About Simca
Simca was a French automaker and marque, founded in 1934 by Henri Théodore Pigozzi (1898-1964). Simca was originally affiliated with Fiat, but later, after a period of independence, became increasingly controlled by the Chrysler Group, in 1970 becoming a part of Chrysler Europe and a brand rather than independent company. In 1978, Chrysler divested its European operations to another French automaker, PSA, which replaced the Simca brand with Talbot, thus ending the life of the brand (although some models were badged as Simca-Talbots for a time).
During most of its post-war activity Simca was one of the biggest automobile manufacturers and most popular automobile brands 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 titles in 1976 and 1978, respectively. Simca vehicles were also manufactured by Simca do Brasil in Brazil and Barreiros (another Chrysler subsidiary) in Spain, and also assembled in Chile, Colombia and the Netherlands during the Chrysler era.
The beginnings
The founder of Simca, Henri Théodore Pigozzi (born Teodoro Enrico 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 Français des Automobiles Fiat) 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.
SIMCA
The SIMCA (Société Industrielle de Mécanique et de Carrosserie Automobile) company was founded in 1935 when Henri Pigozzi bought the former Donnet factory in the French town of Nanterre.
The first cars produced were Fiat 508 Balilla and Fiat 518 Ardita but carried Simca-Fiat 6CV and 11CV badges. This was followed in 1936 by the Simca Cinq or 5CV a version of the Fiat Topolino and in 1937 by the Huit or 8CV version of the Fiat 508C-1100. Production of the 6CV and 11CV stopped in 1937 leaving the 5CV and the 8CV in production until the outbreak of World War II. Despite France's being occupied during the war, Simca cars continued to be produced in small numbers throughout the conflict.
