1962, Cars: Facel-Vega Facel II (type HK2)

In 1962 French car maker Facel-Vega starts to sell the new Facel II. The new GT coupé car, designed by Jean Daninos (Facel-Vega founder and president), was presented at the Paris Motor Show in October 1961 and received a very enthusiastic reception comparing it with the best Italian designs.

Facel-Vega advertised the Facel II as "Le Coupé 4-places le plus rapide du Monde" ("The Fastest 4-seater Coupé in the World"). The Facel II was powered by the American Chrysler 6.3 litre “Typhoon” engine, producing 265 kW with the Chrysler Torqueflite automatic gearbox (top speed: 225 km/h) and 291 kW with the French “Pont-a-Mousson” four speed manual gearbox (top speed: 247 km/h). It almost all out-accelerate its rivals like the Aston Martin DB4, Ferrari 250 GT and Mercedes-Benz 300SL.

Predecessor: Facel-Vega HK500

Facel-Vega Facel II

The car was standard fitted with Dunlop disc brakes on all four wheels, power steering, leather seats, electric windows and radio aerial. The Facel II was owned by some famous people, including Pablo Picasso, Joan Collins, Tony Curtis, Christian Dior, Ava Gardner (she owned three Facel's II), Herbert von Karajan, Danny Kaye, Princess Grace of Monaco, Yves Montand, Anthony Quinn, Debbie Reynolds, Frank Sinatra, Ringo Starr, François Truffaut, and Robert Wagner.

Facel-Vega Facel II

Facel-Vega Facel II interior

In 1964 the Facel company went bankrupt as a result the Facel II production stopped with only 180 Facel's II ever built.

Facel-Vega Facel II

Trivia:

• Facel stands for “Forges et Ateliers des Constructions d'Eure-et-Loir”
• Facel produced bodies of custom cars like the Simca 8 Sport (1951), the Panhard Dyna cabriolet (1952) and the French Ford Comète (1952) before the first Facel Vega model in 1955 

Facel-Vega Facel II