon Desmarais. The company moved its manufacturing from Tours to Paris, to

2790-585: The 1959 Geneva Auto Show . It was also displayed at the New York Auto Show, and the 1961 Chicago Auto Show . The concept car was intended to show what cars in the year 2000 would look like. It was to be atomic powered, voice controlled, guided by radar, and use only two wheels balanced by gyroscopes when driven at over 150 km/h. Fulgur is Latin for flash or lightning . In 1958, the American car manufacturer Chrysler , which wanted to enter

2883-570: The 3CV Simca 5 , a version of the Fiat Topolino announced in the Spring, but only available for sale from October 1936. Its name references the first digit of the car's 570 cc displacement. The Huit , a 6CV version of the Fiat 508C -1100, appeared in late 1937 for the 1938 model year - hence its name. Production of the 6CV and 11CV stopped in 1937, leaving the 5 and the 8 in production until

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2976-484: The European car market, bought 15% of Simca from Ford in a deal which Henry Ford II was later reported as having publicly regretted. At this stage, however, the dominant shareholder remained Fiat S.p.A. , and their influence is apparent in the engineering and design of Simcas of that period such as the 1000 and 1300 models introduced respectively in 1961 and 1963. However, in 1963 Chrysler increased their stake to

3069-563: The French army. The French government had ordered all private automobile production to cease in June 1939, but small numbers of cars continued to be built for the occupying German forces until at least 1942. In 1951, a French military team with Captain Monnier and Colonel Henri Debrus were part of the victorious crew that won the first Algiers-Cape Town Rally with a Delahaye pick-up. After World War II , French luxury car makers struggled under

3162-528: The French government. By 1904, about 850 automobiles had been built. The company introduced its first production four-cylinder in 1903 and shaft-drive transmissions in 1907. Delahaye's chief design-engineer Amédée Varlet invented and pioneered the V6 engine in the 1911 Type 44 . Varlet also designed the Delahaye Titan marine engine, an enormous cast-iron multi-valve twin-cam four-cylinder engine that

3255-564: The Simca 1100 "Fourgonnette" . Commercial versions lasted until the spring of 1985, three years after the 1100 passenger car models had been removed from the market. In the UK, the two-door wagon based, normal or "low"-roof panel-van was called the VF1 , (short for " V oiture F ourgonnette" or (delivery) van), the high-roof van was called the Simca VF2 and was sold from December 1972, while an even higher roofed version, introduced for 1978 became

3348-751: The Talbot brand, and the last Simca design was launched as Peugeot 309 (instead of Talbot Arizona as had been originally planned). The Peugeot 309 used Simca engines until October 1991 (some 18 months before the end of production) when they were replaced by PSA's own TU and XU series of engines. The 309 was produced at the former Rootes factory in Ryton-on-Dunsmore , UK, as well as in the Poissy plant. Simcas were also manufactured in Brazil , Colombia , Spain and Finland . The last Simca-based car produced

3441-637: The Talbot brand. The 1100 was also the basis for the Matra Rancho , an early crossover which had a genuine offroad appearance but was built on the front-wheel drive Simca 1100 basis. Delahaye Delahaye was a family-owned automobile manufacturing company , founded by Émile Delahaye in 1894 in Tours , France. Manufacturing was moved to Paris following incorporation in 1898 with two marriage-related brothers-in-law, George Morane and Leon Desmarais, as Emile Delahaye's equal partners. The company built

3534-646: The Type 135) in the Ulster TT, placing second to Bugatti , and entered four at the Belgian 24 Hours, finishing 2-3-4-5 behind an Alfa Romeo . Delahaye was able to leverage their racing success to acquire automaker Delage in 1935. American heiress Lucy O'Reilly Schell paid the developmental costs for short "Competition Court" 2.70-metre-wheelbase Type 135 cars for rallying and racing. She purchased 12 of these, reserving half for her Ecurie Bleue amateur racing team. In 1937, René Le Bègue and Julio Quinlin won

3627-506: The Type 135, fitted with hydraulic instead of mechanical brakes, and a triple Solex carbureted version of the 3.6-litre Type 135 engine, which produced 152 hp (113 kW; 154 PS). This power was roughly equal to that of the previous series. Only 84 examples of the Type 235 were built. Delahaye's competitor, Hotchkiss , negotiated a licensing agreement with Kaiser-Willys Motors , and obtained sanction to manufacture its Willys MB 'Jeep' in France. The French army began to appreciate

