Oh man, a Simca....warning, Ed story time!
Although I had been exposed to (and snuck sporadic drives in) other family cars prior....
confession time:
I truly learned how to drive in a 1971 Simca 1204.
There, I said it.
Pop had bought the car for mama to use when he was downtown at work everyday (with 4
kids, there was plenty of need) and the car had really low miles, just a couple years old when he got it for her from the local DCP dealer.
Wound up, mama hadn't driven in so many years that she rarely used it, so it sat a lot.
It very much resembled this one, less the stripe:
Orange outside with a bright white interior (with maybe the most comfortable bucket
seats I've ever experienced), it was quite the oddball in the neighborhood - a sort of
landmark as you went down our street.
Walking home from school, we could see it for blocks before we got there...
So the car sat, not accumulating miles, being used rarely on weekends.
When I got to be "that age" a few years later, Pop had a VW bus for a commuter rig
(traded in a '68 Monaco wagon, 383 and all, for it during the gas "crisis") which he
used for a carpool thing.
*yawn*
Not exactly the most exciting thing for a teen to learn how to drive in...but there sat
that Simca, sort of sad and lonely in the driveway, almost calling to me.
Since most of us kids had progressed to ages where we didn't need to go with the
parents to the store (and they were grateful for the respite, I'm betting), they'd head
off once or twice a week on errands - and I'd jump in that Simca and sneak off.
Pop had been giving me "official dad" lessons in the VW, of course - which I applied
to the Simca, naturally - and lo and behold, the Simca was actually the better performer!
Well, at least I thought so anyways....until that one Saturday I didn't get back to
the house quite as quickly as they did returning from the store.
Oh shiiiiiit..... saw my life pass before my eyes when I saw Pop standing there, waiting,
swear to God.
Turned out, "the look" he gave was worse than any time in prior years with me on the
receiving end of a switch or what have you...that look of disappointment a dad can
give a son. Devastating....and so was the major league grounding I got, of course.
Things eventually blew over and my permission to borrow the VW bus came often.
I beat hell out of that "Porsche pancake" engine in it with the dual carbs and eventually
blew the transaxle right out of the thing, but the Simca was always treated with a
certain reverence - a delicate, cute little car not to be abused.
I suppose it represented mama in mechanical terms, sort of...
It certainly taught me finesse with a clutch, that's for sure - and here pushing 50
years later, I've never had a clutch issue with any car and for sure never worn one
out.
Thanks for bringing back those memories with this thread! This one hit really close
to home for me.
in the back. Lots of cabin room.
