1950 SIMCA 8 SPORT

Lot 62
Go to lot
Estimation :
20000 - 30000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 37 200EUR
1950 SIMCA 8 SPORT
Serial number 885224 Facel Metallon bodywork Design by Stabilimenti Farina - French registration A French subsidiary of Fiat in the late 1930s, SIMCA quickly became one of the main players on the French market before the Second World War in the small popular car market. If the conflict puts an end to the production of SIMCA, the engineers of the company brought out models produced until 1939 in order to relaunch the economy of the mark with much more difficulty because the competition is hard against Renault, freshly nationalized, which allows itself the luxury to grant a big part of the steel and which makes a real success with its 4 CV. Henri Théodore Pigozzi, director of the firm, then took the gamble of going upmarket and stopping his fight in the popular car ring by proposing the SIMCA 8 at the end of the 1940s with a radically different design compared to the rest of the brand's catalogue. Presented in 1948, the 8 Sport is an alliance of several car manufacturers to create the most beautiful French car of the time. Its very Italian design was entrusted to Stabilimenti Farina, a close relative of Pinin Farina, which recalls the desirable Ferrari or Maserati coupes of the 1950s. The production will be made by Facel-Métallon and FIAT. In total, a little more than 5,000 examples of coupés and cabriolets were produced until 1952 when it was replaced by the SIMCA 9 Sport with a more powerful engine. As for the engine, the 8 uses the same block as the Aronde with its small 1.1L 4-cylinder engine that develops 50 horsepower and propels the car to a maximum speed of 135 km/h. Whatever one may say, the 8 Sport is only "sporty" in name and is more of a very elegant, top-of-the-range car of which the history of the French automobile can be proud. The SIMCA 8 Sport that we present to you was delivered in France in 1950 in its coupé bodywork. Today, the car is painted in black with a few small flaws, but it looks pretty good and this color emphasizes the round lines of the little French-Italian coupe. After lifting the flush chrome door handle on the driver's side, we enter a plush interior with red leather upholstery and a painted dashboard that matches the seats. The necessary information is there: speedometer and tachometer, a clock and various bakelite buttons complete the car's limited equipment. A 4-speed manual gearbox is located under the dashboard, but it takes some time to get used to it because the lever position is not obvious. Mechanically, the engine of our example runs well; the engine is neither pushy nor fast but develops an interesting sound and promises a nice ride around 80 km/h. The exterior is quite weathered and the car is mounted on wire wheels which accentuates the resemblance with its transalpine counterparts. This is a great opportunity to get back behind the wheel of the most desirable French car of the post-war period and probably still today, a great way to drive differently and elegantly.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue