Simca Vedette.
This is an interesting old photograph, taken at an unidentified dockside location, possibly in Spain in the 1960s. The car on the left, fitted with an old roof rack, is a Simca. My guess is that this is a 1950s Simca Vedette, a model that was manufactured between 1954 and 1961.
This Simca actually started out life as a Ford Vedette, built at the latter's manufacturing plant
in Poissy, close to Paris. Ford however wanted to sell this plant, and Simca stepped in, purchased the business lock stock and barrel, with a
view to adding the sidevalve V8-powered Vedette to their own saloon car range. When production came to an end, the model continued being built in Brazil.
The Vedette was offered in a number of different trim levels - the basic Trianon, then the Versailles, and finally the Régence. Unlike contemporary saloons, the Vedette could also be specified with a 'moon roof', a sliding glazed panel set into the roof, transforming the interior with the extra light that this afforded to the occupants. In 1957 a revised bodyshell for the Vedette range was introduced. This however was not the end of the road for the original design, as fitted with a new smaller engine, it became the Ariane.
More information on the Vedette can be found on the Simca Club site.
Return to the old transport photos - Page 5.
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