3720-675: The U.K. due to Chrysler owning the Alpine model name there) which first went on sale in May 1976 and also pre-dated sales of the Volkswagen Golf GTi, by two months. The 1100Ti was never sold in RHD in the UK. Three light commercial vehicle (LCV) variants, a two-door wagon-based panel van and high top van , and a car-based pick up bodystyle were also available. These were sold in most European markets – in France and some other countries as

3813-627: The V-8 powered Ford Vedette range to the Simca stable. This model continued to be produced and progressively upgraded until 1962 in France and 1967 in Brazil, but with various names under the Simca badge. An Aronde-powered version was also made in 1957 and called the Ariane which, because it was economical and had a large body, was popular as a taxi. In 1958, Simca bought the French Talbot-Lago manufacturing company. The Simca plant received

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3906-498: The Year at launch. However, Chrysler's forced marriage of Simca and Rootes was not a happy one - Chrysler Europe collapsed in 1977 and the remains were sold to Peugeot SA the following year for a nominal US$ 1.00 plus assumption of outstanding debt. The cars sold reasonably well in France, but were outsold by their key Ford, British Leyland and Vauxhall rivals in Britain. The last remaining Simca and Rootes models were discontinued by

3999-497: The car was deemed ready for production. But Pigozzi was still cautious. He had little enthusiasm for the gratuitously unfathomable complexities involved in producing a mass-market front-wheel drive car. The experience of the Citroën Traction Avant , which had bankrupted its manufacturer in the mid-1930s, was not encouraging. Pigozzi therefore applied to the (at this stage still strongly interventionist) government for

4092-424: The cars with the strongest claim as "the first Hot Hatch " was the Simca 1100 Ti, available from 1974, with 82 horsepower – over 40% more power than the standard 58 hp – which dramatically improved performance. It sent the car's top speed over 161 km/h (100 mph) for the first time, to 169 km/h (105 mph), and gave it a 0–97 km/h (0-60 mph) acceleration in 12 seconds. Based on

4185-414: The company for their entire working career. Weiffenbach became the operations manager in 1906, while Varlet focused on technical engineering and manufacturing advances. In 1932, 42-year-old Jean François was hired as chief design-engineer. Amadee Varlet was over eighty by then, and past his creative prime, but his earned respect caused him to be promoted to head up the new drawing office, and set up and manage

4278-434: The company kept no records of these events. The affair could not be effectively contained and resulted in disinterest among prospective buyers. The Type 175, 178 and 180 models were unable to generate enough sales to recover development and production costs. Their production was discontinued in mid-1951. Until early 1951, continuing demand from the French army for the company's light reconnaissance vehicles (VLR) enabled

4371-491: The company to operate. Small but steady demand for the Type 163  [ de ] trucks allowed the business to remain solvent. A one-ton capacity light truck (later sharing its 3.5-litre six-cylinder overhead-valve engine with the company's Type 235 luxury cars) made its debut at the 1949 Paris Motor Show as the Type 171 . During the next twelve months the Type 171 spawned several brake-bodied versions, including ambulance and 9-seater "familiale" variants. The vehicle

4464-472: The company's close association with Italy became an obvious liability in the feverish atmosphere of recrimination and new beginnings that swept France following four years of German occupation . Nevertheless, shortly after the liberation the Nanterre plant's financial sustainability received a boost when Simca won a contract from the American army to repair large numbers of Jeep engines. On 3 January 1946

4557-448: The company's designer and chief engineer. Delahaye had escaped near disaster, to arise with virtually immediate success, in the new Type 134, followed almost immediately by the International speed record setting Type 138, and then the model that made Delahaye deservedly famous: the Type 135. In 1934, Delahaye set eighteen class records at Montlhéry, in a specially-prepared, stripped and streamlined 18 Sport. The company also introduced

4650-611: The depressed economy. General Pons's five-year reconstruction program (the Pons Plan) allocated the majority of its vehicles for export, and installed an increasingly punitive tax regime aimed at luxurious non-essential products, including cars with engines larger than two litres (120 cu in). In 1947, 88% of Delahaye production was exported, primarily to French colonies in Asia and Africa. Delahaye's meagre production of 573 cars in 1948 (compared to 34,164 by market-leader Citroën ),

