Publicizing the Not-So-Successful Simca Six

The French automobile maker Simca originally was owned by Italy's Fiat and and sold what amounted to Fiat cars with Simca badges.  Eventually Simca passed to other hands, as the link mentions.  But when the Simca Six was introduced in 1947, the company was still Fiat's and the car was essentially a Fiat Topolino with an American-style grille, as this Wikipedia entry indicates.

That entry also notes that the Simca Six did not sell very well. Its styling was reasonably good given its era and the very small size of the car, so other factors likely limited its market success.

Nevertheless, Simca publicists did what they could to attract favorable notice, as the images below indicate. There was a What Were They Thinking moment regarding the final photo, however.

Gallery

Simca Sixes in a car show that seems to have been interrupted by a summer rain.

A Simca Six and pretty model posed under la Tour Eiffel.

Another Simca, another pretty model, this time in the Jardin du Carrousel.

Here is where it gets interesting.  This is the same car as in the previous photo (compare license plates) in an aristrocratic setting.  Plus the elegantly dressed model ... very nice.  But.  Look at the tire's dirty sidewall (unlike in the other photo).  Not in keeping with the image Simca was trying to project.  Maybe there was a final retouched publicity version of this photo.  If so, I haven't come across it.