This morning I met Hugo at the Aldi. We were talking about cars. And Hugo said he wanted to have a Simca 1100 again. He had had one he wanted to do. But every time when cleaning the garage floor, another piece of crumbled Simca had been swept up. Simca 1100s. You saw them a lot. They were beautiful cars. And they rusted ...
2.000.000 Simca 1100s
More than 1967 copies were made between 1985 and 2.000.000. And the striped 'LX' was marketed as 'the beautiful Elix'. The Simca was a front-wheel drive with a transverse engine and independent suspension with torsion bar suspension. The cylinder capacity was 944, 1118, 1204 or 1294 cc. And there was a Norev model of plastic that did not rust. The Simca 1100 was a pleasant, inexpensive family car.
The Simca 1100 was once a top seller on the Dutch car market. This was due to the price, the space that the interior offered and the wide range of models.
Spacious and comfortable
The Simca's were not only spacious, but also comfortable. But luckily the suspension was not as soft and soaked as French butter. The controls were light, but direct. The gearbox shifted slightly, but somewhat indirectly.
In the meantime, the 1100, like almost all cars in the 'cheap' segment from the seventies, has disappeared. There was hardly any rust protection done by Simca (and let's not forget: most other car brands from that time). If such a car had lived for ten years, it would usually be nearly dead. Technically, the synchromesh rings in the tank were a weak point. Due to a poor oil supply in the valve train, the engine sounded "like a bucket of nails". But that did not detract much from the reliability and service life.
A wide range of models
In order not to lose the overview in the then offer, we give the following reminder: The LE, LX, GLS and ES are motorically identical. They all have the same 1118 cc engine that delivers 58 DIN horsepower at 6000 rpm. The compression ratio is 9,6: 1 (unleaded) and the Simca's are on 145 SR 13 rubbers. In the Tourist version, the Simca's 155 SR have 13 tires. The 1100 Special and the 1100 TI have 1294 cc blocks (like those in the Simca Rallye 1 and 2). The Special has 75 hp. The Special Tourist has 82 hp.
They are still there
Simca 1100s, good Simca 1100s are still there. But they usually still live in France. Copies from that region can still be quite 'hard'. But often they are very worn out. Just say: 'driven up'.
The value
If we are already talking about 'value', the Simca 1100 TI is the most valuable Simca 1100. In practice, think of prices between the 500-5.000 euro. But on average we found reasonable to good specimens in France (and Morocco) for around 1.500 euros.
Little to offer
Here in the Netherlands there is a provider who regularly offers perfect French classics. But the prices that that company - Garage de l'Est - charges are in accordance with the quality, and not with any market value. And that creates a field of tension. Although with the perfect purchase you continue to enjoy the quality and the lack of 'post-purchase investment' while forgetting the price.
Volevo mostrarvi la mia car. E'perfetta, non ha ruggine. Ho letto che quelle fatte di giorno avevano antiruggine, di notte no perchè pulivano gli impianti. Funziona perfettamente, basta andare a 70-80 km/he scalare la seconda marcia con la doppietta. Il rumore di secchio di chiodi lo senti solo se vai troppo piano, poi no.
I cerchi sono Fiat abarth, perche ha gli stessi attacchi.
Have one more. Work is underway (in scarce spare time) to get it out on the street again. Takes a while, but will be fine. We do our best. I thought I have the oldest 3 door in NL. Greetings Ton
Hello Ton,
How is the restoration going now?
grt. Johan.
In the early 80's I drove two myself, a tourist and an ex PTT fourgonette. My mother also had one. When we had to change a wheel and put the car on the jack - it did not go through the bottom by the way - the doors no longer opened. After some force the driver's door was open, but never closed again! The door was suddenly 5 cm too high… The car was so rotten that it twisted when jacking up… ..
We scrapped the car and moved the engine block to a Simca 1307 because the block was stuck. The engine went smoothly in the 1307 but the car was not one of the fastest after that ...
My parents bought their first new car in 1969, a beige 3-door Simca 1100. Drove for 9 years with few flaws and still not rotten. Then the eleven hundred was exchanged for… .. another 1100, now the beautiful Elix. This was qualitatively less than the first, but had undergone an evolution in terms of appearance and sound insulation. Then a Simca 1308 and a Talbot Simca Horizon, not bad cars. The 1308 drove great and went like fire!
So good memories of the Simca brand. I can confirm that there are still beautiful copies of the 1100 in the Netherlands!
I worked at a Simca dealer when the 1100 made its appearance. We received technical training in Rotterdam. If a torsion bar was replaced, it had to be pre-tensioned with special tools (long bar). I was just an ile guy so I couldn't get it done. I also remember that the first examples had drive shafts with open universal joints. These did not live long and the drive shaft had to be exchanged. The disassembled shaft was then provided with a new cross piece and thus prepared for the next replacement. Incidentally, the Simca has become 1100 in 1968 car of the year.
Nice memory! And to think that we now keep reading in the workshop!
