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omobiles to their own design, founded in 1939 to make components for Bronzavia's
military aircraft. In 1945 in conjunction with Metallon Facel began to make sho
rt-run special bodies, coups or cabriolets, for Simca, Ford, Panhard and Delahaye
.
Monocoque bodies without a chassis became general for mass-produced cars and Fac
el lost their big customers. French niche manufacturers ended production. Metall
on left the partnership in 1953. Facel set about designing and making their own
complete cars using engines made by Chrysler, Volvo and Austin. Their first desi
gn named Vega was shown to the public in 1954.
Though initially successful Facel closed its factory in October 1964. Their Face
llia model introduced in 1959 was under-developed and losses brought about by it
s warranty problems became impossible to recoup. Prior to closure Facel had been
placed under the control of Sud Aviation subsidiary SFERMA.
Contents [hide]
1
Business history
2
Facel Vega
2.1
Prominence
2.2
Models
3
References
4
External links
Business history[edit]
Facel, Forges et Ateliers de Constructions d'Eure-et-Loir, was founded 20 Decemb
er 1939 by Bronzavia, a French manufacturer of military aircraft to make special
components. Jean Daninos, technical director of Bronzavia, had begun his career
with Citroen where he assisted in the design of the Traction coups and cabriolet
s. He moved to Morane-Saulnier then to Bronzavia. During WW II he worked with Ge
neral Aircraft in USA who were using Bronzavia patents but he returned in 1945 a
nd took charge of Facel. Facel merged with Metallon, a tie maintained until Janu
ary 1953.[1]
Daninos put Facel to the manufacture of short-run and special complete finished
bodies for the major French brands. In conjunction with l'Aluminium Franais Facel
designed the all-aluminium alloy Panhard Dyna X and then built around 45,000 ex
amples for Panhard.[1]
Luxury cars
A luxury car division was established in 1948. It made various models of Simca S
port and drew publicity by designing with Farina and then building a special bod
y on a Bentley Mark VI chassis. The car was named Bentley Cresta. The exercise w
as repeated in 1951 and named Cresta II. September 1951 saw the introduction of
their Ford Comte. Production of the Comte ended in 1955 when Simca took over Ford
France. The styling of the Crestas and Comtes was developed into the shape of the
first Vega.[1]
Scooter bodies, truck bodies, tractor bodies, jeeps and smaller components
During the same period Facel-Metallon pressed out body panels for: Delahaye's ar
my jeeps (painted and upholstered) ; Simca, Delahaye and Somua's trucks (painted
and upholstered); scooters by Vespa, Piaggio and Motobcane; tractors by Massey-F
erguson and stainless-steel bumpers, hubcaps and grilles for Simca and Ford and
for Renault.[1]
Aviation
In conjunction with Hispano-Suiza Facel-Metallon and Facel also turned out for R
olls-Royce combustion chambers in special metals for their jet engines.[1]
postwar coups and cabriolets
Facel Vega II
FVS
Excellence
Facel II
In the 1989 film "Dealers", Paul McGann, as Daniel Pascoe, drove a Facel ll.
A Facel Vega HK500 appears in computer-animated form in the film Ratatouille (Pi
xar, 2007), driven by one of the main characters.
A Facel Vega Facellia appeared in the music video for Caravan Palace's Dramophon
e.[11]
A 1958 Facel Vega HK500 appeared in the 1961 Movie Goodbye Again starring Ingrid
Bergman, Yves Montand and Anthony Perkins.[12]
Models[edit]
Vega FV
Facel Vega FVS
Facel Vega HK500
Facel Vega II
Facel Vega Excellence
Facel Vega Facellia
Facel III
Facel 6
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c d e L'Histoire Facel-Vega accessed 25 August 2015
^ Jump up to: a b Sedgwick, Michael. "The Facel Vega 1954 - 1964".
Jump up ^ "New Car Prices and Used Car Book Values". NADAguides. Retrieved 201605-15.
Jump up ^ Bjrklund, Bengt, ed. (March 1962). "Frn skilda fronter" [From different
fronts]. Illustrerad Motor Sport (in Swedish). No. 3. Lerum, Sweden. p. 28.
^ Jump up to: a b "Automobilia". Toutes les voitures franaises 1962 (salon Paris
oct 1961). Paris: Histoire & collections. Nr. 19: Page 34. 1200.
Jump up ^ Herv Alphand, the French Ambassador to the United States, used theirs,
an Excellence, from 1956 to 1965. It was sold @ Bonhams in Philadelphia 8 Oct 20
12 for $159,000.
Jump up ^ "Top Gear Facel Vega HK500". YouTube. 2009-07-26. Retrieved 2016-05-15
.
Jump up ^ Tegler, Eric (March 1, 2007). "1959 Facel Vega HK500: For the Few Who
Own the Finest". Autoweek.
Jump up ^ de Gaudemar, Antoine (1994-04-16), This one's had a good start born in
the middle of a move, Guardian, retrieved 2008-12-21
Jump up ^ "KIAD MA in Fine Art: a student run seminar". Raimes.com. Archived fro
m the original on May 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
Jump up ^ "Caravan Palace - Dramophone". YouTube. 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2016-0515.
Jump up ^ ""Goodbye Again, 1961": cars, bikes, trucks and other vehicles". IMCDb
.org. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Facel S.A..
The Facel Vga Home Page
Facel Vega Club Germany + Spare Parts!
Motorbase profile
Facel Vega article on Allpar
Retro Website about Facel Vega
Categories: Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of FranceManufacturing companies
based in Paris
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