This was one of Giorgetto Giugiaro's first designs when working for Bertone. 'Giorgetto who?' you ask? The man who designed big hits like the DeLorean DMC-12, 1st gen Lotus Esprit but the one who really brought fame to Giorgetto was obviously... The 1st gen Volkswagen Golf.
So what is it? It's a Simca 1000 Coupé. So a somewhat differend styled version of that little boxy Saloon by Simca. Well, it shared many components (chassis, engine) straight out of the '1000' but due to it's lowered centre of gravity it's roadholding was improved and the more aerodynamic body increased it's top-speed with 15 km/h. But a proper sports-car that does 140 km/h? Hmmm...
It looks a bit like Fiat's 850 Coupé according to a lot of classic-car enthusiasts but it's the other way around: The 850 only came three years after Simca's Coupé was introduced (1962). But somehow it looks asked for more. So Simca re-engineered it and introduced the '1200S' (without the 'coupé') with a somewhat different and more 'aggresive' look (the radiator was placed in the front so it got some grills both between the headlight and on the bonnet) but that 1200S is for another French Friday.
The model is a 1/43 Norev. I really dig the yellow lenses in front and the decent red lights in the back. It's vintage die-cast look (or rather: it's not that detailed) is nice, although I'm not sure how old it really is. Those wheels don't even come near the steelies with chrome hubcaps that were mounted when they left the factory.
But I've always loved the clean lines of this little coupé, it just never was as awesome as it's successor was. That one looked so much better but will come by on French Friday in the future. For those who don't know the 1200S...
That's it for this week, I'm off for some more 'home-improvement'! And I don't know much about the 1000 Coupé anyway ;-)
Bon week-end!