The mechanical base chosen for the new sports berlinetta was borrowed from the Simca 1000, with which it shared parts of the chassis, steering, suspension and gearbox suitably revised by Abarth engineers. Usually, when you think of Abarth, you automatically associate it with Fiat, given that under this combination cornerstones of the history of the … More The French Scorpion
The Rancho once again emphasised Matra’s innovative spirit; they knew how to make the car stand out and it was manageable and more compact than its “rivals”. We’ve already talked about Simca several times and in particular have focused on the 1100 model, a medium-sized car produced from 1967 to 1985, also as a commercial … More Rancho: The crossover
On the continent of the Stars and Stripes the Horizon was profoundly changed by the engineers, however, to make it more suitable for the market it was to be imposed on and, also for this reason, it contained few elements in common with the European model. In the previous article we talked about Chrysler’s C2 … More The car for two worlds – Part 2
In 1979 the Horizon was voted Car of the Year, but that didn’t help it to achieve satisfactory sales after being re-branded under the “new” marque. Designing a car for two completely different markets: that was the goal of the “C2” project initiated by Chrysler in the first half of the 70s. The definitive car, … More The car for two worlds – Part 1
The new coupé did not offer four seats like the 530, the engineers abandoning that idea after the problems they had encountered with its design, and also discarded the classic but limiting two-seats, choosing an original solution of three seats in a single row. By the end of the 1960s Matra had gained an excellent … More Three front row seats
The lines needed to be something new and out of the ordinary hence the car’s appearance was somewhat controversial and awkward in some ways, mainly because of the long wheelbase compared with other cars its size Matra entered the world of four wheels in 1963 with the Djet, developed on mechanicals derived from Renault. We … More Non-conformist innovation
Stylistically the Samba continued the simple square lies of the other models together with particular finishes; mechanically it had a transverse front engine and front-wheel drive. The Talbot marque, founded in 1903 by Adolphe Clément with the financial help of Lord Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, remained active from 1905 until after the Second World War, when the … More The last Talbot
Due to its mechanical characteristics the Imp was successful in rallying, winning the Rally of the Tulips in 1965. In the 1960s the British Rootes Group, which included the marques Sunbeam, Singer, Humber, Hillman and Talbot, decided to start on the design of a car capable of countering the growing success of the best-selling Mini. … More The anti-Mini
Selling alongside the 1000, the 1100 was one of the cornerstones of production and went through the stages of the acquisition of Simca by Chrysler, which started as early as 1958 and culminated some years later. There are fewer and fewer people today who will remember the French marque Simca, founded by the Italian Enrico … More The 1100 lives of Simca
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