‘Off we go’ or ‘let’s get going’ can be translated in several ways. ‘On-y-va’, ‘allons-y’… but have you heard ‘En voiture Simone’?

Simone de Borde des Forest was one of the first ever female racing drivers. She raced from 1929 until 1957 without a single accident in a field almost completely dominated by men and died in 2004 aged 94.

In the 1960’s the expression became popular thanks to the presenters of a TV game show ‘Intervilles’ and their popular song, “Le tango d’Intervilles” with the somewhat sexist line “En voiture Simone, c’est moi qui conduis, c’est toi qui klaxonnes !”