Simca 1100, Simca Rallye and Nissan Cherry

(This is the kind of Nissan Cherry my aunt must've had. I wonder if this picture was taken in front of the swimming pool?)

Simca sure made a name for itself with some mighty impressive models, especially in the rally scene. One of their most iconic rally cars was the Simca 1000 Rallye series, particularly the Rallye 2 and Rallye 3 models. These little speedsters were built for performance, with powerful engines and sharp handling, making 'em favorites in European motorsports back in the '70s.

Both my grandmother and aunt are said to have owned a Simca. My grandmother still had hers when she passed away when I was 5. The car had been sitting in the garage unused for the last few years of her life. Apparently, my brother, who was 7 at the time, managed to start up the engine while it was still parked in the garage. Simca definitely made some stylish and powerful rally models!

My aunt also had an old 1984 Nissan Cherry. It was blue, with the logo of the conservative party plastered right in the bottom corner of the rear window. Even though she was just my aunt, she was a fair bit older—25 years older than my dad, with a different mother, making her what you’d call a half-aunt. She had very different interests from the rest of the family. Unlike us, she wasn’t into hiking or skiing; she was more into swimming, often heading to Frognerbadet near her place in Adamstuen. She also rented a vacation home in Skagen.

(My grandmother is said to have owned a Simca like this)


(My aunt is said to have owned a Simca like this)

Once, when I was five, I went with her in that Cherry to Skagen. Strangely enough, we went through Gothenburg, because she "didn’t want to get seasick." Somewhere down the old E6 in Østfold, with me sitting in the front seat, she pointed out a few cars tailgating us. I noticed we were starting to create a bit of a traffic jam in the curves. That’s when she floored it, and the poor Opel Kadett behind us almost stuck to our bumper all the way to Gothenburg.

By the late '90s, she developed cataracts and couldn’t drive anymore.



(Is this picture taken at the quay in Fredrikshavn?)


(One of those blue Nissans is what my aunt drove, just a slightly different shade of blue.)


(Is this picture taken at the dock in Fredrikshavn?)

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