Bonjour, et bienvenues dans la semaine des Simcas! Today we have a very special version of the Chambord, the sportier Rallye!
Following the introduction of the first big wagon, the Jangada, that was also the first luxury wagon on the Brazilian market, Simca introduced as well the first sporty sedan to ever grace our roads, the Simca Rallye.
In essence, it wasn’t such a big deal. It was a Chambord with the V8 engine of the Présidence (the ultra-luxury version), which was a bit more powerful, totally awesome air scoops on the front of the hood that look like rally lights and more vivid colors.
On the interior, with got a complete leather upholstery, armrests for the rear seat, and individual front seats, to give better support while handling those 105 horses it had under the hood.
The advertisement on the time exalted how, with the brand new fully synchronized 3-speed gearbox you could take full power out of the brand new 105 hp engine.
Unfortunately, being a kind of a “special edition” of the Chambord, there’s not much information available besides what I already found and put here... Sorry to let you down, but I couldn’t find the date its production ended. I suspect it ended with the Chambord and Jangada.
As with the Jangada, in 1966 it also got the Emi-Sul engine, with hemispherical combustion chambers and 140 hp. Now we could finally say it was a sports sedan!
Production ended in the final months of 1966, after Chrysler bought Simca do Brasil and introduced a new model, the Esplanada. Initially called Simca Esplanada but quickly renamed Chrysler Esplanada, this marks the end of Simca and the end of our series.
I hope you liked, and stay tuned for the grand finale!