Down On The Brazilian Street: 1969 Simca Esplanada
I find it impossible not to get obsessed with the idea of a 1960s Chrysler product with factory-installed Ardun-hemi-headed Ford V8-60, and now TTAC reader Paolo has sent us some photos of his extremely clean Esplanada.
Four-on-the-tree, red upholstery, a snazzy V8 emblem on the horn button, and what appears to be a shortwave-band Chrysler radio in the dash. Imagine having this car and a Monteverdi Hai 450! Dudes with ordinary Chrysler Hemi cars of the era— you know, like a Hemi Road Runner or something— would dissolve like slugs in rock salt, from the overwhelming envy.
Chrysler of Brazil replaced the Esplanada with the Dodge Dart for the 1970 model year. The Dart was a fine car, but it’s unfortunate that Chrysler didn’t offer the Esplanada alongside the Dodge.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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IT´S NOT A FOUR, BUT A THREE ON THE TREE WITH A COLUMBIA REAR AXLE GIVING SIX SPEEDS. THIS CAR WAS BASED IN THE PROJECT FORD MADE DURING THE WAR OF A SMALL CAR, FINALLY MADE IN FRANCE WITH THE NAME VEDETTE AND THE V8-60, BY THIS TIMEM WITH 2.4 LITERS AND 84 HP. FROM THIS EVOLVED A CAR CALLED FORD TRIANON, OF WHICH 1,541 WERE MADE BEFORE THE POISSY FACTORY WAS SOLD TO SIMCA, WHO DESPERATELY NEEDED IT FOR ITS VERY SUCESFU ARONDE MODEL, THE MACHINERY - BY POST WAR FRANCE´S GASOLINE PRICES A GAS GUZZLER - WAS UNLOADED IIN BRASIL TO MAKE THE CHAMBORD WHICH EVOLVED INTO THIS CAR, A VERY FAST, CONFORTABLE, GOOD HANDLING BUT UNRELIABLY ENGINED CAR WITH ELECTRIC NIGHTMARES....AS OPPOSED TO THE HORRIBLE BUT RELIABLE AERO WILLYS. BOTH UNWANTED IN THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTRIES FOR OPPOSED REASONS: ONE TOO BIG, THE SIMCA, AND OTHER TOO SMALL, THE USA WILLYS...
Interesting Info, Mahar. I had a 60 something Willys Overland do Brasil. I think it was known as a Rurale. The Simca is awesome compared to Simcas in the US.