Simca 1100 History

Launched in 1967, the Simca 1100 was a technical landmark: one of the earliest unibody family hatchbacks to combine a transversely mounted engine, front-wheel drive, fully independent suspension with anti-roll bars, disc brakes, rack-and-pinion steering, and folding rear seats for maximum practicality. It predated the Volkswagen Golf by seven years in packaging the same basic formula.

The 1100's influence is documented: Volkswagen engineers studied it as they planned the replacement for the rear-engined Beetle, and the resulting front-drive water-cooled VW range — Polo, Golf, Passat — owed a conceptual debt to the Simca's layout. The 1100 was also said to have influenced Peugeot's own shift to front-wheel drive.

Over 15 years of production, more than two million Simca 1100s were built in saloon, hatchback, estate, and commercial-van forms. At its sales peak it was the best-selling car in France, cementing Simca's position as a major European volume manufacturer before the brand was absorbed into PSA's Talbot range.