SIMCA (Société Industrielle de Mécanique et Carosserie Automobile) was founded in 1934 by Henri Théodore Pigozzi.
In 1935 the company started producing FIAT cars under license. First the Fiat 500 Topolino which was sold under the name of Simca 5 in France. Untill 1950 the Simca 8 and the Simca 6 followed. Under German occupation during WW2 SIMCA amongst others had to produce parts for the NSU-Kettenkrad, a small military vehicle.
Simca 1000 GLS©flickr/Joost J. Bakker IJmuiden
In 1954 SIMCA bought Ford’s French branch and it became the most modern car factory in Europe. With 15 percent of shares Ford became a shareholder of Simca.
The former Ford models Vedette and Comète became Simca Vedette and Simca Comète Monte Carlo. One year later the production of the Simca Comète Monte Carlo came to an end but the Simca Vedette was produced until 1961, in Brazil even until the end of the 1960s.
In 1951 the Simca Aronde was first sold followed by the Simca Ariane in 1957. In 1961 the Simca 1000 was produced and from 1963 on the 1300/1500 series. The Simca 1100 built in 1967 was the first model with front engine and front wheel drive.
In 1958 Chrysler bought the 15 percent shares held by Ford and in 1959 Simca bought the French Talbot-Lago company. In 1971 Chrysler owned almost 100 percent of the Simca shares mostly by purchasing them from FIAT. The company now was officially called Chrysler France but the brand name Simca was still used.
In 1978 Simca was sold to Peugeot S.A. which still built the models until 1986 under the brand name Talbot. The last Simca design was the Talbot Arizona which was sold as the Peugeot 309.
The Aronde, the Simca 1000 and the front engined 1100 compact car were the most popular pre-Chrysler models.
