Summit Racing Project Car Update: Cool Hand Customs 1960 Simca

When our friends E.J. and Amy Fitzgerald at Cool Hand Customs told us what their 2019 SEMA Show project would be, we raised a collective eyebrow. Somewhere they found a French-made 1960 Simca Châtelaine two-door station wagon, then decided to mate it with a 2007 Cadillac STS to create an autocrossing terror.

“We are so completely nuts,” Amy Fitzgerald explained.

She’s not kidding—much. For starters, let’s compare the dimensions of each car:

Simca
• Wheelbase: 96.1 inches
• Overall length: 165 inches
• Overall width: 61.8 inches
• Height: 56.7 inches

Cadillac
• Wheelbase: 116.4 inches
• Overall length: 196 inches
• Overall width: 73 inches
• Height: 58 inches

Doing the math, the STS is 31 inches longer and about 11 inches wider than the Simca, presenting some big packaging issues. The simplest solution would have been to build a custom frame, swap over the Caddy’s drivetrain and suspension, and drop the Simca’s body over the whole shebang.

But Cool Hand didn’t go that route. Instead, E.J. and Amy stripped the STS’s unibody down to the chassis and floorpan, shortened it 20 inches, then cut the Simca’s body in half and widened it five inches. The metal work needed to do that is huge, but there are practical advantages.

“We wanted to keep the STS’s drivetrain and suspension, so mating the Simca body to the Cadillac’s chassis made the most sense,” E.J. Fitzgerald explained. “Everything stays in the factory locations, eliminating the hassle of building a frame and figuring out how to swap things over.”

The STS drivetrain and chassis are about perfect for the project. The 4.6L, double overhead-cam Northstar V8 makes 320 horsepower and 315 lbs.-ft. of torque. It’s connected to a 6L50E six-speed automatic and an all-wheel drive setup with a Borg Warner transfer case. It sends 60% of the power to the rear wheels and the balance to the front wheels to help pull the car into and out of the corners. Sounds like an ideal setup for an autocrosser that will weigh well under 3,000 pounds.

The four-wheel independent suspension features GM’s excellent Magnetic Ride Control active suspension system updated with QA1 components. The four-wheel disc brakes get new ACDelco calipers plus Power Stop rotors and pads.

As we’re writing this, E.J. and Amy have mated the Simca body to the Caddy chassis and are about finished with the exterior metal fabrication. The next projects are the six point roll cage, dash and interior metal work, and finish welding, with body work and paint prep coming afterwards.

If you are fortunate enough to attend the 2019 SEMA Show, make time check out the Simca. In the meantime, enjoy these build photos.