While the entertainment world flocks to the Cannes Film Festival this week, it’s a great time to look at the role that one particular car played in Cannes more than 50 years ago.

Back in 1955, actress Brigitte Bardot turned heads even more than usual when, instead of arriving at Cannes by train, she pulled up in a French-made Simca. And, as the media of the day noted, she wore a “summer dress that unveils her shoulders.” Not exactly a Britney moment, but racy enough for the day, I guess.

It’s unclear when Bardot began her association with Simca, but it appears that the two enjoyed a long and mutually satisfying relationship. In 1954, the car company gave the screen star this prototype of its Weekend convertible. She continued using that car in advertisements for the company, including this undated magazine photo (top) which shows her “Enjoying the open air in her Simca Weekend.”

Bardot loved the Simca Weekend convertible so much that she kept it until 2004. Today, it enjoys a place at the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, where the handmade dove-gray car sits alongside some 400 other rare and unusual autos. The serial number on this sleek vehicle, which loosely resembles a Fiat, is 001.

The bottom picture is the car as it appears today at the museum.

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