A Beautiful Car. The French Facel Vega

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Facel Vega HK500.

1960 Facel Vega Excellence EX1 Sedan.

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Hello! I'm Mr. Ed

Blog Created: 2-1-2026

Last Updated: 2-2-2026

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Facel S.A. was a French manufacturer of pressed steel automobile components and, subsequently, complete automobiles of their own design.

To intensify its World War II war effort, French subcontracting company for military aeronautics Bronzavia created a subsidiary called Facel (acronym of Forges et Ateliers de Constructions d'Eure-et-Loir) in December 1939. After the war, in 1945, by merging with Métallon, Facel began to make short-run special bodies, coupés or cabriolets for Simca, Ford of France, Panhard and Delahaye. Approximately 2,900 cars of all models were hand-built in Facel's short life.

Unitary bodies without a chassis became general for mass-produced cars, and Facel lost its big customers. French niche manufacturers ceased production. Métallon left the partnership in 1953, and Facel set about designing and making its own complete cars using engines made by Chrysler, Volvo and Austin. Its first design, named Vega, was shown to the public in 1954.

The Facellia model, introduced in 1959, was under-developed, and losses brought about by its warranty problems became impossible to recoup. Prior to closure, Facel had been placed under the control of Sud Aviation subsidiary SFERMA (Société Française d'Entretien et de Réparation de Matériel Aéronautique). Though initially successful, Facel closed its factory in October 1964.

Business history ~

Facel was founded on 20 December 1939 by Bronzavia, a French manufacturer of military aircraft, to make special components. Marcel Koehler (formerly of motorcycle manufacturer Koehler-Escoffier) directed Facel from 1939 to 1945. He gave way to Jean Daninos when he returned from the United States, summoned by Henri Feuillée, the ex-boss of Bronzavia and a large shareholder of Facel. Jean Daninos had begun his career with Citroen, where he assisted in the design of the Traction coupés and cabriolets. He moved to Morane-Saulnier, then in 1937 to Bronzavia as technical director. During WWII he worked in the US with General Aircraft, which was using Bronzavia patents, but he returned in 1945 and took charge of Facel. Daninos merged Facel with Metallon, a tie maintained until January 1953.

Coachwork provider ~

Daninos had Facel begin manufacturing short-run and special complete finished bodies for the major French brands. In conjunction with l'Aluminium Français Facel designed the all-aluminium alloy Panhard Dyna X and then built around 45,000 examples for Panhard. The body work assembly division was established in 1948. It made various models of Simca Sport and drew publicity by designing with Pininfarina and then building a special body on a Bentley Mark VI chassis. The car was named the Bentley Cresta. The exercise was repeated in 1951 and named Cresta II. September 1951 saw the introduction of its Ford Comète. Production of the Comète ended in 1955 when Simca took over Ford France. The styling of the Crestas and Comètes was developed into the shape of the first Vega.

Facel-Metallon bodied 1951 Bentley Mark VI.

Scooter bodies, truck bodies, tractor bodies, jeeps and smaller components ~

During the same period, Facel-Metallon pressed out body panels for Delahaye's army jeeps (painted and upholstered); Simca, Delahaye and Somua's trucks (painted and upholstered); scooters by Vespa, Piaggio and Motobécane; tractors by Massey Ferguson; and stainless-steel bumpers, hubcaps and grilles for Simca/Ford and for Renault.

Ford Comète coupé.

Aviation ~

In conjunction with Hispano-Suiza, Facel-Metallon and Facel also turned out combustion chambers in special metals for Rolls-Royce jet engines.

Facel Vega ~

The Facel Vega marque was created on 22 July 1954 by Jean Daninos, (brother of the humorist Pierre Daninos, who wrote Les Carnets du Major Thompson), although the Facel company had been established by the Bronzavia Company in 1939 as a subcontracting company for the aviation industry. FACEL (Forges et Ateliers de Construction d'Eure-et-Loir, in English: forge and construction workshop of the department of Eure-et-Loir) was initially a metal-stamping company but it expanded into car manufacturing in the early 1950s.

