The
Facel Vega 'Facel II' was a French Grand Touring car produced by
FacelFacel was a French manufacturer of automobiles from 1954 to 1964.The company was named after the original metal stamping company FACEL, and the company's first model, the Vega, named after the star, was introduced at the 1954 Paris Auto Show...
between the years 1962 and 1964.
By 1962 the Paris-based
Facel VegaFacel was a French manufacturer of automobiles from 1954 to 1964.The company was named after the original metal stamping company FACEL, and the company's first model, the Vega, named after the star, was introduced at the 1954 Paris Auto Show...
company was facing bankruptcy. The Facel II was to be the company's last attempt to create a luxury GT car in the French tradition.
The Facel ll was very expensive and highly exclusive. Its handsome design led to famous owners, including
Pablo PicassoPablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
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Lionel BartLionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for Oliver!-Early life:...
,
John BloomJohn Bloom , is an English entrepreneur, known for his success and failure at the Rolls Razor company in selling washing machines in the early 1960s.-Biography:...
, Lord Brabourne, The Chrysler Corporation (and Mrs Carr,
Walter ChryslerWalter Percy Chrysler was an American machinist, railroad mechanic and manager, automotive industry executive, Freemason, and founder of the Chrysler Corporation.- Railroad career :...
's daughter),
Joan CollinsJoan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
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Tony CurtisTony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
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Christian DiorChristian Dior , was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.-Life:...
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Stanley DonenStanley Donen ; is an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are Singin' in the Rain and On the Town, both of which he co-directed with Gene Kelly. His other noteworthy films include Royal Wedding, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Face, Indiscreet, Damn...
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Charlie DrakeCharlie Drake was an English comedian, actor, writer and singer.With his small stature , curly red hair and liking for slapstick he was a popular comedian with children in his early years, becoming nationally-known for his "Hello, my darlings" catchphrase...
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Max FactorMax Factor & Company is a cosmetics company, founded during 1909 by Maksymilian Faktorowicz , Max Factor, a Polish-Jewish cosmetician. Max Factor & Company was a related, two-family, multi-generational international cosmetics company before its sale in 1973 for $500 million dollars...
Jr,
Joan FontaineJoan de Beauvoir de Havilland , known professionally as Joan Fontaine, is a British American actress. She and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland are two of the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s....
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Ava GardnerAva Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
(who bought three), The Marchioness of
Huntly-Places:* Huntly, Aberdeenshire, a small town in Scotland, UK* Huntly, New Zealand, a small town south of Auckland** Huntly power station, a major coal-fired electricity plant in the same town, often referred to simply as 'Huntly'* Huntly, Victoria, Australia...
(whose car had full-harness seat-belts),
Herbert von KarajanHerbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...
,
Danny KayeDanny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
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Louis MalleLouis Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. His films include Ascenseur pour l'échafaud , Atlantic City , and Au revoir, les enfants .- Early years in France :Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries,...
, The
President of MexicoThe President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
, Princess Grace of Monaco,
Yves Montand-Early life:Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, the son of poor peasants Giuseppina and Giovanni Livi, a broommaker. Montand's mother was a devout Catholic, while his father held strong Communist beliefs. Because of the Fascist regime in Italy, Montand's family left for France in...
, Hassan ll King of
MoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Baroness
Sally Oppenheim-BarnesSally Oppenheim-Barnes, Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes PC , née Viner, is a British Conservative politician.Born in Dublin and educated in Sheffield, where her father was a diamond cutter, Sally Viner worked as a social worker in London before entering politics.In the 1970 general election, she defeated...
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William S. PaleyWilliam S. Paley was the chief executive who built Columbia Broadcasting System from a small radio network into one of the foremost radio and television network operations in the United States.-Early life:...
, Prince
PoniatowskiPoniatowski is an aristocratic family in Poland. Because Polish adjectives have different forms for the genders, Poniatowska is the same name for a female family member.-History:...
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Anthony QuinnAntonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
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Debbie ReynoldsDebbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
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Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
,
Ringo StarrRichard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
, The Marchioness of Tavistock,
François TruffautFrançois Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
,
Robert WagnerRobert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
, Sir
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, The
Shah of PersiaMohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...
and Sihanouk King-Father of
CambodiaCambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
. Race drivers Sir
Stirling MossSir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
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Maurice TrintignantMaurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant was a motor racing driver and vintner from France. He competed in the Formula One World Championship for fourteen years, between 1950 and 1964, one of the longest careers in the early years of F1...
,
Tony VandervellGuy Anthony "Tony" Vandervell was an English industrialist, motor racing financier, and founder of the Vanwall Formula One racing team.-Biography:Vandervell was the son of Charles Vandervell, founder of CAV, later Lucas CAV...
and Rob Walker had Facels.
