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Large Facel-Vega sports cars - elegant and racy, but not thoroughbred

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Created on January 1, 1984

Reading time 9min

Written by:

Rob de la Rive Box (1984) und Bruno von Rotz (2012)

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

RM Auction Tim Scott

Bruno von Rotz

Artcurial

Archiv

Daniel Reinhard

RM Auction Tim Scott

Bruno von Rotz

Artcurial

Archiv

Facel-Vega II (1963) - behielt die Eleganz seiner Vorfahren

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Facel-Vega Facel II (1963) - Werbedarstellung

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Facel-Vega (1955) - aus der Vogelperspektive

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Facel-Vega (1954) - ein französischer Luxus-Gran-Turismo, den der Vergleich mit der Konkurrenz nicht scheuen musste

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Bild von Partner Planai Classic 2025 Inline 1

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Facel-Vega (1954) - Kofferraum und Ersatzrad

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Facel-Vega (1955) - der 200 PS starke Motor des Facel-Vega - gesehen am Genfer Autosalon von 1955

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Facel-Vega (1955) - Interieur - gesehen am Genfer Autosalon 1955

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Facel-Vega (1956) - einmal mehr am Ufer der Seine in Paris

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Facel-Vega (1956) - Mit dem Firmen-Patron J. C. Daninos

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Facel-Vega (1956) - mit verzurrten Koffern

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Facel-Vega (1956) - Seitenansicht, rechts

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Facel-Vega (1957) - am Autosalon von Paris im Jahre 1957 - Chassis von der Seite

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Facel-Vega (1957) - am Autosalon von Paris im Jahre 1957 - Sicht auf das Chassis

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Facel-Vega (1957) - die stark gebogene Panorama-Windschutzscheibe prägt das Design

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Facel-Vega (1957) - offizielles Werksfoto

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Facel-Vega (1957) - woran die Dame wohl denkt

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Facel-Vega (1958) - das Chassis des Facel-Vega, präsentiert am Genfer Autosalon 1958

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Facel-Vega (1958) - sehr sorgfältig verarbeitetes Interieur und Armaturenbrett

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Facel-Vega (1959) - Präsentation am Genfer Autosalon von 1959

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Facel-Vega Excellence (1956) - aus der Vogelperspektive von schräg hinten gesehen

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Facel-Vega Excellence (1957) - das Weglassen der Türpfosten erzeugte schwer zu lösende Probleme

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Facel-Vega Excellence (1957) - die Fond-Türen waren hinten angeschlagen

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Facel-Vega Excellence (1957) - Präsentation am Autosalon von Paris im Jahre 1957

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Facel-Vega Excellence (1957) - unerhört elegante, aber leider nicht ganz ausgereifte Limousine

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Facel-Vega Excellence (1958) - offizielle Werksabbildung

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Facel-Vega Excellence (1959) - viel Platz im Kofferraum

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Facel-Vega Excellence (1961) - elegante Erscheinung

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Facel-Vega Facel II (1961) - elegante und eindrückliche Front

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Facel-Vega Facel II (1961) - Motor mit Webervergasern

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Facel Vega FV3 Coupé (1956) - an der Ennstal Classic 2011 (EP3 073)

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Facel Vega FV3 Coupé (1956) - aufgenommen an der Ennstal Classic 2011

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Facel Vega II (1963) - angeboten als Lot 136 an der Artcurial-Versteigerung von Paris vom 30. Oktober 2011 (Automobiles sur les Champs)

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Facel Vega II (1964) - angeboten als Lot 219 an der RM Auction London vom 26. Oktober 2011

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Facel-Vega Facel II (1961) - Prototyp in Monthléry

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Facel-Vega Facel II (1962) - auch nach mehreren Jahren Bauzeit noch ein eleganter Entwurf

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Facel-Vega Facel II (1962) - gebogene Heckscheibe

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Facel-Vega Facel II (1962) - Kühlergrill, gesehen am Genfer Autosalon 1962

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Facel-Vega Facel II (1962) - Präsentation am Genfer Autosalon von 1962

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Facel-Vega Facel II (1962) - Vordersitze mit Armlehne

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Facel-Vega Facel II (1964) - auch der Facel II wurde an der Seine in Paris gezeigt

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1961) - verleiht auch dem Herren Eleganz

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1961) - stilvolles Armaturenbrett

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1958) - Karosserie mit hohem Wiedererkennungswert

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1958) - zwei Pferde und viele Pferdestärken auf einem Bild

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1959) - offizielles Werkfsfoto - vor dem Eifelturm in Paris

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1959) - vor altem Gemäuer - und hätte man die Dame nich t etwas anders platzieren können

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - am Ufer der Seine mit Dame

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - formvollendete Eleganz

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - wunderschönes Fotoobjekt

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Facel-Vega Excellence (1961) - Vorderansicht

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - vorne Scheibenbremse

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Armaturenbrett des Rechtslenkers

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Blick in das vordere Radhaus

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Blick in den Motorraum

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - das Armaturenbrett des Testwagens

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - der potente Motor der HK 500

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Einstieg in den Rechtslenker-Testwagen

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Fahrerarbeitsplatz und Pedalerie

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - in freier Wildbahn

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Interieur vorne

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Kofferraum, Werkzeug und Ersatzrad

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Profilansicht des Testwagens

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Rückbank heruntergeklappt

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - stark gebogene Fensterflächen

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - starker Achtzylinder vorne

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Türverkleidung und Einstieg, Fach offen

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Vorderansicht des Testwagens von 1960

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Vorderansicht des Testwagens

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Facel-Vega HK 500 (1960) - Vorderradaufhängung und Scheibenbremse

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Summary

For years, Jean Daninos had been accused of his cars being "bastards". They could not be compared with Jaguar, Ferrari or Aston Martin, which built their own engines. Daninos used Chrysler engines in his Facel-Vega. For the small Facellia, he therefore resorted to his own design and practically drove his company to ruin. However, this article focuses on the large models, which are now sought-after collectors' vehicles and fetch high prices at auctions. This article is particularly interesting because of the many historical photos and the eight original brochures.

This article contains the following chapters

It all began in 1939
The loss of orders forced Daninos to take new initiatives
Poor sales despite technical improvements
High prices, poor sales
Impeccable workmanship, but unsatisfactory design
The project grew with the HK 500
Fastest GT ever measured by the Automobil-Revue
No success with the small Facel
The Facel II as the successor to the HK 500
Production statistics of the large Facel-Vega
Further information from the archive

Estimated reading time: 9min

Preview (beginning of the article)

For years, Jean Daninos had been accused of his cars being "bastards". They could not be compared with Jaguar, Ferrari or Aston Martin, which built their own engines. Daninos used Chrysler engines in his Facel-Vega. Facel (Forges et Atéliers de Construction d'Eure et de Loire) was founded in 1939 and was involved in the manufacture of tools for the aircraft industry and also processed sheet metal for various purposes. When the Germans occupied France and the French aircraft industry ceased to exist, Facel specialized in the manufacture of gas generators for cars and trucks. In 1945, Jean C. Daninos was elected director. During this time, the factory built components for the De Havilland turbine engines.

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