1961 Facel Vega Excellence (EX1).

Facel entered the automobile business as a supplier of special bodies for Panhard, Delahaye and Simca. The company was headquartered in Paris at 19 Avenue George V, and had the main assembly factory in Colombes at 132 Boulevard de Valmy, with parts supplied from the outskirts of the city in Amboise, Dreux and Puteaux.

Facel Vega FV, HK500 and Facel Vega II ~

The Vega production cars (FV, later and more famously the HK500) first appeared in October 1954 at the Salon de l'Automobile Paris using Chrysler V8 engines because no French company at the time produced an engine that met the company's objectives. Initially, a 4.5 L (276 cu in) DeSoto Hemi engine was installed, while the overall engineering was straightforward, with a tubular chassis, double wishbone suspension at the front and a live axle at the back, as in standard American practice. They were also as heavy as American cars, at about 1,800 kg (3,968 lb). Performance was brisk, with a top speed of around 190 km/h (118 mph) and 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just under 10 seconds.

Most cars were two-door hardtops with no centre pillar, but a few convertibles were built for special customers (including Daninos' wife: eleven of the FV series and a single HK500 were drop tops, out of 842 built in total) in spite of Daninos' dislike of the bodystyle due to its lack of structural rigidity. Fully 77 percent of the production was exported, due to the punitive Tax horsepower system in France.

The 1956 model was improved with a bigger 5.4 L (331 cu in) Chrysler Hemi engine and updated transmission and other mechanicals. In the same year, production began of a four-door model, the Excellence, with rear-hinged doors (suicide doors) at the back and no centre pillar. The pillarless design unfortunately made it less rigid and the handling was thus poorer than that of the two-door cars, and surviving examples are rare.

The sedans had no center posts. The doors latch with devices at the bottom.

1959 models had even bigger engines, a 5.8 L (354 cu in) and later a 6.28 L (383 cu in) Chrysler Typhoon engine, and were quite a bit faster despite their extra weight. The final evolution of the V8 models came in 1962 with the Facel Vega II, which was lighter, with sleeker, more modern lines, substantially faster, and famously elegant.

Facellia ~

In 1960, Facel entered the sports car market with the Facellia, with a premiere at the Paris Motor Show in 1959. It was a small car similar in size to the then popular Mercedes 190SL. Facellias were advertised in three body styles: cabriolet, 2+2 coupé and 4-seat coupé — all with the same mechanical parts and a 2,450 mm (96.5 in) wheelbase. Styling was similar to the Facel HK500, but with rather elegant (though fingernail-breaking) flush door handles. Following Facel Vega's demise several of M Daninos's styling cues were "borrowed" by Mercedes-Benz. Prices were roughly US$4,000 for the Facellia ($42,515 in 2024 dollars), US$5,500 for the Facel III ($53,144 in 2024 dollars) and US$6,000 for the Facel 6 ($63,773 in 2024 dollars).

Mercedes-Benz 190 SL.

Facellia F2, 1961 to 1963.

With the idea of creating a mass-produced all-French sports car competing with the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, the Triumph TR3 and Porsche 356B, Facel moved away from Chrysler engines because Chrysler didn't offer a four-cylinder engine at the time. Instead, the Facellia had a four-cylinder 1.6 L twin-cam engine designed by former Talbot-Lago chief engineer Carlo Machetti, who won at Le Mans, along with the advice of famed English cylinder-head guru Harry Weslake, and built in France by Paul Cavallier of the Pont-à-Mousson company (which already provided manual gear boxes for the company's larger models) so as to be compliant with the punitive French horsepower tax system and increase sales. The engine had only two bearings supporting each camshaft, using special steels, as opposed to the usual four or five. Despite the metallurgical experience of Pont-à-Mousson, this resulted in excessive flex, timing problems, and frequent engine failures.