The
Facel VegaFacel was a French manufacturer of automobiles from 1954 to 1964.The company was named after the original metal stamping company FACEL, and the company's first model, the Vega, named after the star, was introduced at the 1954 Paris Auto Show...
company advertised the Facel ll as "Le Coupe 4-places le plus rapide du Monde" ('The Fastest 4-seater Coupe in the World'). 'Sports Car Graphic' described it as a "luxurious brute".
It was powered by an American 6.3 litre (383 cu.in.)
Chrysler Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
'Typhoon' engine which produced 355 hp in automatic-gearbox form and 390 hp in manual. Using Chrysler's three-speed
TorquefliteTorqueFlite is the trademarked name of Chrysler Corporation's automatic transmissions, starting with the three-speed unit introduced late in the 1956 model year as a successor to Chrysler's two-speed PowerFlite...
automatic gearbox, the 6.3 litre Facel ll could reach over 135 mph (225 km/h). With a French Pont-a-Mousson 4-speed manual gearbox the full-four-seater 6.3 litre Facel ll could attain over 150 mph (247 km/h) and out-accelerate its two-seater rivals, the
Aston Martin DB4The DB4 is a sports car sold by Aston Martin from 1958 until 1963. It was an entirely different car from the DB Mark III it replaced, though the 3.7 L engine was externally visually related to the 2.9 L unit found in that car....
, Ferrari 250 GT and 'gull-wing'
Mercedes-Benz 300SLThe Mercedes-Benz 300SL was introduced in 1954 as a two-seat, closed sports car with distinctive gull-wing doors. Later it was offered as an open roadster...
to 60 mi/h and all except the Ferrari to 100 mph (160 km/h).
DunlopDunlop Rubber was a company based in the United Kingdom which manufactured tyres and other rubber products for most of the 20th century. It was acquired by BTR plc in 1985. Since then, ownership of the Dunlop trade-names has been fragmented.-Early history:...
disc brakeThe disc brake or disk brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel while it is in motion.A brake disc is usually made of cast iron, but may in some cases be made of composites such as reinforced carbon–carbon or ceramic matrix composites. This is connected to the wheel and/or...
s were fitted on all four wheels and
HydrosteerHydrosteer was the name given by Hydrosteer Limited of Luton, England, to its automotive power steering system of the 1960s and early 1970s. Based on a cam and peg system, it was characterised by its fully integrated design and variable steering ratio. Introduced in 1960, it was fitted to several,...
power steeringPower steering helps drivers steer vehicles by augmenting steering effort of the steering wheel.Hydraulic or electric actuators add controlled energy to the steering mechanism, so the driver needs to provide only modest effort regardless of conditions. Power steering helps considerably when a...
, leather seats, electric windows and radio aerial all became standard during the production run, with Armstrong Selecta-Ride shock-absorbers adjustable from the dash while driving fitted to the right-hand-drive British models. The curvaceous wrap-round dash was in fact metal but meticulously painted to look like wood. Many of the controls where airplane inspired. The later 'manuals' were fitted with the even more powerful 6.7 litre (413 cu.in.)
Chrysler Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
"RB" wedge engine and were faster still.
Like its predecessor, the Facel Vega HK500, the Facel ll was heavier than its two-seater rivals, weighing 1880 kilograms (4,144.7 lb) (37 cwt) 'dry' and almost two tons with four passengers and a full petrol tank. There may have been some question about its ride and rear suspension - it used suspension virtually unchanged from the previous HK500 - but certainly none about its speed or glamour.
England's 'Autocar' said of it, "To step down into a Facel ll and go motoring must be the ambition of many who can never fulfil it. Such an experience is reserved for the few who can afford to buy one and for their friends and acquaintances". For 'Motor', "There are faster sports cars, although very few, and there are more refined and luxurious saloons, but it is difficult to think of a more remarkable combination of these rather conflicting qualities ..... its unique combination of qualities left the most vivid impression on everyone who drove it. In particular one remembers the smoothness and silence, the effortless gate of a car which does 100 mi/h at only 3,650 rpm. and the acceleration which leaves other fast cars far behind on every straight. One can enjoy the latest refinements of American brute force with European standards of control in an environment of British luxury and French elegance".
In August 1961 Jean Daninos, Facel's president was obliged to offer his resignationand in 1964 the Facel company went into receivership, largely due to warranty claims against Facel Vega's smaller Facellia with its troublesome 'in-house' engine.
Facel ll production was discontinued with only 180 Facel lls ever built. Jean Daninos, its creator and manufacturer, said of the Facel ll, "The HK 500 was the most interesting car we ever made but the Facel ll was by far the best. It was totally "elegant"'
The remaining Facel lls are now amongst the most sought-after of all 1960s Grand Tourers.