4743-473: The early 1960s, which showed the increasing popularity of front wheel drive cars, that provided better comfort and space utilization in small cars. In Spring 1962, Simca organized a project for a new, 1966/–67 launch platform for a range of front wheel drive cars, with saloons, estates cars and light commercial vehicles to be included, all fitting into France's 6CV tax class – between the Simca Mille and

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4836-517: The end of 1954, taking Delage along with it. Engineer Émile Delahaye began experimenting with belt-driven cars in 1894, while he was manager of the Brethon Foundry and Machine-works in Tours, France. These experiments encouraged him to acquire the foundry and machine-works, so that Monsieur Brethon could retire. Emile soon entered his automobiles in the 1896 Paris–Marseille–Paris race, and

4929-511: The end of 1981, and the Simca-based Alpine and Horizon soldiered on through the first half of the 1980s using the resurrected Talbot badge, which itself had vanished from passenger cars within a decade. Meanwhile, Peugeot expanded its own brand and made use of the former Simca and Rootes factories for production of its own vehicles, although the Talbot brand survived into the 1990s on commercial vehicles. Peugeot eventually abandoned

5022-513: The ex-Ford SAF factory in Poissy and sold the factory at Nanterre to Citroën . The rear-engined Simca 1000 was introduced in 1961 with its sporting offspring, the Simca- Abarth in 1963. The 1000 also served as the platform for the 1000 Coupe, a sports coupe sporting a Bertone -designed body by Giorgetto Giugiaro and 4-wheel disc brakes . It debuted in 1963 and was described by Car Magazine as "the world's neatest small coupe". 1967 saw

5115-473: The first Paris Motor Show since the end of the war , in October 1946, two models were on display on the Simca stand, being the Simca 5 and the Simca 8 , at this stage barely distinguishable from their pre-war equivalents. A new car arrived in 1948 with the Simca 6 , a development of the Simca 5 which it would eventually replace, featuring an overhead valve 570 cc engine: the Simca 6 was launched ahead of

5208-448: The government at the start of 1945.) Simca's long standing (but Italian born) Director General, Henri Pigozzi , was obliged to deploy his very considerable reserves of guile and charm in order to retain his own position within the company, and it appears that in the end Pigozzi owed his very survival at Simca to the intervention with the national politicians of his new board room colleague, Jean-Albert Grégoire . In return, Grégoire obtained

5301-430: The introduction of the equivalent Fiat . The French economy in this period was in a precarious condition and government pressure was applied on the automakers to maximize export sales. During the first eight months of 1947, Simca exported 70% of cars produced, placing it behind Citroën (92% exported), Renault (90% exported), Peugeot (87% exported) and Ford France (83% exported). In the struggle to maximize exports, Simca

5394-414: The last time, on December 31, 1954. Emile Delahaye, a successful Tours foundry and machine-works owner, built his first car in 1894. By 1898, the demand required that he expand facilities and obtain investment capital. Emile Delahaye agreed to partner equally with coppersmith business owners and brothers-in-law, Leon Desmarais and George Morane. The arrangement was duly incorporated in 1898, and car assembly

5487-401: The more powerful 1200S Bertone Coupe that, with a horsepower upgrade in 1970, could reach the dizzying speed of almost 112 mph (180 km/h), making it the fastest standard production Simca ever built. In 1967, a much more up to date car, the 1100, appeared with front wheel drive and independent suspension all round, and continued in production until 1979. On 1 July 1970 the company title

5580-466: The new government's five-year plan for the automobile industry (remembered, without affection, as the Pons Plan ) came into force. Government plans for Simca involved pushing it into a merger with various smaller companies such as Delahaye-Delage , Bernard, Laffly and Unic so as to create an automobile manufacturing combine to be called “Générale française automobile” (GFA). With half an eye on

5673-484: The new racing department, assisted by much younger engineer Jean François. Pierre Peigney, a family relative, was the president, but his was more a formal role, since it was Charles Weiffenbach who had been mandated by the partners to run the company, literally single-handedly. This he did, including after orchestrating the merger in 1954 with Hotchkiss, a prime competitor. President Peigney signed for Delahaye, and president Richard signed for Hotchkiss. Neither company had

