Matford F917WS

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The Matford F917WS (F997WS) , Ford Cargo F798WM and Simca / UNIC Cargo is a forward-control - trucks of, intermittently and modernization, from 1940 to 1960 in the automobile plant Poissy in France of Matford , Ford France and Simca in, and from 1960 to 1966 UNIC was built in Suresnes (France).

Matford F917WS, F997WS (1940-1943)

Matford F917WS / F997WS

One result of the Matford collaboration between SA Mathis and Ford France was the Matford F917WS / F997WS , a forward control truck with a five-ton payload. It was powered by the V8 petrol engine known from the Ford V8 with upright valves, 3621 cm³ displacement and 75 to 90 hp (55–66 kW). The truck was produced at the Poissy automobile plant from March 1940 alongside the somewhat smaller Ford model V8-51 , which had also been built in Germany for some time. The Matford factory was near Strasbourg , near the German border. Because of the risk of war between France and Germany, assembly was relocated to Poissy as a precaution in autumn 1939. In order to be able to produce in Poissy at all and to achieve the monthly production target of 1200 trucks, the Société des Automobiles Ford (SAF) had to spend around 220 million francs. On June 3, 1940, planes of the German Wehrmacht bombed Poissy, but there was no major damage. By the time the German troops marched in, around 1200 vehicles had been completed and the plant was now under German administration. Matford was effectively dissolved in an extraordinary general assembly on June 30, 1940, but the model continued to be built under the original name for the German Wehrmacht.

From 1941, the more powerful 3.9-liter V8 engine with 95 hp (70 kW) was used, and a 3.2-tonne truck complemented the range. The Wehrmacht tried to rationalize and standardize the many different types and so from February 1943 in Poissy the construction of its own truck was stopped in favor of the Ford V 3000 S from Cologne . However, the quality remained low and there were also acts of sabotage . For the most part, only truck parts were produced that were sent to Cologne in order to keep truck production running there.

From August 26th to 28th, 1944, Poissy was liberated after two artillery fights on the factory premises. The destroyed factory halls and the Seine bridge first had to be repaired by the workforce and after the liberation of France, production there was switched back to civilian needs. From the end of 1945 the French Ford trucks F198 and F598 were produced again, which corresponded to the German Ford V 3000 S.

Ford Cargo F798WM (1949-1954)

In October 1949, Ford France presented the new Ford Cargo F798WM with a five-ton payload at the Paris Motor Show . Two different wheelbases and a six-cylinder diesel engine built under license from Hercules could now be offered. In addition to the side valve V8 engine, there was a diesel engine for which Hispano-Suiza supplied the cast parts. Both had a maximum output of 95 hp (70 kW). It was also offered in Germany, parallel to the Ford FK series . The new series with a modern design initially sold well and was also widespread in Saarland, which was then still under French administration . But the general need for new trucks was already met.

In 1951, the French Ministry of Defense placed a major order for 2,000 diesel engine trucks with 6x6 all-wheel drive . However, such a model had yet to be developed. As an interim solution, Ford delivered 560 cargos with gasoline engines. From 1951 a tractor unit with a diesel engine was also available.

Because of the austerity plans in 1952, the government withdrew its contract and Ford France boss Lehideux immediately laid off several hundred workers. As early as 1950, there had been repeated violent strikes at the Poissy plant. These strikes and low sales resulted in Ford looking for a buyer for the plant. On July 4, 1954, Simca took over most of Ford France and with it the Poissy plant. Until 1958 Ford still held 18% of the shares. At the end of 1954, sales of the Ford Cargo F798WM ceased. The modernized Ford FK series II took over from 1955 .

SIMCA Cargo 1955–1960, UNIC Cargo 1960–1966

Simca / UNIC Cargo
Simca.Cargo.4x4.école0001.jpg
Production period: 1955-1966
Engines: V8 petrol engines : 3924 cm³, 4184 cm³
Diesel engine :
Length: 6445 mm
Width: 2300 mm
Height: 2435 mm
Payload: 8930 t

In 1955 the Ford Cargo F798WM appeared almost unchanged as SIMCA Cargo . He also had the side valve V8 engine with 3924 cm² with 95 hp (70 kW). In 1956, production was relocated to Suresnes, France, to the Automobiles Unic plant taken over by Simca , while the engine continued to be supplied by the Bugatti plant in Molsheim. A variant developed for the military with a radiator grille and tarpaulin top was delivered to the French army by 1966, 9725 units with a five-ton payload and rear-wheel drive and 14,645 units with a 3-ton payload and all-wheel drive.

From 1958 there was the Simca Cargo with a four-cylinder UNIC diesel engine as UNIC Cargo . In 1959 the V8 petrol engine was enlarged to 4184 cm³ and a synchronized 5-speed gearbox was installed, the output increased to 100 hp (74 kW).

From 1960 the vehicle was only marketed as UNIC Cargo in France.

Since the French army was looking for a small off-road truck in the style of the Unimog and no French automobile company had such a vehicle in its delivery program, the Simca SUMB was developed. For this, SIMCA supplied the old Ford side valve motor from the Cargo, UNIC the chassis, Marmon-Herrington the all-wheel drive with four-speed manual transmission plus off-road reduction from Pont à Mousson and Bocquet the body structure.

UNIC produced the Cargo until 1966. With the takeover of UNIC by Fiat , the smaller UNIC 616 became the successor model.

literature

  • Reinhard Frank: Waffen-Arsenal, Volume 123: Ford in the war . Podzun-Pallas, Friedberg 1990, ISBN 3-7909-0394-9 .

Web links

Commons : Matford V8-F01W / V8-F11W  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files
Commons : Simca Cargo  - collection of images, videos and audio files