Simca · 1954–1966

Simca Profissional

The Simca Vedette is an executive car, manufactured from 1954 to 1961 by French automaker Simca, at their factory in Poissy, France. The Vedette competed in France's large car market at a time when the economy was finally returning to growth and enjoyed moderate success with its American style finished off by the Italian designer Rapi. It was marketed with different model names according to trim and equipment levels. The Vedette was Simca's largest model at that time, and it went on to spawn a more economical version, the Simca Ariane. Simca acquired the Poissy factory from Ford France (Ford Société Anonyme Française, the French subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company), along with the model line, in 1954. The Vedette was therefore initially still marketed as the Ford Vedette. The Vedette was manufactured in Poissy until 1961 and the Ariane until 1963. After that, production continued in Brazil until 1966, when the Vedette finally evolved into the Simca Esplanada following Simca's takeover by Chrysler.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: Simca Vedette

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Origins and launch

In the early 1950s, Henri Théodore Pigozzi was looking to expand the manufacturing operations of his Simca company, which was enjoying much success at the time, thanks to the popular Aronde. At the same time, Ford was seeking to divest itself of its French subsidiary, Ford SAF, which had a factory in Poissy, close to Paris, where it had been manufacturing a large car called the Ford Vedette. The Poissy plant was large and there was capacity for further expansion. The Vedette was a larger car than anything that Simca had on offer at that time. These points attracted Pigozzi, who decided to take over the entire factory, along with the rights to the cars manufactured there. The cars appeared at the Paris Motor Show in October 1954 on the Ford France stand, but there was no mention of the Ford name on the covers of the brochures offered to potential customers. The name "Ford" appeared just once, in very small print, on the final page, presumably in order to avoid confusing customers who would be expected to call the cars "Simcas" from 1 December 1954, the date set for the formal hand-over of the business. In export markets the name change was less immediate, and even in adjacent Belgium, in January 1955 at the Brussels Motor Show the cars were still appearing on the stand of the Belgian Ford importer, sharing the space with models imported from Ford of Britain.

First generation

The acquisition by Pigozzi took place in July 1954, just when Ford was poised to launch its new, modern Vedette, with a four-door saloon body of "American" style, much like the contemporary British Fords or Vauxhalls. The car was powered by an unusually small 2351 cc sidevalve V8 engine called Aquilon ("North wind") in France, derived from Ford's Flathead engine family, whose displacement positioned the car into the "13 CV" French tax class. Equipped with a two-barrel Zenith-Stromberg 32NX carburetor, it produced 75 hp (55 kW) for the first generation. Power was transferred to the rear live axle through a three-speed manual transmission with column shift. The Vedette had independent front suspension (by MacPherson struts) and drum brakes on all four wheels. As with the Aronde, Simca marketed different trim levels of the Vedette under different model names, this time with references to the grand period of baroque in French history. The basic version was called the Simca Vedette Trianon, the mid-level was the Simca Vedette Versailles and, at the top of the range, the Simca Vedette Régence. An option on all versions was a large glass moonroof that slid into the roof, called Vistadome The Vedette range was still marketed under the Ford brand in some markets, including the Netherlands and Germany, until 1956. As the new model caught on, Simca was able to increase production from the 150 daily achieved during Ford's ownership of the factory to 250 cars a day. Pigozzi maintained a schedule of year-to-year model revisions, much like US manufacturers. For 1956, an estate version called the Simca Vedette Marly joined the line-up and the whole range was revised. A new license plate holder was added to the front bumper and the rear license plate now concealed the fuel tank filler.

Second generation

After three years in production, the Vedettes were given new names and a new, elongated body, with a more ornate front end and large tailfins, making the cars even more American-looking than before. This was part of a styling trend shown by most large European cars of that period, which were, to some extent, inspired by American styling, as tailfins appeared on Peugeots, Fiats, BMC models (Pinin Farina-styled), Fords and even Mercedes-Benz cars of that era. The engine was uprated to 84 hp (62 kW) (now called Aquilon 84) but the fiscal qualification of the car remained unchanged. Using the new body, the Versailles was replaced by Simca Vedette Beaulieu and the Régence by the Chambord, while the estate retained the Vedette Marly name. The three-year-old body of the previous Vedette nevertheless continued in production but it lost its V8 2.4-litre engine. In April 1957, fitted with the 1.3 L Aronde engine, the old body now clothed a new model in the Simca range, the Simca Ariane. 1959 brought a new option, the Rush-Matic automatic transmission, which featured two modes: Rush (fully automatic) and Road (manual gear selection). The same year, assembly of the Vedette started at Simca do Brasil. Also during 1959, a new top-of-the-line model joined the Vedette range, the Présidence, featuring a luxurious interior, a radiotelephone (a European first) and a continental kit. French coachbuilder Chapron built two 2-door Présidence convertibles for a governor of one of the French colonies. Chapron had another order the next year, to build two four-door convertibles for the French President Charles de Gaulle. The Beaulieu was dropped in autumn 1960, but the other models remained unchanged until the 1961 model year, when they received new seats, new chrome decor, and the engine was fi

Models (Brazilian market)

The model was continued for longer in Brazil, where it was the first V8-engined car to be built. The Ford-sourced Aquilon 2.4-litre V8 engine underwent a number of improvements, first increasing power to 100 hp (74 kW) (the Tufão version), then to 140 hp (103 kW) (called Emi-Sul due to its hemispherical combustion chambers, as used in Chrysler's Hemi engines). Trim levels included the Présidence as the top-end model, Chambord as the mainstream model and the Alvorada, later renamed Profissional, as a base model, mainly marketed towards taxi drivers. There was also the Jangada station wagon, based on the Marly. The cars were eventually replaced by a version with new sheetmetal, called the Simca Esplanada. The Simca Chambord and its derivatives were built by Simca's Brazilian subsidiary, Simca do Brasil. Based on the Vedette, the first Brazilian Chambord left the production line in March 1959. It featured a standard 84 hp (62 kW) V8 engine, a 3-speed gearbox with the shifter located on the steering column. Early examples were assembled nearly entirely from parts imported from France. Related models included the Simca Présidence, Simca Rallye, Simca Jangada station wagon. Throughout the 1960s, Simca do Brasil gradually introduced parts produced by local OEM parts suppliers. In 1961, the Chambord received an improved engine with 90 hp (66 kW) and 15% more torque, a slightly shorter differential. 98% of the parts were of Brazilian production. A special version, called the Tufão (whirlwind) featured some additional luxury items in its interior. 42,910 units of the Chambord were built up to 1966, and the engine output gradually rose to 130 hp (96 kW). These more powerful Chambords had an acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 14.3 seconds and a top speed of 160 km/h (99 m

Australian production

Following an announcement in July 1959 that it would assemble and market Simca models in Australia, Chrysler Australia produced the Vedette Beaulieu through to 1962, using both fully imported and locally sourced components.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name

Simca Vedette

aka

Ford Vedette

Manufacturer

Simca

Production

1954–1961 (France), 1959–1966 (Brazil)

Assembly

France: Poissy, Yvelines (Poissy Plant), Australia: Adelaide (Chrysler Australia), Brazil: São Bernardo do Campo (Simca do Brasil)

Predecessor

Ford Vedette

Successor

Chrysler 160, 180, and 2 Litre

Class

Executive car (E)

Layout

FR layout

Body style

4-door saloon, 5-door estate

Engine

2.4 L Aquilon sv V8

Transmission

3-speed manual, Rush-Matic automatic

Related

Ford Vedette, Simca Ariane, Simca Esplanada, Dongfeng CA71

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

• Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7517457CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simca_VedetteCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1374232867 · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.

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