The Simca 1300 and Simca 1500 are large family cars manufactured by the French automaker Simca in its Poissy factory from 1963 to 1966 and between 1966 and 1975 in revamped versions, as the Simca 1301 and 1501.

The two models were essentially versions of the same car, fitted with either a 1.3-litre or 1.5-litre engine, hence the model names. Apart from different engines and differences in standard equipment, the models were for the most part identical, bar some styling details such as grille or bumpers. The 1300 grille comprised nine horizontal and three vertical bars whereas the 1500 grille featured eleven horizontal bars only. This model series replaced the popular, long-running Simca Aronde and was initially available only with a 4-door saloon body, but in 1964 the 1500 gained an estate version (1300 estate followed in 1965).

The estate versions had some interesting features. All had split tailgates - the rear windscreen would wind down into the bottom part, which could then be folded down. On the one hand, this allowed the access to the cargo compartment without opening the full tailgate. On the other, this meant that a rear window heater could never be installed in estates. Additionally, the 1500 GL version's cargo floor, which doubled as the cover for the spare wheel (stowed flat), could be removed and, thanks to four folding legs, converted into a picnic table! A 1500 Familial version had two child seats (facing each other) in the cargo compartment, and a luggage rack on the roof.

While being quite popular, especially in France and Germany, those Simcas can be remembered for some quirks regarding both series. The 1300/1500 came with column shift for left-hand drive markets, but the right-hand drive versions were converted to floor shift. The conversion for some reason resulted in a "mirror" shift pattern, with the first and second gear being closer to the driver, and the third and fourth farther to the left.

Moreover, the 1500 GLA model, which was initially the sole in the range featuring automatic transmission, was at first available in metallic brown only. A similar situation concerned the interior carpets, which would come deep red regardless of the exterior color.

The Simca 1301 and Simca 1501 are two related automobiles which were produced by the French automaker Simca from 1966 to 1975.

As a replacement to the older 1300 and 1500 models, the 1301 and 1501 models were first announced to the public in October 1966. The 1301 and 1501 models were the natural evolution of the previous 1300 and 1500 models with which they shared engines and mechanical parts.

Compared to the two predecessors, the 1301 and 1501 kept the same chassis design and general shape, although the models were modernised with facelifted front and rear ends. They are both characterised by the same 3 square four door saloon and 2 square 4 door wagon body styles. The most obvious design differences with the 1300 and 1500 models were in the front and rear ends of the car: the front end was facelifted and ended up longer by 69mm, while the rear end on the sedan bodies was increased as well, by 135mm (although the rear end of the station wagon models remained unchanged). 

At first, the engines used were the same from the 1300 and 1500 models, although they had in part been updated. The 1301 was equipped with the 1290 cc, 4-cylinder "Rush" engine from the 1300, with overhead valves, which was powered by a single barrel carburettor. It was capable of delivering 54 hp DIN and allowed the car to reach a top speed of 135 km/h. Similarly, the Simca 1501 was equipped with the Type 342 engine of the 1500, a 1475 cc 4-cylinder originally powered by a single barrel carburettor, and capable of delivering 69 hp DIN. The maximum speed for the 1501 was improved slightly, reaching 147 km/h in its earliest rendition.

In early 1970, the 1301 saw its Rush engine replaced by a more modern engine based on the Type 342: the Type 345. The engines ranged from a 1.3 litre 60 hp to a 1.5 litre 81 hp engine.

In 1975 Simca presented the 1307, 1308 and 1309. In July the 1301 production was stopped, it was followed in September by the 1501, but the range still persisted enough to face its last Paris Motor Show in 1975. In January of 1976 the production of the Break also stopped, while the last examples, in both body configurations, were sold off by the first half of the year.

The Simca 1100 Fourgonnette VF2 (where "VF" stands for Voiture Fourgonnette or panel van) is an iconic light commercial vehicle introduced in 1973.

The Simca 1100 Fourgonnette VF2 is based directly on the Simca 1100 passenger hatchback, which was launched in 1967.

To create the VF2, Simca took the front half, cabin, and advanced chassis of the standard 1100 hatchback and grafted a high-roof cargo box onto the back. The VF2 combined modern passenger car comfort with a spacious, high-roof cargo box, making it a pioneer of the modern compact utility van.

Its 1.1-liter (1118 cc) four-cylinder gasoline engine had approximately 50 to 60 horsepower. It was a transverse front-engine with front-wheel drive (highly advanced for its time).

The VF2 was incredibly popular across Europe, particularly in France and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, it became a cultural icon as the standard fleet vehicle for the PTT (the national post and telecom service), painted in bright red for mail delivery and green for telephone technicians.