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5766-409: The outbreak of World War II. The firm nevertheless remained closely connected with Fiat, and it was not until 1938 that the shortened name "Simca" replaced "Simca-Fiat". Of the businesses that emerged as France's big four auto-makers after the war, Simca was unique in not suffering serious bomb damage to its plant. There were persistent suggestions that Henri Pigozzi 's close personal relationship with

5859-491: The personal commitment of the surviving Director General to the production at Nanterre of his two-door AFG. It is very easy to see how the two-door AFG looked, because its four-door equivalent went into production, little changed from Grégoire's prototype, as the Panhard Dyna X . It was a car designed by an engineer, and Pigozzi thought it ugly. In trying to make it more appealing to the style conscious car buyers who, it

5952-459: The pre-war developed VW Beetle , until launching the NSU -developed K70 in 1970. The "Break", or 1100 four-door 'estate' models were no longer than the hatchbacks, just boxier in shape, and thus more spacious and practical. The 1100 was the result of "Project 928", started in 1962, finalized by engineers Philippe Grundeler and Charles Scales . The design was a result of Simca's market research in

6045-504: The production of the Simca Ariane in 1965. Henri Pigozzi was active in the automotive business in the early 1920s when he met Fiat founder Giovanni Agnelli . They began business together in 1922 with Pigozzi acting as a scrap merchant, buying old automobile bodies and sending them to Fiat for recycling. Two years later Pigozzi became Fiat's General Agent in France and in 1926 SAFAF (Société Anonyme Française des Automobiles Fiat)

6138-462: The simpler machine, available at a much lower price, and cancelled the contract for the more sophisticated Delahaye VLR. In August 1953, the company laid off more than 200 employees. A merger was discussed with Hotchkiss, which was facing similar problems. On 19 March 1954, an agreement was signed by Delahaye president Pierre Peigney and Hotchkiss president Paul Richard . Less than three months later, on 9 June, Delahaye shareholders accepted

6231-490: The slightly smaller Simca 1000 were virtually identical in each of these two years. Production peaked in 1973, with nearly 300,000 Simca 1100s rolling off the assembly line. However, production fell rapidly through 1977, when over 142,000 1100s were made, and in 1978 (with the Chrysler Horizon launched in February 1978), just half that number (72,695) of Simca 1100s was made. Volumes dwindled to below 20,000 in 1981 which

6324-529: The special short-wheelbase sports-racing Type 135CS; followed by the V12 types 145 and 155 racecars. Many races were won, and records set. The company faced setbacks due to the Second World War, and was taken over by amalgamation with arch competitor Hotchkiss in 1954. Both were absorbed by the large Brandt manufacturing organization, within months, with automotive products ended. Delahaye closed forever at

6417-559: The sporty TI appeared with the 1294 cc engine (82 PS), at the time when the car also saw a cosmetic redesign. Based on the 1100 chassis, the Matra engineering firm created an early, light family crossover derivation, variously named (Talbot) Matra (Simca) Rancho . The 1100 had a four-speed manual gearbox and room for five people. There was also a three-speed semi-automatic gearbox that required manual shifting but used an electronically activated clutch. The 1100s transmission configuration

6510-401: The traditional American-built Jeep of the period. During 1953, the company built 1,847 VLRs, as well as 537 "special" military vehicles. In that year no more than 36 Delahaye or Delage-branded passenger cars were registered. In 1953, the Type 235 was introduced. Fernand Lecour, working with a small group of enthusiastic factory employees, convinced Weiffenbach to introduce an updated version of

6603-400: The war, Delahaye's major income was from manufacturing trucks. Following the war, Delahaye attempted, in 1927, to increase profits by adopting a modest form of assembly-line production, in a tripartite agreement with FAR Tractor Company and Chenard & Walcker automakers, and Rosengart, an entry-level manufacturer of small family cars. However, the range of vehicles undertaken to produce

6696-453: Was a combination of belt and chain, with three forward speeds and one reverse. Desmarais and Morane took control of the company when Émile Delahaye retired in 1901; Weiffenbach took over from them in 1906. The company ceased its participation in racing after Delahaye's death in 1905. Weiffenbach had no interest in racing, and focused on production of practical motorized automotive chassis, heavy commercial vehicles , and early firetrucks for