Famed engineers Charles Deutsch and Jean Bertin were called in to solve the issues, but it was not enough and the engine was pronounced a disaster and the Facellia with it. The updated Facellia F2 was presented at the March 1961 Geneva Motor Show. Company president, Jean Daninos having been obliged to resign in August 1961 in response to the company's financial problems, the new boss, a former oil company executive called André Belin, gave strict instructions to the after-sales department to respond to customer complaints about broken Facellia engines by replacing the units free of charge without creating "difficulties". The strategy was intended to restore confidence among the company's customer base. It would certainly have created a large hole in the income statement under the "warranty costs" heading, but it may have been too late for customer confidence.

Volvo engine ~

The troublesome powerplant was replaced with a Volvo B18 engine in the Facel III, but the damage was done. Production was stopped in 1963 and despite the vision of it being a "volume" car, only 1,100 were produced - still enough to make this Facel's highest production number. Facel lost money on every car they built, with the luxury car side of the company being supported entirely by the other work done by Facel Metallon.

The small Facellia met with little success and the losses from this, due to strong competition at the luxury end of the market, killed off the business which closed its doors at the end of October 1964. What was, according to some, the best small Facel, the Facel 6, which used an Austin-Healey 2.8-litre engine, came too late to save the company with fewer than 30 having been produced when the financial guarantors withdrew their support.

Prominence ~

Prominent owners of Facel Vegas (mainly of Facel IIs) included Pablo Picasso, Ava Gardner, Christian Dior, Herb Alpert, Joan Collins, Ringo Starr, Max Factor Jr, Joan Fontaine, Stirling Moss, Tony Curtis, several Saudi princes, Dean Martin, Fred Astaire, Danny Kaye, Louis Malle, The President of Mexico, François Truffaut, Robert Wagner, Anthony Quinn, Hassan II, King of Morocco, Debbie Reynolds, the Shah of Iran, Frank Sinatra, Maurice Trintignant, Brian Rix, Joe Hepworth and French Embassies around the world. Race-car driver Stirling Moss would drive his HK500 from event to event rather than fly.

Owners included the following celebrities ~

Dean Martin with his Facel Vega.

French writer and Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus died in a Facel Vega FV2 driven by his publisher's nephew, Michel Gallimard. At the time of his death, Camus had planned to travel by train, with his wife and children, but at the last minute accepted Gallimard's proposal to travel with him instead.

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1899 built vehicle at 2006 rally.

Delahaye Type 0, manufactured 1902.

Panhard Dyna X décapotable.

1939 Delahaye Type 165 Cabriolet at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015.

Delahaye 165 Figoni et Falaschi (1939).

Delahaye 175S Roadster (1949) with coachwork by Saoutchik.

1958 Facel Vega Excellence hardtop sedan (1st series, EX1).

1958 Facel Vega FV4 Typhoon engine.

1961 Facel Vega Excellence.

1962 Facel Vega HK2.

A 1964 Facel 6 for sale by Bonhams at Goodwood in 2023.

Excellence interior.

Facel III.

Facel Vega Excellence EX2 - behind is an earlier version with the panoramic windshield.

Facel Vega FV.

Facel Vega HK500 1961.

Rear view of early FV.

Rear view of restyled Excellence EX2, showing the more muted tailfin design.

Simca 8 sport cabriolet.

Simca 9 sport coupé.

Simca Aronde coupé.

A scale model listed on eBay for $15.

Scale models can be found on eBay or other websites.

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This 1960 Facel Vega Excellence EX1 Sedan was listed on eBay Motors for sale in December 2025 for a starting price of $72, 500.00.

Key Features and History:

Debuted: The Excellence was unveiled at the Paris Auto Show in 1956. Four-Door Model: It was the only four-door model offered by Facel Vega. Chassis: The Excellence was based on an extended chassis of the Facel Vega FV Coupé. Limited Production: Only 156 Excellences were ever produced. Luxury: It was intended as a luxurious and powerful car for heads of state and other prominent figures.

The car's high price and limited production runs contributed to its status as a rare and sought-after collectible. ($139,501 in 2024 official inflation dollars) This Excellence features a Chrysler-sourced 361ci 360 HP Wedge V8 The Facel-Vega Excellence also incorporates a pillarless four-door mechanism, allowing the car to be designed with rear-hinged "suicide" styled rear doors for easier access and egress.

