The active participation of Simca cars in competitive racing began after Chrysler took over the loss-making firm. This was necessary as people began to perceive Simca as an old and traditional manufacturer, while other French brands such as Citroen and Renault appealed to the younger crowd.

Henri Chemin, the Director of Chrysler France's Racing, roped in William Reiber, who was an ex-hand of Ford France. The duo went on to create the Simca Challenge in 1970. To support the team, the company attracted several sponsors, such as Bosch, Kleber Colombes, Wynn’s, Shell, etc.

The idea was to race a Simca with another Simca model. And so the first Simca sports variant, labelled Simca 1000, was created specifically to race in hill-climb events.

Two years into this event, a new model, the Simca 1000 Rallye 1, was created. By this time, the team was called SRT, or Simca Racing Team. A number of professional drivers supported this initiative. This enabled the racing division to bring out the Rallye 2 variant.