Simca Vedette History

The Vedette entered the Simca range in 1954 when Henri Pigozzi purchased Ford's French subsidiary — Ford Société Anonyme Française — and its Poissy factory, acquiring the model line along with the plant. The name formally changed from Ford Vedette to Simca Vedette on 1 December 1954.

What distinguished the Vedette in a European context was its powerplant: a 2,351 cc sidevalve V8 engine (named Aquilon, 'North Wind'), derived from Ford's flathead V8 family. This gave the car a distinctly American character — smooth, torquey, and unusual in a French market dominated by modest four-cylinder machines.

A total of 173,288 Simca Vedettes were produced at Poissy through 1961, with a related model continuing in Brazil for several more years. The Ariane, introduced in 1957 as a more economical companion using the Aronde's engine in the Vedette body, extended the platform's life and proved popular as a French taxi.