1963 Facel Vega Excellence

FACEL VEGA EXCELLENCE

The Facel Vega Excellence was a five-seater four-door saloon with a front engine driving the rear wheels. It was built from 1958 to 1964 and in its heyday was one of the most expensive cars in Europe.

Although the Facel Vega Excellence was formally launched at the Paris Salon of October 1956, production did not commence until May 1958. The pillarless four-door coachwork was based on an elongated FVS coupe tubular frame chassis, with cam and roller steering, independent front coil springs and a rear live axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs. Braking was by drums fore and aft. Inside, the cabin was so decadently luxurious that even the rear centre armrest featured a make-up kit while despite a weight of over 4,200 lbs the top speed of 140 mph was superior to many sports cars. The Excellence could also be specified with power steering, tinted glass and air-conditioning.

By October of that year the Excellence EX1 had a smaller engine and in the following year power-assisted disc brakes became available, although these were rarely specified. The EX2 of July 1961 featured a 390bhp engine, an improved chassis and slightly more restrained lines, with muted tailfins and more conventional B-pillars. Only eight were made before the closure of the Facel Vega factory in October 1964.

One famous Excellence owner was Ava Gardner, and another was Madame De Gaulle - although her husband declined to use a Facel Vega on the grounds of its US-sourced engine.

The Facel Vega Excellence was powered by Chrysler units - a 6.3 litre OHV V8 and a 5.9 litre OHV V8. There was a choice of either a four-speed all-synchromesh Pont-a-Mousson box or three-speed "Torque Flite" automatic gears.

Facel Vega made just 156 examples of their only saloon, which in the late 1950s was marketed as the world's fastest production four-door. It cost as much as a quartet of the Citroen DS - or a dozen Renault Dauphines - and to suggest that it provides motoring on the grandest of scales would be merely stating the obvious.,

Potential owners of the Facel Vega Excellence should, by necessity, be patient - they are seldom offered for sale - and possess the considerable time and resources that are essential for their refurbishment. Chassis flexing was one issue that was encountered by the drivers of earlier models

Alternative to the Facel Vega Excellence include the Bentley S1/S2/S3 Continental, the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, the Imperial LeBaron, the Lagonda Rapide, the Lincoln Continental and the Mercedes-Benz W189 300d.

.