Odd little piece of Chrysler history I didn't know about... Simca

[bull]

http://www.rootes-chrysler.co.uk/car-history/history-simca.html
http://www.allpar.com/model/simca.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simca

Chrysler buys SIMCA When SIMCA bought Poissy, it set aside 15% of its shares for Ford, but Henry never took up the option; the shares were sold to Chrysler instead. In the spirit of collaboration, the company announced that its Aronde automobiles would be built under licence by Chrysler in Adelaide, Australia, tailored for the Australian market.

SIMCA continued going from strength to strength, and a year after the 1000 was launched, Chrysler grasped the bull by both horns when it increased its shareholding in SIMCA to 63%. SIMCA founder Henri-Th�odore Pigozzi died in 1964, and was replaced by Georges Hereil. Hereil confirmed that although SIMCA was now under American control, it would remain French.

In 1967, Chrysler upped its stake in the company to 77%. Although the Americans were in financial control of SIMCA, as stated by Heriel, they would not exert too much influence on the company - until later...

The hugely popular SIMCA 1100 was launched in 1968, and a year later, the company took control of the automotive division of Matra. SIMCA effectively ceased to be in 1970, when Chrysler's share of the company was increased - yet again - up to 99.3 per cent. The company's name was changed to Chrysler France, and gradually during the 1970s, the SIMCA name was supplanted by the Chrysler Pentastar.

When Chrysler withdrew from Europe in 1978, Peugeot that picked up (what had been) SIMCA along with (what had been) Rootes; SIMCA was by far the most valuable of the pair. On the 10th May 1978, an agreement was signed which stated, "the Chrysler Corporation transfers all of its interests in its European operations to Peugeot Societe Anonyme." That was that � Chrysler had sold to Peugeot for a nominal sum. [In fairness, this was done out of a need for survival; Chrysler also sold off its highly profitable military and marine divisions, the Airtemp air conditioning business, its Australian operations, and everything else it could think of in order to raise cash and survive just long enough to get its new K-cars out the door. The creditors were not sympathetic, and the Volare/Aspen quality glitches and badly placed development bets on big cars, coupled with wasteful management, had destroyed the company's finances.)

The following year saw the company renamed: on the 10th July 1979, it was announced that "Chrysler Europe shall become the Talbot Groupe and that all Chrysler-SIMCA models (which controlled 11% of the French market at the time) would become Talbot-SIMCAs". The Talbot name was one taken from both companies' past, as The Rootes Group had absorbed Sunbeam-Talbot in the UK, with SIMCA taking Talbot in France in later years.

[71charger_fan]

I guess you're not old enough to remember the Chrysler-sponsored Bob Hope USO specials in the '60s. When the "brought to you by" announcement was made and they'd run through the various brands, including Simca and Sunbeam. I only ever knew one Simca owner. The guy two doors up the street had one.

[PocketThunder]

Wait, so a sunbeam was once Chrysler?  My Chebbie friend has a Sunbeam in his garage.   i'm gonna have a good time with him if this is true. 

[bull]

I guess you're not old enought to remember the Chrysler-sponsored Bob Hope USO specials in the '60s. When the "brought to you by" announcement was made and they'd run through the various brands, including Simca and Sunbeam. I only ever knew one Simca owner. The guy two doors up the street had one.

I was born in '66, the first year of the Charger.

[PocketThunder]

I guess you're not old enought to remember the Chrysler-sponsored Bob Hope USO specials in the '60s. When the "brought to you by" announcement was made and they'd run through the various brands, including Simca and Sunbeam. I only ever knew one Simca owner. The guy two doors up the street had one.

I was born in '66, the first year of the Charger.

Almost...  http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/featuredvehicles/1965_dart_charger_273/index.html   

[twenty mike mike]

Oh, jeez, here we go...Is a Simca a MOPAR? 

[Aero426]

Wait, so a sunbeam was once Chrysler?  My Chebbie friend has a Sunbeam in his garage.   i'm gonna have a good time with him if this is true. 

There are Sunbeam Alpines that have Pentastar's on the fenders.

[PocketThunder]

Wait, so a sunbeam was once Chrysler?  My Chebbie friend has a Sunbeam in his garage.   i'm gonna have a good time with him if this is true. 

There are Sunbeam Alpines that have Pentastar's on the fenders.

My Chebbie friend (old roommate) just said his car is a 1965 Alpine.  So i told him i knew he was a mopar lover all along.  He then changed the year to 1964... imagine that..

[Daytona R/T SE]

The old man had a Simca back in the early '70's. I think he bought it when gas prices shot past 30 cents a gallon  Then my queer brother  got ahold of it, painted it orange  and covered the entire interior, dash and all with three inch long black and white checkered fake fur 

[73ChargerSE]

There's a 1960 Oceane convert sitting in the backyard of my parents house.  Neat little cars.

[PocketThunder]

The old man had a Simca back in the early '70's. I think he bought it when gas prices shot past 30 cents a gallon  Then my queer brother  got ahold of it, painted it orange  and covered the entire interior, dash and all with three inch long black and white checkered fake fur 

did he put "01" on the doors?   

[Daytona R/T SE]

The old man had a Simca back in the early '70's. I think he bought it when gas prices shot past 30 cents a gallon  Then my queer brother  got ahold of it, painted it orange  and covered the entire interior, dash and all with three inch long black and white checkered fake fur 

did he put "01" on the doors?   

No, the queer brother   is incapable of doing anything that cool. Besides this was '76 or so, long before the General's first flight.

[Spike]

Here's a few more Chrysler powered vehicles from the past.
Link here

[NorwayCharger]

My grandfather had one of the Simca Chrysler, i think it was the 180 series
I was just a little boy back then, but i remember that car..
http://pentastar.free.fr/Chrysler.htm

[Nacho-RT74]

Spanish Barreiros assembly plant was Simca and Dodge Darts manufacturer

Barreiros was a truck brand

[Death1970Proof]

Here's a '37 or '38 simca that's owned by Tom Drake and is powered by a slant six. He's one of the guys I race in our slant six racing series. This car is deadly fast....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ckoya9wcTKA

[IowaCharger69]

9.8 qtr in a slant six, thats wicked cool.