1971 Simca 1204

Simca was Chrysler’s captive import from 1959 to 1978.

Simca was an acronym for  Société Industrielle de Mécanique et Carrosserie Automobile, which translated into English as Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company.  Manufacture of automobiles got under way in 1935.  

 The first Simca offered to Canadians was this 1959 model.

Chrysler cozied up to the French automaker in 1959 when it needed a small car in its lineup. Since Chrysler had no European subsidiaries to draw from, it partnered with Simca. From St. John's to Victoria, the ‘Imported from Paris’ car sold a respectable 4,051 units in its maiden year—more than stablemate DeSoto.

The competition offered six-month warranties but Simca was covered for two years.

Created by engineers Philippe Grundeler and Charles Scales, Team Argenteuil began work on Top Secret Project 928 in 1962. The benchmark was the Austin/Morris 1100. Package parameters defined a 99.2 inch wheelbase and a trim 155.3 inches in overall length.  Designed to be a worldwide seller, much attention was paid to building in the comfort, space and handling characteristic of much larger automobiles. 

 The highly popular Simca was assembled in Sweden.

The Simca 1100 was named for its engine size and the car bowed to the public at the Paris Auto Show in  September 1967.  It was immediately the best-selling car in France and saw only running changes during its 15-year run. More than 2.2 million would be built in France, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Brazil, Chile, Columbia and Australia.

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On July 1st of 1970, Simca disappeared as an independent auto manufacturer, re-incorporated as Chrysler France. The Simca brand continued, however. It was now billed as 'Built by Chrysler in Europe, Backed by Chrysler in Canada.'  The corporate Pentastar was added to the front fenders.

The Poissy powerplant was tweaked for 1971, giving 15% more torque than previously.

In 1971, a more powerful 1,204-cubic centimetre mill replaced the 1.1-litre version. The 1100 morphed into Model 1204.The engine was a four-cylinder, overhead cam design, transversely mounted and married to front-wheel drive. The four-speed transmission was fully synchronized.

Simca’s overall width was 1587.8 millimetres (62.5 inches;) the front track measured 1336.5 millimetres (53.8 inches).

The front of the car was squarish. The grille was simple: ten slim, recessed horizontal bars bulged forward a wee bit as they approached the headlamps. Long, horizontal turn signals were nestled in a protruding lip beneath the grille, framed by a sleek wrap-around bumper. The bumper was crowned with a pair of vertical, rubberized bumper guards. 

The Simca 1204's wheelbase was  2519. 69 millimetres (99.2 inches)

The flanks reflected the box-like theme. The engine was canted 30°, allowing for a lower hood line.  The windshield was curved. The roofline sloped slightly to the rear. A  flow-through air vent graced the thick, sharply-raked C-pillar. Straight-sided, no-nonsense greenhouse glass melded into a a belt line that gently bowed outward. At mid-point, a chrome slab alleviated the body’s starkness, running from the headlight bezel, completely around the rear of the car. 

Radial-ply tires and an electrically-heated rear window were standard equipment in this year’s Simca.

The box theme was completed at the back. Taillights were simple rectangular affairs located midway between the bumper and a chrome kiss that ran straight across the lower lip of the hatchback door. The door itself was V’d. 

 With the rear seat folded, Simca boasted 1160.99 cubic litres (41-cubic feet) of space.

The 1204 came in three configurarions, including a hatchback version, though not the first of the genre. That honour went to Kaiser with its Traveler, revived in the 1964 Mazda line and the Renault 16. 

Renault 16.

However, the hatchback was no longer a novelty. Coming into its own, Simca capitalized on the practical feature. Sales literature referred to it as ‘the big back door’. When the ‘easy-fold’ rear seat was lowered into place, the cargo area created was a capacious 1160.99 cubic litres  (41 cubic feet). Voila! The versatile sedan quickly converted into a ‘trim wagon’.  Because of its rip-snortin’  1.2-litre four banger, auto journalists dubbed it the ‘hot hatch’.

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Engineers might have skimped on styling but the Simca was a technological marvel. The transverse-mounted engine coupled with front-wheel drive gave a completely flat floor inside. Front brakes were disc and drums were employed aft. Suspension was independent torsion-bar. Steering was rack-and-pinion. 

Listing for $1,965 plus taxes, Chrysler-Plymouth dealers sold 1,464 Simcas in Canada in 1971.

