About Facel Vega
Facel Vega was a French builder of luxury cars. Their advertising slogan: "For the Few Who Own the Finest".
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 expand into car manufacturing in the early 1950s. Facel entered the automobile business as a supplier of special bodies for Panhard, Delahaye and Simca. Around 45,000 Simcas were built, this lucrative contract allowing Facel to market a car of their own. The first Facel Vega production cars appeared in 1954 using Chrysler V8 engines, at first a 4.5 litre DeSoto Hemi engine; the overall engineering was straightforward, with a tubular chassis, 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 American cars, at about 1,800 kg (4000 lb). Performance was brisk, 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 centre pillar, but a few convertibles were built.
The 1956 model was improved 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 centre pillar, was also produced. Its pillarless design unfortunately made it less rigid and the handling was thus poorer than the 2-door cars, and they are rare.
