The SIMCA Concept was designed by Virgil Exner Jr. for his Master's thesis at Notre Dame. It made its debut in Road & Track magazine in the April 1959 issue.

With the help of Dual-Ghia engineer Paul Fargo, the SIMCA Concept was built on a 1950 Fiat chassis and used Simca mechanical pieces. The car was given a streamlined, finned fiberglass body fabricated by Exner, Jr. himself at the Dual-Ghia assembly plant.

The car was shown by Simca to the public at the Paris International Motor Show in 1959 before being sold to a Chrysler dealer and, in 1965, was bought by Exner associate Beau Hickory. While in Hickory's care, the car was given the panoramic Opel windscreen and central cockpit arch. Hickory later sold the car, but in 1985, Mr. Hickory found the Simca Special in a state of neglect. He re-purchased the car, which by then was powered by a 1.2-liter 4-cylinder Datsun B210 engine, and began work on its restoration.

The Simca Special has had a well-publicized life, being featured in Motor Trend, Vanity Fair, Men's Health, and Self among others.

In early 2005, the car was offered for sale at auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. Bidding reached $185,000 but was not enough to satisfy the reserve. In 2007, it returned to auction, this time on the east coast at the Kruse auction in Hershey, where it sold for $550,000 inclusive of buyer's premium.

In 2012, the car is scheduled to cross Mecum's auction block where it is offered at No Reserve.

by Dan Vaughan