This arrangement allowed the Italian marque to sell its models on French territory without paying customs duties.
At the time, the Simca–FIAT range consisted of three models that replicated their Italian counterparts, the smallest of which was the Simca 5—a modern car that was essentially a FIAT 500 Topolino. It offered low fuel consumption (around three litres per 100 km) and was equipped with independent front suspension, a four-speed gearbox, hydraulically operated drum brakes and a 12-volt electrical system.
The Simca “Cinq” became a major success in France, costing the equivalent of only ten months’ wages for a skilled worker—a relatively accessible price that, for the first time, helped democratise car ownership in the country of Victor Hugo.
When the Germans invaded France in 1940, many civilian Simca 5s were requisitioned for use by the Wehrmacht, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe as staff cars, for transporting officers or for liaison duties. At the same time, German authorities ordered French manufacturers—or those producing on French soil—such as Citroën, Peugeot, Renault and Ford, to accept a German military administrator and switch entirely to building military vehicles for the Nazi war effort, which was then preparing the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Curiously, because Simca was financed with Italian capital—thus belonging to an ally of Germany—it was assigned a director from FIAT-Germany who, quite remarkably, allowed civilian production to continue until 1943 at the Nanterre factory, which simultaneously began producing parts for the NSU Kettenkrad.
However, part of the Simca 5 production during this period was delivered to the German Army, which used the cars until the retreat of 1944. By then, many surviving examples were also taken up by the FFI (French Forces of the Interior), the French Resistance, who valued the model’s extremely low fuel consumption at a time when petrol was severely rationed. As a result, the little utility car became a wartime vehicle on both sides of the conflict, with Resistance “Cinqs” famously marked with large white FFI letters to avoid confusion with German-operated cars.
After the end of the war, the Nanterre factory—spared from bombing—was able to resume production of the “Cinq” quickly, ultimately reaching a total of 46,472 units.