They also implemented a fast Smalltalk VM in 1983 which is described in this book: http://sdmeta.gforge.inria.fr/FreeBooks/BitsOfHistory/BitsOf.... It influenced the Self VM which influenced the Java HotSpot and the JS V8 VM.

EDIT: here is an interesting talk about the Self project and its origins: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1238844.1238853?dl=GUIDE&Want...