By Dean Larson

Photos: Seller, BringaTrailer.com

The history of automobile production in France is a long and illustrious one, but buildup for the Second World War, German occupation and tough post-war years cast a shadow on French industry for a long time. For manufacturers like Simca, recovering from WWII would take many painful years, and the marque didn’t really begin advancing again until the early 1950s. While many of its post-war models were largely continuations of pre-war design, the Simca 9 allowed the company to turn a new leaf. With a contemporary body design, stylish glass and new unibody coachwork, the Simca 9 model was the brand’s triumphant return from the tumultuous war years, exemplified by this elegant 9 Sport coupe on BringaTrailer.com.

While the Simca 9 benefitted from many firsts, it did have its roots planted in the enduring Simca 8, produced from 1937 to 1951. The Simca 8 hails from the era when Simca was more closely tied to Fiat, as Simca was actually founded as part of Fiat as Simca-Fiat. A bit long in the tooth by 1951, the Simca 8 was finally replaced by the new Simca 9 Aronde (French for swallow), the first Simca product that wasn’t based off an existing Fiat design. The Aronde namesake would remain connected to this series of Simca models through 1964.

For several reasons, the 9 Aronde model can be seen as a huge step forward in contemporary automotive design for Simca. While the Simca 8 was designed body-on-frame, the Simca 9 Sport was unibody construction with a modern body shape. Where earlier styling provided distinct body shapes for each component (fenders for each wheel, engine bay, passenger compartment, etc.) the 9 model features a unified single shape — a styling element pioneered by the Chisitalia 202 in 1947.

The pick of the liter for collectors is likely Simca 9 Sport, built from 1952 to 1954. It featured beautiful steel coachwork by Facel-Métallon with a pillar-less cockpit profile. Power comes from a 1,221 cc inline-four rated at 51 hp, up from 44.5 hp with the addition of a Solex 32 carburetor and increased compression. The four-speed transmission sends power to the rear wheels and is only synchronized in the top three gears. Sometime around ’53 to ’54, the 9 Sport coupe was phased out by the more traditional Grand Large.

While many Simca 9 Sports were destined for export, they’re still a pretty rare sight here in the U.S. This 1953 model is a particularly charming example that spent the first 30 years of its life in France. It’s finished in dark green with bolt-on wire wheels and Simca center caps, and is believed to have restored sometime in the late 1990s. The paintwork, tan leather interior, engine bay and underside are all in nice, driver quality condition, and the seller's videos show the car running and riving flawlessly.

The Simca 9 Sport is listed here on BringaTrailer.com, where the current high bid is $16,000 with four days remaining in the sale.