imported>MathexBR at 16:06, 23 October 2024

2024-10-23T16:06:28Z

New page

{{Infobox automobile
| image = File:Simca 5 1X7A0094.jpg
| name = Simca 5
| stablemates =
| aka =
| manufacturer = [[Simca]]
| assembly = [[Nanterre]], [[France]]
| production = 1936–1948
| predecessor =
| successor = [[Simca 6]]
| class = [[City car]]
| platform =
| layout = [[FR layout]]
| body_style = 2-door [[saloon (automobile)|saloon]]
| engine = [[I4 engine|I4]] 570 cc
| transmission = 4-speed manual
| wheelbase = {{convert|2000|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}<ref name=Automobilia1948>{{cite book |section=Automobilia |title=Toutes les Voitures Françaises 1948 (Salon Paris oct 1947)|volume=7| pages = 74|year = 1998|publisher=Histoire & collections|location=Paris }}</ref>
| length = {{convert|3220|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| width = {{convert|1350|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| height = {{convert|1400|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| weight =
| related = [[Fiat 500 "Topolino"|Fiat Topolino]]
| designer =
}}

The '''Simca 5''' is a small Franco-Italian passenger car designed by [[Fiat]] engineers at [[Turin]] and produced in France by [[Simca]] from 1936 to 1948. It was virtually identical to the [[Fiat 500 Topolino]] on which it was based, but was first presented, at the company's new [[Nanterre]] plant, three months ahead of the Fiat equivalent on 10 March 1936. Production was delayed, however, by a wave of strikes, that accompanied the June 1936 electoral victory of [[Léon Blum]]'s [[Popular Front (France)|Popular Front]] government. The manufacturer boasted at the time of its launch of being ahead of the "plans across the Rhine": this was a reference to the already rumoured launch of the [[Volkswagen Type 1|Volkswagen Beetle]] which would appear only in 1938.

Advanced features included independent front suspension, a 4-speed gear box, hydraulically controlled drum brakes on all four wheels and a 12-volt electrical system. The '''Simca 5''' also offered exceptional fuel economy. In a test it managed to travel 110 kilometers on just 5 litres of fuel, which equates to 4.545 L/100 km or 51.75 mpg

The car was originally intended for sale on the domestic market for less than 10,000 [[French Francs]], an aspiration soon overtaken by a [[French Franc#World War I|decline]] in the currency's value that gathered pace in the second half of the 1930s. By the time of the [[Paris Motor Show|32nd Paris Motor Show]] in October 1938, the manufacturer's listed price even for the base "standard" bodied car, was 13,980 francs.<ref name=Automobilia1939>{{cite book |section=Automobilia |title=Toutes les Voitures Françaises 1939 (Salon Paris oct 1938)|volume=11| pages = 85–86|year = 1999|publisher=Histoire & collections|location=Paris }}</ref> With an engine size that corresponded with the 3CV [[Tax horsepower|car tax band]] the Simca 5, along with its [[Fiat 500 "Topolino"|Fiat sibling]], could be presented as the "smallest volume production car in the world".<ref name=Automobilia193901>{{cite book |section=Automobilia |title=Toutes les Voitures Françaises 1939 (Salon Paris oct 1938)|volume=11| pages = 85–86|year = 1999 |quote=Son moteur miniscule en fait le plus petite voiture de série du monde (avec, bien sûr, la Fiat Topolino dont elle dérive). |publisher=Histoire & collections|location=Paris }}</ref>

Production of the Simca 5 was slowed (but did not ever cease entirely) by [[Second World War|the war]] and the period of [[Germany|German]] occupation in the early 1940s, but resumed in 1946. A number were commandeered by the [[German Army]] for use as staff cars. 46,472 of the cars had been produced by the time the car was delisted by Simca in 1949. By now it had been replaced on the company's production lines by the similar but partially reskinned and slightly more powerful [[Simca 6]].

* This entry is based on a translation of the [[:fr:Simca 5|French Wikipedia corresponding entry]]

==Sources and further reading==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}
{{Simca timeline}}

[[Category:Simca vehicles|5]]
[[Category:Cars introduced in 1936]]
[[Category:Cars discontinued in 1948]]
[[Category:City cars]]
[[Category:1940s cars]]

Simca 5 - Revision history

imported>MathexBR at 16:06, 23 October 2024