The body shell was of single unit construction welded to a modified permitter frame chassis and the torsion bar suspension. This allowed the frame to carry the stress mounting points of the engine, transmission and suspension. The shell was then welded to the beefed-up frame. 

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Interiors were posh and roomy. Seating was configured for five passengers. Ribbed, loop-pile carpeting ran door-to-door and the cargo area in any of five colours. Door trim matched the breathable vinyl, foam-padded, moulded, coil-spring, countered bucket seats. Stealing a page from Rambler, the comfy seats reclined. 

 Simca owners appreciated the newly redesigned instrument panel that featured  dials.

The instrument panel was in keeping with the angular lines of the vehicle. Completely padded and graced with simulated wood-grain trim, four circular dials were grouped in a linear cluster directly in front of the driver. Rocker switches added to the upscale feel. When so equipped, the radio was located to the left of the driver. Simca boasted not only a large parcel shelf but a locking glove compartment.

 The Simca 1204 weighed in at 918 kilos (2,025 pounds). 

Thoughtful touches were seen throughout. Advertising bragged that the Simca was so fully loaded that only four options could be ordered. Air conditioning, semi-automatic transmission, radio and whitewall tires were the sole extras. 

Front-wheel drive gave superb traction in snow.

The Simca could be clad in Nogaro Red, Estoril Blue Metallic, Antheor Beige, Eiffel Yellow, Lorelei Gold Metallic, Tacoma White, Turquoise Metallic, Beige Gold Metallic and Sarde Orange. 

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1965 Valiant

The 1965 Valiant Custom 100 four-door sedan (top) sold
 for $2,604 and the Valiant Custom 200 hardtop sold for $2,738.

Consumers throughout the Dominion bought more and more small European cars, Ramblers and Studebaker Larks throughout the 1950s. The boys at Chrysler Canada spotted a perfectly good trend and hopped on board, too. Their first trip on the “small is beautiful” train was a wise choice. They offered the Simca family of fine cars as a captive import in the 1959 selling season. 

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The 1960 Simca Aronde retailed for $1,698 across Canada.

Billed as “imported from Paris,” Simca did very well in its first year. Canadians bought 4,802 units right across the country, from St. John's to Victoria. That was a highly encouraging sign to the wise men in Windsor; the petite automobile from France had racked up nearly five times the sales of Chryco's mid-priced DeSoto. Simca's success paved the way for a domestically-built compact car for the 1960 season. 

Because the smaller car segment was so powerfully strong in Canada, the Valiant would bow—not as a Plymouth model—but as a brand in its own right. Valiant took its place as the fifth in the famed Chrysler Pentastar and venerable DeSoto, built in Windsor since 1928, faded into history domestically a year before it disappeared forever in the United States. 

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Valiant replaced DeSoto in Chrysler Canada's 1960 family.

Valiant would need reputation, good looks and durability to succeed in the marketplace. Another pretty face wasn’t going to cut it; Valiant had more than enough of competition. Studebaker was pumping out sassy little Larks in Hamilton. General Motors was building the rear-engined Corvair in Oshawa and in Oakville Ford workers were turning out the Falcon and Frontenac as fast as they could. An ultra-modern factory was under construction in Brampton, Ontario for the manufacture of study, no-nonsense Ramblers. 

Ford offered the Canada-only Frontenac in the compact segment.
Sharing a shell with the Ford Falcon, Frontenac took a full 10% of sales 
in the small car market. Sold by Lincoln-Meteor-Mercury dealers, 
Frontenac was replaced by the Mercury Comet in 1961.

And those were only Valiant’s domestic competition. As the small Chrysler was being launched, GM’s captive import Vauxhall from the UK was the fifth best selling nameplate in the country, West Germany’s Volkswagen ranked sixth throughout the Dominion and Austin held down the lucky 13 spot. Other imports that had carved a place for themselves in the market place included Morris, British and German Ford, Hillman and Sunbeam, Standard, Triumph, Wolseley, Riley, and MG. Every one of them vied with Valiant for a place in Canadians’ hearts, driveways and garages.

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The decidedly European-looking Valiant finished a somewhat disappointing 16^th for calendar year 1960 with 6,474 units delivered. It moved up to 14^th place in 1961 with 9,831 units sold domestically. Valiant somersaulted headliner over wheels to push past Volkswagen and capture 4^th place in the 1963 sales race, with a total of 29,007 sales. The extraordinary pole vault was helped along greatly as the Governor-General signed into law Parliamentary legislation  that  slapped heavy duties and taxes on foreign automobile manufacturers without ties to the automakers here in Canada. 