The 1960 Facel Vega Excellence was a luxury saloon automobile produced by the French manufacturer Facel Vega that was unveiled at the Paris Auto Show in October 1956. It was the only four-door model the company ever made and was based on an elongated chassis from the Facel Vega FV Coupé. Production of the Excellence lasted from 1958 until 1964, with only 156 cars ever built. (The ‘EX1’ generation models produced only 137).

Production began in May of 1958. Under the hood in the first edition of EX cars was Chrysler's 392ci Hemi V8, but this engine was virtually out of production by the time Facel released the Excellence, so only seven were built as equipped. The next iteration, the EX1 released in October of 1958, featured the 361ci, 360hp "Wedge" V8. Offered with either a TorqueFlite automatic or Pont-à-Mousson manual, the Excellence could reach 140mph.

Open and airy in design, the pillar-less FV, and later HK500, was swift and luxurious—a unique alternative to a Bentley Continental or Maserati 3500. They were quickly snapped up by wealthy industrialists and glitterati alike, proving the company's slogan: "The Few Who Own the Finest". Improving on the concept, it was determined in short order that Facel's market could be expanded by adding a couple more doors. Only two years after the introduction of the first Facel Vega coupe, the Excellence sedan was unveiled.

Clocking in at just under 17.5' long, with 125" spanning between the wheels, and tipping the scales at 4,200 pounds the Excellence was made to American proportions—a Hermès suit in size 50, extra long. Featuring elegant slab sided styling with pillarless suicide doors (beating the Lincoln Continental to the punch by a full 5 years), a wrap-around windscreen and subtle fines held sway in the front and rear, respectively.

Inside, driver and passengers alike were coddled by soft and sumptuous leather seats, chrome fixtures, and the classic Facel Vega dashboard that featured an aircraft-like complement of gauges set in a dash of hand painted wood grain. In the back seats, the wood grain theme continued on the backs of the seats, along with a vanity and a second radio head unit. Power windows where, of course, standard.

The low production figure is likely a result of the car's high purchase price listed at US $12,800 ($139,501 in 2024 official inflation dollars). When new, the Excellence cost around as much as four Citroën DS saloons, and was an alternative to the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, Mercedes-Benz 600 and Lagonda Rapide. The price could still be boosted higher by ordering optional equipment, which gradually became available over the car's production run, such as power steering, power brakes, electric windows, and air conditioning also sourced from Chrysler along with wire-spoke wheels from Kelsey-Hays.

The Excellence features some styling elements typically found on American cars of the era, such as tailfins, the wraparound windshield, and the "hardtop" roof without B-pillars. The overall design, however, is regarded as distinctively European, with its stacked quad-headlights and rakishly low profile. Its low beltline and comparatively high greenhouse predicted the automotive architecture that became mainstream in the late Fifties, and lasted throughout the Sixties. The Facel-Vega Excellence also incorporates a pillarless four-door mechanism, allowing the car to be designed with rear-hinged "suicide" styled rear doors for easier access and egress. The doors came in contact with a large pin installed at the door sill base that allowed either the front or rear doors to open independently of each other, and when closed, the doors added structural integrity. This layout could also be found on the limited production Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, which was unveiled later in 1956, and on the 1961–1969 Lincoln Continental. In an article for the November 1985 edition of Collectible Automobile Magazine, automotive historian Richard Langworth stated his opinion that "The Excellence is a large vehicle...better suited as a car of State rather than a daily driver".

This specific vehicle:

Just 137 Excellence ‘EX1” Sedans were built, making this example -Chassis: EX1B101 - something of a rarity. It has spent the last two decades in private high-end collections in Kuwait, and was just imported to the USA earlier this year. The entire process was completed, and the car now resides in Crownsville, MD with a clean Maryland title. I encourage inspections from serious buyers by appointment, and please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions that you may have. Deposit is non-refundable.