1962 Facel Vega Facellia

Facel Vega Facellia (Coupe/Convertible), 1960-1963

The Facel Vega Facellia was in production from 1960-63. Styled in house, it is a front-engine, rear wheel drive sporting car seating up to four people.

Facel boss Jean Daninos wanted a product to enter the smaller sportscar market - one that was French in its entirely - and it was from this plan that the Facellia was born. Aping the larger Facels in the manner of Mercedes-Benz's 190SL, it was developed around a new 1647cc twin-cam four cylinder engine designed by Facel Vega exclusively for this car. While the prototype was aluminium bodied, the production models used an all-steel shell.

But the engine was not a reliable unit in practice, and the Facellia was produced for just three years from 1960-1963, before Facel Vega initiated a raft of improvements that would see the car relaunched as the Facel Vega Facel III, named in line with the larger Facel II. The Facel III would differ from the Facellia in terms of its engine choice - the twin cam unit was discontinued in favour of the engine from the Volvo P1800 sports car - a model which would last just a year before Facel Vega closed its doors for good. There were also a handful of Facel 6s made using the engine from the Austin-Healey 3000. A choice of three body styles were available for Facellia and Facel III - coupe, convertible and 2+2.

Facellia competitors would naturally have included the Mercedes-Benz 190SL, while it makes sense to consider the Volvo P1800 and perhaps the Glas GT as alternatives today. It's worth noting, though, that the Mercedes is a far more pricey proposition than the Facel today, while the Glas is a difficult car to find. The Volvo is the closest competition you'll find. If you really must have a small French sports-GT, the Renault Floride and Caravelle range make for interesting alternatives for those on a tighter budget.