1973 CG SIMCA 1300. White version
Chappe et Gessalin (CG) is the short-form of the name of French coachbuilder “Carrosserie Chappe Frères et Gessalin”. The company built automobile bodies and did contract assembly for other automobile manufacturers. It was also the parent of Automobiles CG, a French automobile maker founded in 1966 which built and sold complete cars under its own name.
In 1964 management at Chappe et Gessalin began planning to become an automobile manufacturer in their own right. The new venture would be known as Automobiles CG (“CG” for Chappe et Gessalin). While there were already the skills in-house to do the styling and mechanical design of an entire car as well as produce the bodywork and chassis, they would need to source engines, transmissions, suspension parts, brakes and associated trim.
With Renault committed to Alpine and with Peugeot and Citroën (with Panhard) declining to participate, Automobiles CG turned to the Simca company and their pool of production mechanical components to supply its needs. Parts for the first CG came from a wrecked 1000 provided by Simca dealer Roger Civet.
The design of the first CG model began in 1965, and the car debuted at the 1966 Salon de l’Auto in Paris. Called the 1000 Spider, it was a small rear-engined convertible with a 2+2 fiberglass body that used powertrain and suspension components from the Simca 1000.
In 1972 the third and final major CG model entered production, the CG 1300. Power was now provided by the same engine found in the Simca 1000 Rallye 2. This model also received many upgrades to its body and trim.
