CarBrandLogos archive · Simca · 1951

SimcaAronde

Simca's first car of its own design, and the one that made it a major maker.

Photo: unknown, affiliated with Garage de l'Est, uploaded by User:Bravada · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Simca history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Simca Aronde, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Everything Simca had built until 1951 was a Fiat with different badges. The Aronde was not: it was engineered in France, and its success turned a licensed assembler into the country's second-largest car manufacturer.

Simca Aronde 195x · Pibwl · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

The engineering was sensible rather than radical. A unitary bodyshell, a front-mounted four-cylinder engine driving the rear wheels, independent front suspension and a four-speed gearbox, in a four-door saloon sized for a family and priced against the Peugeot 203 and the Renault Fregate. The name is old French for a swallow, and the bird appeared on the badge. Where Simca showed real commercial intelligence was in variety: over thirteen years the Aronde was sold as a saloon, an estate, a pillarless hardtop coupe, a convertible, a van and a pickup, with engines growing from 1.1 to 1.3 litres and successive restyles keeping it current.

Simca Aronde Kombi 1958 · Buch-t · Public domain

Simca 9 Sport Coupe dutch licence registration AM-20-65 pic2

In production

It sold in very large numbers and was exported widely, including to the United States through Chrysler dealers, and assembled in several countries including Australia. The cash it generated let Simca buy Ford SAF in 1954, bringing with it the Poissy plant that became the company's home and, decades later, one of Stellantis's French factories.

Simca 9 Sport Coupe dutch licence registration AM-20-65 pic2 · AlfvanBeem · CC0

Legacy

Production ended in 1964, replaced by the 1300 and 1500. The Aronde is the reason Chrysler thought Simca was worth buying, which is how the company ended up inside an American group and eventually inside Peugeot.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1951–1964

Engine

1.1&nbsp

Body

4-door saloon

Technical specification

The Aronde, in detail.

Production: 1951–1964
Body style: 4-door saloon ; 2-door hardtop coupé ; 2-door coupé; 2-door convertible; 3-door estate; 2-door pickup; 2-door van; 5-door station wagon (Australia)
Layout: FR layout
Engine: 1.1 L Overhead valve engine; OHV Straight-four engine; I4 ; 1.2 L Overhead valve engine; OHV I4 ; 1.3 L Flash Overhead valve engine; OHV I4 ; 1.3 L Simca Rush engine; Rush Overhead valve engine; OHV I
Manufacturer: Simca

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Badge at launch