In 1981 had a metallic brown Simca 1100. Was about 3 years "old", already had two new front fenders and everywhere just like that dark lines on the paint ... The second gear was after a few months only with double clutches still a bit to shift so the gearbox has been exchanged. Drove fine but then had a lot of luck that there was no MOT yet. One of my masterpieces was the suspension of the gas tank after I was 20 kilometers from home, found that one of the two slings the tank hung in was “cat rotting” and that the street was scratching on enthusiastic French-leaning corners. Drove home very quietly, looked up a few long, thick nails and a hammer, roughly measured in the trunk to how far the tank came and a little further a nail driven through the bottom. At the back of the tank another one and made my own stopper with thick iron wire and hung it on nails that lay across the holes in the trunk. Another two winters well driven! In the summers he hardly moved because I had had my LAverda 1000… A very nice time, despite rust and small things because you could do almost everything on the Simca yourself!
Top story. The importance of nails in automobile construction is heavily underestimated!
The tank does not hang in slings but is screwed under the car with three bolts…
So Johan, that noose couldn't have been big!
Had another TI, nice and fast thing, came with a major blowup to the end at the full throttle in the drechttunnel, could just reach the end. Connecting rods that looked out, sniff, not old enough to rust away
Dying in battle. Heroes sign for it!
In 1973 my career started at the police and after a year of training I ended up at the Municipal Police Sliedrecht. There they drove with 2 Simca's 1100 Tourist in a striking police version. Well, striking… That meant a kind of narrow roof rack on the roof with a blue flashing light, horns, radio antenna and a “big mouth” (loudspeaker). A large Municipal Police sticker on both front doors. And of course a mobile phone inside. That was it. And an inconspicuous 1100 LE for the detective.
Comfortable car, for sure. But what a noise the engine made, unbelievable. Surveillance at night with the lights off was pointless, because we could be heard from afar. Yes, that gearbox…..
And if it rained heavily, especially not driving through deep puddles, because the chance was very high that the engine stalled due to a wet ignition.
Great time!
With the arrival of a less economical police chief, the Simca's disappeared to make way for Volkswagens Passat TS (!!) automatic transmission and a fast Golf for the detective. Also automatic.
What a turnaround …… !!
In the past not everything was better. But the misery of then causes the stories of today. Thanks!
I have had a TI 1294 cc, nice car to drive but already a good hole in the boot lid on his 8 year (rusted through)
Only after N 8 year
Haha, Dolf when you talk about the 1100, I realize that we are really getting old!
In the early years of 70 I worked at the school-free moments at Henstra fa in Arnhem. Colleague Frits, first-class mechanic and lumberjack swear by the 1100. Every other year he bought a new mileage allowance tourist. Another colleague Jan swore by Peugeot. Preferably 204 or even better 304 as a break with a loud diesel engine in the front.
The Simcas were of course purchased at Zijm's Boulevard garage in Arnhem. I regularly went on the road with Frits and they were quite spicy carts at the time and there was a lot that could be done! From fridge to washing machine and the very first KTVs, it all went effortlessly!
I don't know if Frits and Jan are still among us, but the memory remains!
Dear Hans, We are not getting older, but more experienced!
Have a Simca 1100 GLX and drive it with pleasure.
In the Netherlands there are still enough very beautiful specimens that are cherished by their owners. The worst ones were the second series so there are more early than later dates.
Simca's rust like other brands in those years but had a bad reputation while the German brands still rust today and the French and Italian brands hardly suffer from the rust demon anymore! But unfortunately you don't hear anyone about this.
We have to change that! I will send you an email for an appointment. Then all 40D will soon be possible AutoMotorKlassiek readers know what they are talking about!
Good, Hans!
My very first car, an 1100 Special from 1974 (86-BV-74). A beautiful green four-door with built-in lights. For that time quite a luxury and fast car. Unfortunately the quality left something to be desired. You could hear him rust. In 1981 (7 years old) ripe for demolition. The concept was good.
One of my 1e cars. Began to rust joyfully. But got no chance to get very far with rusting. A collision by my brother. And later by me on a winter dark morning a bus from the left killed him. And put my father on a blacklist for insurance. The bus was driving on a priority road?
As a road user, I always give priority to buses and other heavy things 🙂
I had an orange 1100TI, from 1973 or 1974 (still with thin rear lights). Spicy car for that time. Gearbox cracked indeed and when changing a tire the jack went a bit into the ground before the car came up. But otherwise comfortable and spacious. I wish I still had a neat design.
You don't find them often anymore. Searching in France at leboncoin will sometimes work. Because it is worth finding one. And the valve noise is apparently a matter of turning the head very well on the moment and setting the valves very precisely
if the 1100 did not make a noise, it would have failed or it would have failed, especially the order versions were cable boxes, gas tanks on the roof and within zero insulation.
In the past not everything was better 🙁
My dad had one from 1977 .. and in 1982 I was allowed to learn how to drive it ..
I had one during my stay in Spain from 2009 to 2014. It was a beautiful and original 1200 LS from 1975. Yes, a 1200 and not an 1100, because that's what the 1100's built in Spain were called. In the countryside of Spain, you sometimes come across them in “the wild”, “dans son jus”. The five-door version is the most common.
That means searching on the Spanish version of Marktplaats