French V8

It looked like the car of the Spökelsekladden or the B gang. It had a rough, uncultivated engine sound. Not as cozy as the Buick I had recently been on a trip with.

The description of the Simca Vedette is taken from my own memory as a boy around 1970. A neighbor passed our house daily with his Simca V8. From the front you could hear the engine well. It had a sharp and uncultivated soundscape – like the sound of a vintage car.
 
I could perhaps have added: - Like an old man Ford.
 
Simca V8 is about the remains after American Ford had tried to establish itself on French soil shortly after the war. The engine they had brought to the project was a scaled-down version of Ford's side-vented flathead V8 from the early thirties. A historic motoring legend. When Simca took over the estate from Ford in 1954, they further developed the engine, among other things by increasing the stroke length and raising the compression. With 2,4 liters (143 cubic inches) and 84 horses, it is still considered one of the world's smallest series-produced V8s. At the same time in the United States, Ford now supplied cars with the new V8 engine, the so-called Y-block engine, with overhead valves (OHV).

French car history

The cars in the pictures are Simca Vedette series 2 which came in 1958. Simca introduced new, all-French model names which Beaulieu og Chambord. They became prestige cars on a par with the expensive Citroën DS models. A separate presidential edition was even made. All in all, 62 Vedetters were produced between 000 and 1958. Then the V1961 project was stopped - for good. V8s were never going to dominate European fleets.

I saw the burgundy Beaulieu at a car meet in Canet-en-Roussillon in the south of France. In this region, Vedetters are as rare as here at home. While I was taking pictures, a gray-haired gentleman came walking towards the car with determined steps. He looked at the model designation on the rear screen and exclaimed with joy:
 
«- Ahh, Beaulieu!!!»
 
The two patinated cars in the picture gallery are on private land at Sando in Holmestrand municipality. There used to be an old petrol station there. Guessing that the cars have been connected to the station.
 

- Remains from the time when there were Vedetters on Norwegian roads.

Simca Beaulieu in pictures

Facts about Simca Beaulieu

About the model
Year of production: 1958-61
Length: 4,70 metres
Width: 1,77 meters

Motor
Side vented, V8.
Displacement: 2351 ccm / 143 ci
Horsepower: 84 at 4800 rpm
Torque: 152 Nm at 2750 revolutions

Daily Simca Vedette Presidency has belonged to General De Gaulle. The car has been used by, among others, Queen Elisabeth, the Shah of Iran and John F. Kennedy. Here it is offered at auction in Paris in 2013. French authorities demanded that the historic vehicle remain on French soil. And the bonus? It was €117 (French speaking).