If you saw the Simca Vedette for a moment, you’d likely think it was the product of Detroit factory from sometime in the 1950s. The prominent headlights, the style of the grille, the sheer volume of the car and the prominent tailfins — all summon up an archetypal time and place in automotive engineering. But as it turns out, that’s misdirection — the Simca Vedette was assembled on the other side of the Atlantic, taking elements of a very American aesthetic and adding a certain je ne sais quoi into the mix.
Writing at Jalopnik, Ryan Erik King looked back at the heyday of the Simca Vedette — and the part one American automaker played in its development. The process began in 1954, when Simca merged with Ford of France — which left Ford Motor Company with partial ownership of Simca. The article notes that the car’s V8 engine was originally created for Ford of Britain — and it proved to be the heart of the Vedette.
King’s article includes some intriguing details about the Vedette — including the fact that, despite its design and V8 engine, it was still somewhat smaller than its counterparts in the United States. You can get a sense of that from the 1959 commercial below, which offers a sense of what driving through the French countryside in one must have been like.
Jalopnik’s article goes on to note that the Vedette was a fixture through the early 1960s, at a time when Chrysler took over Simca’s operations. Decades later, the cars continue to be a fascinating piece of automotive history — and a reminder of the similarities and differences between selling cars in the United States and Europe.
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