Facel Vega
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Facel Vega was a French builder of luxury cars. The brand was created by Jean Daninos (brother of the humorist Pierre Daninos who wrote Les Carnets du Major Thomson). Initially, FACEL (Forges et Ateliers de Construction d'Eure-et-Loir) was a metal-stamping company which decided to branch into car manufacturing in the mid-1950s. Facel entered the automobile business as a supplier of special bodies, for Panhard, Delahaye, and Simca.
The first Facel Vega production cars appeared in 1954 using Chrysler V8 engines, at first a 4.5 litre engine displacement DeSoto Hemi engine. The overall engineering was rather straightforward, with a tubular frame, double wishbone suspension at the front and a solid driven axle at the back, as in standard American practice. They were also as heavy as an American car, at about 1,800 kg (4000 lb). Performance was reasonably brisk for the time, with an approx 190 km/h (120 mph) top speed and 0 to 100 km/h (60 mph) in just under ten seconds.
The bodywork was beautifully styled, making the Facel Vega an enduring classic. Most cars were 2-door hardtops with no center pillar, but some convertibles were built.
The 1956 model was updated with a bigger (5.4 L) Chrysler engine and updated transmission and other mechanicals; in the same year, a 4-door model, the Excellence, with rear hinged doors (suicide doors) at the back and no center pillar was also produced. Its pillarless design unfortunately made it less rigid and the handling was thus poorer than the 2-door, and they are rare.
1959's model had even bigger engines, a 5.8 L and later a 6.3 L Chrysler V8, and was quite a bit faster even though the car was by now quite a bit heavier.
The final evolution came in 1962 with the Facel II; lighter, sleeker with more modern lines, and substantially faster.
In 1960, Facel entered the sports car market with the Facellia, a small car on the order of the then popular Mercedes 190SL. Facellias were advertised in three body styles: cabriolet, 2+2 coupé and 4-seat coupe — all with the same mechanicals and a 96.5" wheelbase. Styling was similar to the Facel HK500, with stacked headlamps and flush door handles.
With the idea of creating a mass-produced "All-French" sports car competing with the Alfa-Romeos, Facel eschewed its standard of American engines and used a 4 cyl 1.6 L DOHC engine built in France by Paul Cavalier of Pont-à-Mousson on the new Facellia. The engine had only two bearings supporting camshafts using special steels as opposed to the usual four or five. Despite the experience of Pont-a-Mousson in metallurgy this resulted in excessive flex, timing problems and frequent failures. The engine was quickly pronounced a disaster and the Facellia as well. It was replaced with a Volvo P1800 powerplant in the Facel III, but the damage was done. Production was stopped in 1963 and despite the vision of it being a "volume" car only 1500 were produced. Still, that is by far Facel's highest production number.
The small Facellia met with little success and the losses from this, allied to strong competition at the luxury end of the market, killed off the company. Facel got out of the car market completely in 1964.
Being an expensive luxury car, many Facel cars survive and they are by now quite desirable, and given the mass-produced American mechanicals, easier to maintain than many. Facellias are not difficult to find, but examples with the original Pont-a-Mousson engine are quite rare.
The French writer Albert Camus died in an auto accident in a Facel Vega.
Models
- Facel Vega HK 500
- Facel Vega II
- Facel Vega Excellence
- Facellia
- Facel III
- Facel 6
External links
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