# Simca 5

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Motor vehicle

Simca 5 Overview Manufacturer Simca Production 1936–1948 Assembly Nanterre, France Body and chassis Class City car Body style 2-door saloon Layout FR layout Related Fiat Topolino Powertrain Engine I4 570 cc Transmission 4-speed manual Dimensions Wheelbase 2,000 mm (78.7 in)[1] Length 3,220 mm (126.8 in) Width 1,350 mm (53.1 in) Height 1,400 mm (55.1 in) Chronology Successor Simca 6

The **Simca 5** is a small Franco-Italian passenger car designed by [Fiat](/source/Fiat) engineers at [Turin](/source/Turin) and produced in France by [Simca](/source/Simca) from 1936 to 1948. It was virtually identical to the [Fiat 500 Topolino](/source/Fiat_500_Topolino) on which it was based, but was first presented, at the company's new [Nanterre](/source/Nanterre) plant, three months ahead of the Fiat equivalent on 10 March 1936. Production was delayed, however, by a wave of strikes, that accompanied the June 1936 electoral victory of [Léon Blum](/source/L%C3%A9on_Blum)'s [Popular Front](/source/Popular_Front_(France)) government. The manufacturer boasted at the time of its launch of being ahead of the "plans across the Rhine": this was a reference to the already rumoured launch of the [Volkswagen Beetle](/source/Volkswagen_Type_1) which would appear only in 1938.

Advanced features included independent front suspension, a 4-speed gear box, hydraulically controlled drum brakes on all four wheels and a 12-volt electrical system. The **Simca 5** also offered exceptional fuel economy. In a test it managed to travel 110 kilometers on just 5 litres of fuel, which equates to 4.545 L/100 km or 51.75 mpg

The car was originally intended for sale on the domestic market for less than 10,000 [French Francs](/source/French_Francs), an aspiration soon overtaken by a [decline](/source/French_Franc#World_War_I) in the currency's value that gathered pace in the second half of the 1930s. By the time of the [32nd Paris Motor Show](/source/Paris_Motor_Show) in October 1938, the manufacturer's listed price even for the base "standard" bodied car, was 13,980 francs.[2] With an engine size that corresponded with the 3CV [car tax band](/source/Tax_horsepower) the Simca 5, along with its [Fiat sibling](/source/Fiat_500_%22Topolino%22), could be presented as the "smallest volume production car in the world".[3]

Production of the Simca 5 was slowed (but did not ever cease entirely) by [the war](/source/Second_World_War) and the period of [German](/source/Germany) occupation in the early 1940s, but resumed in 1946. A number were commandeered by the [German Army](/source/German_Army) for use as staff cars. 46,472 of the cars had been produced by the time the car was delisted by Simca in 1949. By now it had been replaced on the company's production lines by the similar but partially reskinned and slightly more powerful [Simca 6](/source/Simca_6).

- This entry is based on a translation of the [French Wikipedia corresponding entry](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simca_5)

## Sources and further reading

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Automobilia1948_1-0)** "Automobilia". *Toutes les Voitures Françaises 1948 (Salon Paris oct 1947)*. Vol. 7. Paris: Histoire & collections. 1998. p. 74.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Automobilia1939_2-0)** "Automobilia". *Toutes les Voitures Françaises 1939 (Salon Paris oct 1938)*. Vol. 11. Paris: Histoire & collections. 1999. pp. 85–86.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Automobilia193901_3-0)** "Automobilia". *Toutes les Voitures Françaises 1939 (Salon Paris oct 1938)*. Vol. 11. Paris: Histoire & collections. 1999. pp. 85–86. Son moteur miniscule en fait le plus petite voiture de série du monde (avec, bien sûr, la Fiat Topolino dont elle dérive).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Simca 5](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Simca_5).

v t e Simca vehicle timeline, 1940s–1980s Type 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 Ownership FIAT Chrysler Chrysler Europe Peugeot Economy car 5 6 Small family car 8 9 Aronde 90A Aronde Aronde P60 1000 1100 Large family car Vedette Vedette Chambord / Présidence / Rallye / Jangada Esplanada / Regente / GTX Alvorada Profissional Ariane 1300/1500 1301/1501 1307 Coupe Comète 1000 Coupé 1200S Sports car 8 Sport 9 Sport Coupé De Ville Coupé Plein-Ciel 8 Sport Cabriolet Cabriolet Week-End Cabriolet Océane Legend Manufactured by Simca do Brasil

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