6789-545: Was built around the 2.4 liter V8-engined Simca Vedette , which entered production in Brazil in March 1959. It was built under a variety of names and in a number of different bodystyles, until the Simca badge was retired there in 1969. Later models were redesigned completely, and were sold as the Simca Esplanada . The Simca Fulgur was a concept car designed in 1958 by Robert Opron for Simca and first displayed at

6882-457: Was composed of the shareholders, plus their appointed manager of operations, Charles Weiffenbach, as chief executive officer. Emile Delahaye had been the company's president, its sole engineer, and the administrator, until his retirement in 1901. In 1898, Delahaye hired Charles Weiffenbach as his managerial assistant; and, Amédée Varlet as the design-engineer. Both men were qualified mechanical engineers, with differing talents, and both stayed with

6975-400: Was delayed until 1948 due to the war, post-war shortages, and the death of its designer. With a license agreement in place and no viable alternatives, Delahaye proceeded with production of the Type 175. However, suspension components underwent catastrophic failure, and Delahaye was obliged to buy back a number of its vehicles to avoid litigation. The risk of negative publicity was so great that

7068-583: Was even a very early ' hot hatchback ', and a family cross-over : the Matra Simca Rancho . The hatchbacks were replaced by the Simca-Talbot Horizon . The 1967 Simca 1100 series is historically impressive for its very early combination of many modern design features – in very affordabe cars, and in many available (engine) configurations. The 1100 series were the first unibody family hatchbacks and compact estate car , to integrate

7161-480: Was excessively extensive, too diverse, and totally devoid of practical standardization. The collaboration did not last long as shrinking sales volume threatened the company's survival. By 1931, the triumverate had disintegrated. It has been alleged that Weiffenbach met with his friend and competitor Ettore Bugatti , to seek his opinion on turning Delahaye around. In 1932, Desmarais's widow and majority shareholder, Madame Leon Desmarais, instructed Weiffenbach to develop

7254-524: Was fitted into purpose-built speedboat La Dubonnet , which briefly held the world speed record on water . German manufacturer Protos began licensed production of Delahaye models in 1907, while in 1909, H. M. Hobson began importing Delahaye vehicles to Britain. US manufacturer White pirated the Delahaye design; the First World War interrupted efforts to recover damages. By the end of

7347-624: Was formally changed to Chrysler France. The most successful pre-Chrysler Simca models were the Aronde, the Simca 1000 and the front-engined 1100 compact. During the 1970s Chrysler era, Simca produced the new Chrysler 160/180/2 litre saloon, 1307 range ( Chrysler Alpine in the UK ) and later the Horizon , ( Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon in the USA). The 1307 and Horizon were both named European Car of

7440-611: Was founded. In 1928, SAFAF started the assembly of Fiat cars in Suresnes near Paris and licensed the production of some parts to local suppliers. By 1934, as many as 30,000 Fiat cars were sold by SAFAF. The SIMCA ( Société Industrielle de Mécanique et de Carrosserie Automobile ) company was founded in 1935 by Fiat S.p.A. , when it bought the former Donnet factory in the French town of Nanterre . The first cars produced were Fiat 508 Balillas and Fiat 518 Arditas, but with Simca-Fiat 6CV and 11CV badges. They were followed during 1936 by

7533-590: Was handicapped by the fact that it was not allowed to compete directly with its principal Italian shareholder, Fiat. The Simca Aronde , launched in 1951, was the first Simca model not based on a Fiat design. It had a 1200 cc engine and its production reached 100,000 units yearly. Following this success, Simca took over the French truck manufacturers Unic in 1951, Saurer in 1956, and the Poissy plant of Ford SAF in 1954. The Poissy plant had ample room for expansion, enabling Simca to consolidate French production in

7626-550: Was hoped, would appear in Simca showrooms once the economy picked up and government restrictions on car ownership began to be relaxed, Simca designers took the underpinnings of the Grégoire prototype and clothed it with various more conventionally modern bodies, the last of which looked uncannily similar to a shortened Peugeot 203 . This “Simca-Grégoire” performed satisfactorily in road tests in France and around Turin (home town of Fiat who still owned Simca), and by September 1946

