By Jim Brennan
OK, you live in the Desert Southwestern part of the US, you have a team of degenerate madmen (and women) waiting to participate in a 24 Hours of LeMons event, but you can’t seem to come-up with a theme, let alone the proper conveyance. Well, I’m here to solve all of your problems. Why not buy a Simca Vedette? I know what you’re saying….. Jim has lost it since he had to get rid of his Corvair….. to which I answer…. well, maybe I have….
However, there is a Simca Vedette that is for sale in the Albuquerque, New Mexico area, with the legitimate LeMons price tag of $500. According to the listing:
This was originaly my fathers who recently passed away, he bought it for the flathead V8 engine. But unfortunately we have no use for it. I do not have a title, and it does not run. Great project! I really have to get rid of it this week. Cleaning up the yard its gotta go!
The engine is a flathead V-8, and it should be relatively easy to work on, or you could just get a junkyard Chevy Small Block…. either way, if it lasts the entire race (or close to it) it should grab the coveted IOE award. When did you ever see a Simca at one of these races?
Theme? With a Simca, you really don’t need a theme, but to be sure, just paint a French Flag on the hood, throw some stale French Bread in the back, bribe the judges with some French Wine, and make sure the horn is operational so that you can annoy all the other racers when they blow past you. See the Craigslist posting here.
Lead Image Credit: The Three Tom Cats, Australian Public Access Network Association.
Jeff Glucker
Simca Vedette…..the racer's choice
<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/3959668054_eb2d3af79f.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="66 interlagos 12hr simca vedettes @ the start">
<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/5054586588_aeef4b42b5.jpg" width="500" height="378" alt="64 piricicaba simca chambord">
<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5053967099_1459b6296f.jpg" width="500" height="382" alt="64 piracicaba simca chambord vs renault dauphine gordini">
Go to Brazil and get a Vedette-based Simca GTX! Confound everyone!
<img src="http://www2.uol.com.br/bestcars/carros/outros/simca/gtx-69.jpg">
Simca, the after dinner car.
A Simca Chambord (Brazilian Vedette) overtaking an Alfa
<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QB0v_3tEUlc/TNw3EPdxQQI/AAAAAAAADWo/wiwBo_gjyDE/s1600/02+Puma+-+Simca+Chambord+-+Mil+Milhas+1961.jpg">
if nibble eats it again. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QB0v_3tEUlc/TNw3EPdxQQI…
Perfect. Except maybe the V-8 makes it seem a bit too domineering, in that cute 2/3 of a Bel Air kind of way. And I'm sure that every Chrysler dealer has a back room full of NOS SImca parts they've been dying to get rid of for the past fifty years. A slam dunk.
I'm assuming it has a Ford flathead V8? I know that the French made them under license for years. If so, this car is just too cool for words. And, assuming you can get it running and ready for LeMons, the engine will overheat and most likely grenade spectacularly.
Not only is it a flat head, but it's an Ardun-style overhead valve converted flat head. Seriously weird stuff there.
So it won't immediately overheat, but it will still be finicky and unreliable.
Paging Eyesore Racing. Eyesore Racing your IOE candidate is at the blue,white and red courtesy phone.