1961 Facel Vega Facellia Convertible RHD

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I have been collecting Facel Vega's for 20 years now and it is time to reduce my personal collection so this is the second of the three cars I am putting on sale. This is an opportunity to acquire an original Right Hand Drive 1961 Facellia Convertible with Factory hardtop. My car is Chassis FAD140. a well known car finished in its factory colours of White with Black leather. it has been fitted with Wire Wheels which are very rare on a Facellia. it has covered 68k Miles from new with a huge service history on file. the car was comrehensively restored in the Nineties and is still clean today and used regularly. It is Taxed and MOT'd and ready for its next owner. I cannot remeber when I last saw a RHD Facellia for sale and with prices moving rapidly up. it still represents value when you realise only 25 or so were made in RHD. and it was incredibly expensive when new. It has a good Black soft top and tonneau cover and is the car I have used most regularly over the last few years.

Since 1955 Jean Daninos succeeded in producing the ultimate French car. the Facel Vega HK 500 and Facel II models. These were elegant grand touring coupes with a tubular chassis. independent front suspension and a very elegant in-house design coachwork. Power was supplied by a huge American V8 engine while transmission was either a 4 speed manual or a three speed automatic. The interior boasted room enough to accommodate 4 persons in comfort. the seats being trimmed in finest Connolly hide. Particular attention was paid to the dashboard. which deceptively looked like the finest burr walnut. but was in fact hand-painted on steel.

At the time it was the favourite transport of many a racing driver. including British legend Stirling Moss. Other famous VIPs to own the best France had to offer in terms of motoring were Tony Curtis. Ringo Star. Ava Gardner and Francois Truffaut.

On 28th September 1959 Facel presented the new small model. the Facellia. in the museum Jacquemart-Andre on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris. No other than Stirling Moss unveiled this pretty little model to the press and the general public. The reception of this model wich looks like a downsized version of the bigger V8 models was such that already some 1. 00 orders were taken before production even started. not a mean feat when one takes into account that only a hundred models of the bigger V8 models were produced per year. The engine was an in-house effort by Facel. thus not relying on the supply of American machinery. The 1600 cc 4 cylinder produced approximately 120 sprightly bhp. The building process was complicated: while the engines left the factory in Puteaux. the assembly of the car took place in Colombes before being painted and fitted with the interior at the Facel works in Dreux.

They are supremely attractive. these first series Facellias. the optional factory hardtop is incredibly rare and makes the car useable all year. A very interesting and rare car with crowds around it at every event.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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