7719-417: Was intended for use in France's African colonies, having large wheels and high ground clearance, and was also exported to Brazil. By 1952, thirty Type 171s were produced per month. Delahaye's last entirely new model, a 2-litre Jeep-like vehicle known as Delahaye VLR (Véhicule Léger de Reconnaissance Delahaye) was released in 1951. The French army believed that this vehicle offered a number of advantages over

7812-574: Was introduced in 1971 to the UK market as the Simca 1204 . This badge and engine was also used in the US, where the car sold in limited quantities, beginning in 1969. The larger 1204 cc engine used in North America produces 62 hp (46 kW; 63 PS); both the hatchback and station wagon models were offered. The car was not successful in America and Simca left the U.S. market in 1972. In 1974,

7905-483: Was moved to the vacant Paris factory owned by the incoming partners. When Delahaye retired in 1901, from failing health, he sold his shares to his partners, with Desmarais purchasing more, thus gaining a majority. As the Desmarais and Morane families were connected by marriage, Delahaye was a family-owned business, from 1901 until its takeover by Hotchkiss in 1954. Delahaye was the minority partner. The board of directors

7998-422: Was similar in concept to an earlier French car, the Renault 16 , which had been launched two years prior, in the higher 'D' market segment , and still used a longitudinal front mid-mounted engine, with the gearbox in front of it, like a number of earlier front-wheel drive cars, including the original mass-produced hatchback, the 1961 Renault 4 . When Renault then launched their "new" C-segment Renault 6

8091-441: Was slanted to allow for a lower bonnet; and the engine, gearbox, and suspension were carried on a subframe to allow the unibody to be relatively unstressed. The body was welded to the frame, not bolted. The 1100 was reportedly studied closely by Volkswagen when the latter company was designing its Volkswagen Golf , after having made exclusively rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive vehicles for nearly 25 years, from restarting production of

8184-865: Was sold in Britain as the Chrysler Alpine and the Horizon was also sold under the Chrysler brand. Simca vehicles were also manufactured by Simca do Brasil in São Bernardo do Campo , Brazil , and Barreiros (another Chrysler subsidiary) in Spain . They were also assembled in Australia , Chile , Colombia and the Netherlands during the Chrysler era. In Argentina, Simca had a small partnership with Metalmecánica SAIC (better known as de Carlo) for

8277-609: Was the Horizon-based Dodge Omni , which was built in the USA until 1990. The European equivalent had already been axed three years earlier when use of the Talbot name on passenger cars was finally discontinued. Simca 1100 The Simca 1100 is a series of French compact family cars – mainly C-segment hatchbacks, but also a compact wagon and popular delivery vans – built for over 15 years by French car-maker Simca , from 1967 through 1982/1985. There

8370-593: Was the last year of production in France, though in Spain production continued through to 1982 of the car and 1985 for the van version. The Simca 1100 was also produced outside France: in Madrid (Spain) at the former Barreiros Diesel factory. Spanish-built 1100s were marketed as the Simca 1200 and the TI version had an 85 PS (63 kW; 84 hp) 1442 cc engine. A total of 2.2 million cars were produced. The replacement for

8463-433: Was the same as the one introduced by Fiat on the 1964 Autobianchi Primula , in that it was transverse and axial with the engine giving the "engine on one side, transmission on the other" layout copied on almost all "hatchbacks" and front wheel drive vehicles throughout the world ever since. In France, the 1100 was very successful, achieving best-seller status, but it was less competitive in non-European export markets. One of

8556-521: Was unable to access hard currency and suffered severe parts shortages as a result. Simca quickly developed a reputation for low quality which it was unable to shake. Simca do Brasil was originally 50% Brazilian-owned, but after Chrysler took over Simca France in 1966 they also obtained control of the Brazilian arm. Simca remained based in São Paulo for the entire time they were active in Brazil and never moved to Minas, as originally promised. Their range

8649-410: Was unsustainably low. The new face of the postwar Delahaye was styled in-house by industrial designer Philippe Charbonneaux . Production of the outdated pre-war Type 135 and 148L was resumed in 1946, to restart cash flow and because the Type 175 and its two longer-wheelbased versions were not ready for introduction. The Type 175 was very modern when it had been envisioned in 1938 but its production

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