Slide 1

E.J. and Amy Fitzgerald at Cool Hand Customs are mating this forlorn-looking 1960 Simca Châtelaine wagon with a 2007 Cadillac STS to create an autocross terror. Simca equipped the little wagon with a 40 horsepower, 1090cc four-cylinder with a four speed. The STS will provide eight times the horsepower, a six-speed automatic, and an all-wheel drive system.

Slide 2

Comparing the Simca and the STS side-by-side shows the size disparity. The STS is 31 inches longer and about 11 inches wider than the Simca, presenting some big packaging issues.

Slide 3

Comparing the Simca and the STS side-by-side shows the size disparity. The STS is 31 inches longer and about 11 inches wider than the Simca, presenting some big packaging issues.

Slide 4

Using the STS chassis meant the drivetrain and suspension components remained in the factory locations. That eliminated the need to build a custom frame, figure out how to mount everything, and making things like linkage, fuel system, hard line, hose, and hundreds of other details that pop up during a swap.

Slide 5

E.J. and Amy were able to get the 4.6L Northstar V8 running with the help of HP Tuners VCM Suite software.

Slide 6

Modern cars have computers and lots of wire. Cool Hand went through the painful process of removing all of the modules not needed to make the car run and drive. The unneeded wiring weighed over 50 pounds!

Slide 7

The Cadillac was shortened 20 inches by removing a section of floorpan, then welding the halves back together. The bare metal areas show you where the section was removed. The operation did not disturb the suspension or drivetrain; the only modification needed will be a shortened rear driveshaft.

Slide 8

Since the STS is—er, was—a unibody chassis, removing so much sheetmetal reduced structural rigidity. These 1 5/8 inch diameter bars and a six point roll cage will restore much of that chassis integrity.

Slide 9

The simplest way to mate the Simca’s body to the Cadillac’s chassis was to strip the wagon to a shell, split it down the middle, and drop the halves into place.

Slide 10

Putting body halves in place left a five inch wide strip down the middle, which will be filled with sheetmetal. The Northstar V8 looks like it was made to live there.

Slide 11

The STS’s track width left some tire hanging outside the Simca’s wheelwells. Here, E.J. is widening the rear quarter area to cure the problem in the back. Sheetmetal flares will cover the front tires. The factory rolling stock will be replaced with 18 x 8.5 American Racing Torque Thrust VL wheels on 255/45R18 Nitto NT 555 tires.

Slide 12

The metal fabrication continues up front with hood fitment, the addition of a bumper from a Corvair, and the Simca’s headlight surrounds.

Slide 13

E.J. and Amy redid the Simca’s dash using pieces from a 1955 Dodge panel truck. The binnacle houses the factory STS gauge panel and pushbutton start. The factory throttle and brake pedal assemblies were retained, and you can see the mockup for the new ididit steering column and column support.