Furthermore, the rugged and advanced chassis of the Simca 1100 commercial line was so well-engineered that Matra used it as the structural foundation to build the Matra Rancho—widely considered one of the world's very first crossover SUVs.

The VF2 was part of a dedicated commercial lineup derived from the Simca 1100 platform:

• VF1: A standard-height panel van (using the regular hatchback body with blanked-out rear windows).
• VF2: The high-roof version described above.
• VF3: An even taller high-roof version introduced later for maximum cargo volume.
• Pick-up: A utility bed version popular with farmers and construction workers.

Due to heavy commercial use and the severe rust susceptibility typical of 1970s European steel, the VF2 has become exceptionally rare today. Surviving examples are highly sought-after by vintage commercial vehicle collectors and classic French car enthusiasts.

 

The Simca 1000, or Simca Mille in French, is a small, boxy rear-engined four-door saloon, manufactured for 18 years by French automaker Simca, from 1961 to 1978.

The Simca 1000 was a very successful model of Simca, of which almost 2 million copies were built in the seventeen years that it existed. The car had a lot of names and in the last year (1977/1978) the car went through life as 1005 or 1006. The 1006 is therefore one of the last from the 1000 series. In the meantime, Simca had been taken over by Peugeot from Chrysler and in 1981 Simca disappeared completely as a brand name.

The "Simca Mille" (as the car is called in French) was inexpensive and, at the time of launch, quite modern, with a brand-new inline-four water-cooled "Poissy engine" of (at this stage) 944 cc. 

Over the course of time, the 1000 was available in a number of versions featuring different equipment levels and variations of the original Type 315 engine. The 1006 has a 54 hp 1.1-liter four-cylinder petrol engine. That engine was taken over for the 1000 from the Simca 1100 in 1969, later a more powerful 1.3 petrol would also find its way to the 1000. 

Use of the RR layout was a first for Simca, although leading auto-makers in France and Germany had been applying it to mainstream small cars for more than a decade. In addition to the rear engine, the fuel tank of the Simca 1000 was located in the rear, behind the rear passenger seat. This gave the car a 35/65 front/rear weight distribution, with an extremely light and nimble front end and a responsive oversteer on curvy roads.

Over the course of time, the 1000 was available in a number of versions featuring different equipment levels and variations of the original Type 315 engine.

Apart from the standard manual transmission, some versions could be fitted with a three-speed semiautomatic developed by Ferodo. The car underwent a light facelift first shown at the 1968 Paris Motor Show (for the 1969 model year): new hubcaps, redesigned bumpers, bigger headlamps, and square taillights.

Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s the Simca 1000 would continue to appear well up the rankings in the French sales charts, with annual sales remaining above 100.000 without a break until 1974. In its 17 years of production, almost 2 million were sold.

The Simca/Talbot Horizon was a compact car developed by Chrysler Europe. The Horizon was voted "Car of the Year 1979" (as the Chrysler-Simca Horizon) and was sold in Europe between 1978 and 1987 under the brand names Chrysler-Simca and Talbot. Variants of the Horizon were still produced and sold in the United States and Canada until 1990 as Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon.

The Horizon was developed by Chrysler Europe under the code name C2. The design was by Roy Axe of the English design studio Whitley and the technical development was done in Poissy in France by Simca to replace the outdated Simca 1100.

The introduction of the Horizon took place in the summer of 1978. In France, the Horizon was initially sold as Simca, in the rest of Europe as Chrysler. After PSA bought Chrysler Europe in 1978, the Simca and Chrysler brand names were replaced by Talbot throughout Europe.

The Horizon was intended as a so-called "world car" for both the United States and Europe, but the European and American versions turned out to have little in common. Because the Horizon was mainly intended as a replacement for the Simca 1100 from France, it was in fact a shortened variant of the Simca 1307.

The introduction of the Horizon meant the end of the Simca 1000; the Simca 1100, which was technically almost identical, remained in production as a cheap alternative until the Talbot Samba was introduced in 1981.

The European lineup consisted of the 1.1 LS, 1.3 LS and GL, 1.5 GL and 1.5SX Automatic, and from 1980 it was sold under the name "Talbot-Simca Horizon". It was sold with a 1442 cc engine, automatic transmission, trip computer, power windows and headlamp washers added to the SX trim. In March of that year, the SPL, based on the GLS trim, with a special paint finish and a 1442 cc engine, was added to the lineup.

The Horizon was produced in France, Great Britain, Spain and Finland. In 1985, the Talbot Arizona was presented as the successor to the Horizon. The Talbot Arizona came on the market in 1985 as the Peugeot 309. Production of the Horizon ended in early 1987, which also ended the Talbot brand name.