The French car industry in the post-war period was just a pale shadow of its former glory. In the course of a few years, all magnificent French brands were gone, unable to cope with a lack of demand, high taxes, and harsh post-war reality. Bugatti, Delage, Delahaye, and Talbot-Lago all disappeared while the domestic market concentrated on cheap, economy cars like Citroen 2CV or Renault 4CV Dauphine. But there was a man who thought that France needed an exclusive and opulent brand, and he had the power and means to make it happen. His name was Jean Daninos, and he was the chairman of FACEL (Forges et Ateliers des Constructions d’Eure-et-Loir), a Paris-based company specializing in metallurgy. Although his vision was short-lived, the cars Monsieur Daninos created have lasting appeal and timeless elegance.
In the early ’50s, Jean Daninos realized that demise of luxury brands left a space in the car market for a company that would provide high-class automobiles but in modern form and with more power. The Facel company already had experience working in the car industry, providing car bodies for Citroen and even Bentley. It meant that design and manufacturing weren’t a problem, but the engine and drive train were. Daninos wanted the most powerful engines they could get, and, in those days, high horsepower units were in short supply in Europe. So, he turned to Chrysler and got mighty V8 engines, creating one of the first European-American hybrids, as they were called.
The new company was called Facel Vega, with the first model, FVS, released in 1954. Contemporarily designed with a powerful DeSoto V8, FSV was pretty advanced for the period and was soon replaced by the more popular and sleeker HK500, which attracted more buyers and firmly positioned the company on the market. However, by the early ’60s, Facel Vega was in financial trouble, not because the HK500 wasn’t selling well, but because its smaller model, Facellia, was so troublesome that the company lost enormous amounts of money in warranty claims! Daninos wanted to improve the brand image. Since the HK500 was getting outdated, he concentrated on building the ultimate French Gran Turismo model in the form of the new Facel Vega II, which debuted in 1962.
The Facel Vega II was based on extended HK500 chassis but featured a completely new design, interior, features, and numerous mechanical improvements. Daninos wanted to make the ultimate Gran Turismo, so Facel Vega II was a proper four-seater with comfortable, leather-appointed seats, full instrumentation, A/C (very rare in the early ’60s), and power windows. Even though the dashboard looks like it is made of wood, like in other similar cars of the period, it was actually made of metal but hand-painted to resemble the wood texture. After all, Facel was one of the leading metal suppliers in France, so this was a cool nod to the parent company.
The exterior design was thoroughly modern, and Facel Vega II was longer, lower, and much more elegant while retaining its signature look. Due to its bulky steel construction and body, it was pretty heavy, exceeding 1,800 kg (almost 4000 pounds). However, Chrysler’s mighty engines managed to propel the Facel Vega II to extreme speeds making its marketing slogan “Fastest four-seater coupe in the world” entirely accurate. The early models were equipped with Chrysler’s 6.3-liter V8 engines, which delivered 355 hp, but the later ones got even more powerful 6.7-liter V8 with 390 hp. Compared to Aston Martin DB4 or Mercedes 300SL, Facel Vega II was much more powerful. Most of the cars used Chrysler’s 3-speed automatic, but Facel offered a 4-speed manual gearbox, providing the II with an even higher top speed. The official performance figures claim that this elegant GT could reach 60 mph in about 7.5 seconds and accelerate all the way to 140 mph or 150 mph when equipped with a manual. With such numbers, Facel Vega II was ideal for high-speed cruising on Europe’s newly constructed highway network. Of course, in order to stop this luxury behemoth, Facel’s engineers wisely equipped it with state-of-the-art Dunlop disc brakes on all four wheels. In the early ’60s, the only other car with such a system was the Jaguar E-Type.
As expected, the Facel Vega II was a very expensive automobile when it hit the market in 1962. In those days, wealthy customers were spoiled for choice in this segment. Still, Facel Vega II proved to be faster, more luxurious, and more elegant than similar cars from Aston Martin, Bentley, Maserati, or Mercedes. Only Ferrari 400 Superamerica had slightly higher top speed, but Facel Vega II was more comfortable, usable, and dependable. The base price of the 1962 Facel Vega II was around $15,000, which put it in a league of the most expensive cars of the era.
Facel Vegas were always the choice of the rich and famous, but Facel Vega II was especially sought-after by ’60s celebrities. Amongst the notable owners of this fantastic French GT, we can find Hollywood celebrities like Tony Curtis, Joan Collins, and Ava Gardner, who had no less than three Facel Vega cars. Interestingly, many artists recognized this model’s appeal, so Pablo Picasso, Herbert von Karajan, Frank Sinatra, and Ringo Starr all parked Facel Vega IIs in their garages. This model was also a favorite with royalty, so Princes Grace, the King of Morocco, and the Shah of Persia were among the owners. Last but not least, famous racing drivers of the period also adored the Facel Vega II, and Stirling Moss and Maurice Trintignant used their cars to travel to race tracks all over Europe.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that celebrates adored the Facel Vega II and that the sales were steady, the mounting financial troubles were too big of an obstacle for the company to survive. In 1964 the production of this model stopped when Facel Vega went into receivership and closed its doors. Only about 180 cars were completed, all of which are cherished and sought-after pieces of the car industry and one of the best French brands ever made.
