Simca Esplanada

Simca Esplanada

The Simca Esplanada was a passenger of the upper class by Simca do Brasil. The successor of the Simca Chambord Brazil in November 1966 Brazil's only automobile exhibition Salão do Automóvel in São Paulo presented. It was this to be a revamped version of the original based on the Simca Vedette Chambord. The Esplanada was produced until 1969 at the factory in São Bernardo do Campo. This factory was later acquired by Volkswagen Brasília and is now a shopping center, which is part of the Casas Bahia group.

French origin, Brazilian Style

The drive with the V8 engine, the suspension with spring struts and wishbones front and leaf -sprung live axle at the rear, the frame and the cabin with the doors were taken from the previous substantially. Front and rear of the body and the interior designed the Brazilian Simca - Dependance new. The car had now basically leather seats and ornaments from Jacarandá - wood on the dashboard and the doors. As top models functioned Esplanada 3M and 6M with vinyl roof related. The Flathead V8 gasoline engine, which originally came from Ford had now 102 kW ( 140 hp) and an electric fuel pump. New was a hydraulically operated clutch for improved gear shifting. This and an overdrive enabled a significantly more comfortable ride.

The Chrysler influence

Of course, the takeover of Simca by Chrysler also had an impact on Simca do Brazil. As of August 1967, there was the Simca Esplanada a small plaque at the rear with the words " fabricado pela Chrysler " ( " Chrysler built " ) after the takeover by the American automaker. Strict quality checks dictated by the Detroit headquarters led to improvements on the mechanical side of Esplanda in 53 points. So there was in 1968 a power reduction to 96 kW ( 130 hp ) for the sake of the higher life. There were new headlamps, a new grille, different chrome elements and new taillights. In 1968 a further upgraded version of the Simca Regente and a sporty version with shorter inter alia tuned gearbox was introduced as Simca GTX.

The improvements increased the confidence in the product and Chrysler introduced a new two-year or 36,000 -mile warranty, the customer, to the dismay of the local competitors in the segment, especially Ford, Ford responded with a Brazilian version of the full-size car Ford Galaxy. Then Chrysler agreed to the introduction of the larger Dodge Dart to the future continue to compete in the segment with this. The production of the Simca Esplanada was therefore set in 1969.