Simca 1100 | |
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Overview | |
Manufacturer | Simca |
Also called |
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Production | 1967–1985 |
Assembly | |
Body and chassis | |
Class | C-segment compact family car |
Body style | 3-door hatchback 5-door hatchback 5-door estate 2-door coupe utility (pickup) 3-door van 3-door van (high roof) |
Layout | Front engine, front-wheel drive |
Related | Matra Rancho |
Powertrain | |
Engine |
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Dimensions | |
Wheelbase | 2,520 mm (99.2 in) |
Length | 3,937 mm (155.0 in) |
Width | 1,587 mm (62.5 in) |
Height | 1,460 mm (57.5 in) |
Kerb weight | 918 kg (2,024 lb) |
Chronology | |
Successor | Talbot Horizon |
The Simca 1100 is a series of French compact family cars – mainly C-segment hatchbacks, but also a compact wagon and popular delivery vans – built for over 15 years by French car-maker Simca, from 1967 through 1982/1985. There was even a very early 'hot hatchback', and a family cross-over: the Matra Simca Rancho. The hatchbacks were replaced by the Simca-Talbot Horizon.
The 1967 Simca 1100 series is historically impressive for its very early combination of many modern design features – in very affordabe cars, and in many available (engine) configurations. The 1100 series were the first unibody family hatchbacks and compact estate car, to integrate a transversely mounted engine and front-wheel drive, with all-around, modern independent suspensions with anti-roll bars (double wishbones up front, and rear semi-trailing arms), and disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, and folding rear seats, for maximum space utilisation and practicality.
The 1967 introduced front-wheel drive Simca 1100 hatchback range was a top seller across Europe, and said to have (contributed to) convince Volkswagen to replace its entire, all rear-engined and -drive vehicle range, with a whole new, front-engined and front-drive range,[3] leading to the Mk 1 VW Polo, Golf and Passat series.[citation needed]
At just under four metres in length (3.94 m (12.9 ft)), the 1967 Simca 1100 series hatchbacks practically set the blueprint for European and Japanese C-Segment hatchbacks, defining most of their core design traits for several of the following decades.