Valiant was revamped for 1964 season.  Chrysler's homegrown compact was truly distinctive and far less European in look. Valiant  held on firmly to fourth place with 34,468 units delivered.

When Valiant arrived in showrooms for 1965 the family was larger; it had proliferated overnight to 30 models, seven each in the base 100 and 100 Custom series and eight each in the 200 and 200 Custom Series. The two series were easy to tell apart, each was given its own unique looks. The sporty Barracuda was not assigned to either series but potential customers were told they could find certain Barracuda characteristics in each and every Valiant. 

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The 1965 Valiant Signet 200 convertible with the
170-horsepower Slant Six cost $2,882 and
$3,336 when equipped with the 270-horsepower V-8.

Topping the 200 Series was the Signet hardtop and convertible. Stylish bucket seats were covered in a luxurious vinyl grain in any of four colours, coordinating with the dashboard and the plush carpeting underfoot as part and parcel of the Signet experience. So was a black or white vinyl top for the hardtop. Convertible tops could be had in white, blue or black. 

Instrument panel for the 1965 Valiant was practical and pretty.

 The Signets were followed by the slightly undressed Custom 200 hardtop and convertible along with a Custom four-door sedan a Custom 200 station wagon. There was also a substantial if somewhat unadorned 200 two- and four-door sedan. 

In the lesser 100 Custom line there was still a surprisingly wide range of choice including a modestly appointed two-door hardtop and a convertible along with a Custom four-door sedan. The very base 100 series consisted of a two- and four-door sedan and a station wagon. 

The Valiant Barracuda was imported from the
United States in 1965. It sold for $3,190 with
the Slant Six under the hood and $3,261
with the optional Power Pak V-8.

The aerodynamic Valiant Barracuda was imported from the US. It promised to please anyone who had even a little sporting blood running through his veins. It promised to reveal automotive characteristics that could not be found in competing products. Much was made of the vast tinted back glass and the fact that it boasted a seven-foot space big enough for skis, toboggans, fishing poles or even plain old suitcases. Salesmen were quick to point out that there was an ample trunk to boot. The Barracuda was not just another elegant sports car; it was practical and versatile, too. 

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Under the hood one could have the 170- or 225-cubic inch Slant Six or the powerful 273-cubic inch Power Pak V-8 with two or four barrel-carb setups. These could be mated to the three-speed manual transmission that shifted on the column or one could hook up to Torque-Flite automatic transmission. The Custom 100 could be had with four-on-the-floor with the 225-cubic inch six or the big V-8.

Owners could choose one’s Valiant in any of 17 colours and 15 optional two-tone ensembles. Standard equipment included retractable seat belts and self-adjusting brakes. An alternator was offered instead of a generator and this year, for the first time, the cigarette lighter was included in the base price.

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Options were as plentiful as Stanley Cup wins by the Habs. Valiants could be had with power steering, power brakes, a power convertible top and a power door for station wagons. One could order the electric variable-speed windshield wipers, a windshield washer, tinted glass, an AM transistor radio with manual tuning knob or the fancy push buttons, a day/night rearview mirror, heavy-duty suspension, Sure-Grip differential and front torsion bars. Then there was the bumperettes, the ever-practical block heater, soundproofing for the hood, an under-the-hood lamp, safety padding for the dashboard, a roof rack for the wagons, outside mirrors, white wall tires and more.

The 1965 Valiant Custom 200 station wagon
weighed in at 2,755 pounds with the standard Slant Six
under the hood.

Engineers wanted owners to have confidence in the Valiant. They had worked hard to achieve long periods of time between visits to the garage. Chrysler products could now boast 4,000 miles between oil changes and 32,000 miles between grease jobs. Like stablemates Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler and Imperial, the compact Valiant was covered by Chrysler Canada’s famous Five Year—50,000-mile guarantee on the drive train. The warranty was honoured throughout Canada and the United States as well. Chrysler dealers pledged that just like their products, their service was first class. 

The year ended well for Valiant. The smallest homegrown Chrysler took home the lion’s share of sales for ChryCo and the Pentastar flag in 1965. The total was a tidy 32,441 units delivered for the calendar year, to be exact.

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