1962 Facel Vega Facel II Hardtop Coupe

During Facel's production lifespan, the French firm produced approximately 2,900 vehicles. They were hand-built, very expensive, stylish, luxurious, and fast. The list of owners included royalty, politicians, diplomats, and entertainers: Tony Curtis, Danny Kaye, Ringo Starr, Joan Fontaine, and Ava Gardner being counted among the latter.

The Facel II was launched in 1961 and remained in production until 1964 with a mere 182 examples produced.

This car, chassis number HK2B138 is the 138th of the final 'B' series. The first owner was a lady from Frankfurt who bought the Facel from Auto-Becker in Düsseldorf, while the second was an Iranian who took the car to a museum in Iran and brought it back to Germany in 1978. The current owner purchased the car in 1992.

Powering this car is a 6.3 litre, 390 horsepower Chrysler V8 engine mated to a four-speed Pont-a-Mousson manual gearbox. There is an electronic ignition, power steering, electric windows, Jaeger instrumentation, original radio, and 7x15 wire wheels. The car was given a total restoration between 1993 to 1998. The body was removed from the chassis and stripped to the bare metal. The engine and chassis were overhauled and all of the electrics were re-wired. Since the restoration has been completed, the car has traveled around 5,000 kilometers.

In 2012, the car was offered for sale at the Monaco sale presented by Bonhams. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of €253,000 including the buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2012