Thread: So is this what the disco was based on originally

G'day Folks

Yes, the sales add, and the rear window sticker, "Some Car This Simca" the "Aronde", with 5 bearing"Flash" motor,the "Elese" with 3 bearing "Rush" motor they all had that plastic interior trim that warped in the heat, and other memorable (forgetable) cars, Renault "Dauphine" Lightburn "Zeta", Go GGo Mob ile (Goggomobile)in both the Sedan,Coupe & Dart Vanguard Spacemasters,"Guardsvan Spacewasters" the Morris "Marina", Hillman "Imp" (Aliminuum block, before knowledge of coolants) and the wonderfull, but misunderstood, 1100's 1800 "Landcrabs" a wheel at each corner beautiful comfortable cars for their size, but not capable of towing a 16 ft "Chesney" from Melbourne to Cairns

Gee Quiggers, that was when a car was identifiable, not a computer designed Eco Bubble

cheers

Originally Posted by UncleHo

G'day Quiggers

That lovely little Simca was the Vedette with the pre-war (WW11) Ford sidevalve V8 of 221 Cu Inch, 17 stud head, Simca was owned by Ford prior to WW11, they were a nice comfortable fast car, but the plastic interior trims of the day couldn't take the Australian sun
Simca had all but left the Aust motor scene by 1963.

cheers

Uncle Ho, not quite right - and I know this because my father had one. As you say a nice car - not much bigger than the contemporary Holden, but with vastly better brakes and handling, and better performance, and a huge boot - plus heater and reasonable instrumentation. Very good touring car. Never had any problems with the plastic, but worst problem was the gearshift conversion from LHD.

The Vedette factory was originally the Ford of France works, and the car was the French equivalent of the Zephyr, but retaining the V8 (in two sizes). The French did not buy many of them, and Ford sold the whole lot to Simca (which was originally a Fiat offshoot, or at least building Fiats under licence in France) in about 1955. Simca ditched the big V8, fitted the smaller one with alloy heads and crankcase, which enabled them to raise the compression to 7.5, and producing as much power as the big V8. The lower weight on the front wheels allowed the steering ratio to go from 5:1 to 3:1, they went from 13" to 15" wheels, brakes from 9" to 11", which enabled them to put the lower suspension and steering pivot inside the brake drum, doing wonders for the steering.

They did quite well on the Australian market (assembled with about 50% Australian content by Chrysler), and were a lot more suited to the roads than the Aronde, which went like a rocket but tended to fall to bits. However, when the Valiant appeared they were a direct competitor, and so were axed. The Australian version had spartan trim compared to the French version (similar to other Australian cars of the time) and the overdrive and automatic clutch were never sold here.

John