My brother was out and about on the Old Northside of Indianapolis one chilly day a couple years ago when he came upon this 1960 Facel Vega HK 500. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, made a dozen photos of it, and texted them all to me. He’s not a car guy, at all. His first car was a craptacular 1989 Pontiac LeMans, and then it’s been Honda Civics all the way: a 1998, a 2006, and a 2012. Those are all of the cars he’s owned since he graduated college in 1990. I have to give him props, however: all four have been manually shifted.
When we were kids, he was utterly uninterested in my interest in cars. I soon learned to not go there with him, as his eyes would immediately glaze over and he’d change the subject. He couldn’t have been more clear short of taking out billboards around town.
But now in our mid-50s (I’m just 11 months older), every now and then I suddenly receive a giant wad of photos of some unusual old car he’s come across. I’ve written up one other of the cars he’s sent me, this 1966 Renault Caravelle.
We didn’t get along very well as kids. When we both went away for college, we saw each other only at Easter and Christmas until we were well into our 30s. But then my first marriage ended, and he had a bit of a dark night of the soul, and it brought us together. We’ve been close ever since.
These days we both enjoy good bourbon. Most of our relationship plays out at whiskey bars. My brother is a dedicated walker, so a lot of our evenings out start with me parking near his condo Downtown and us walking all over. I always stop to photograph the old cars when I spot them. He’s a lot more patient today than he was when we were kids. There have been a few times out together when I found something really cool, like this 1974 BMW 3.0 CS, and he’s even asked me what I know about the car.
I don’t have anything to say about this Facel Vega beyond “lookit! Isn’t it cherry?” We’ve covered the Facel Vega any number of other times, with the detailed information we’re known for at Curbside Classic, here, here, here, and here; go have a read. I just wanted to write about my brother today, and how good it is that now that we’re becoming old men, that we respect and honor each other.
Such an amazing curbside find! I love the year of manufacture plates too, what a nice touch. Can you imagine today’s godawful plate designs on this beauty?!
You know it’s an incredible design when a “non car guy” goes out of his way to stop and take pictures. What an amazing vehicle to be parked curbside. Truly one of the most beautiful cars ever made. I’ve never seen one outside the confines of a museum or car show, and really never expect to either.
And I’m glad you and your brother have found common ground. I’ve had a similar up-and-down relationship with my sister – we couldn’t tolerate each other until we were adults.
Incredible to find one of these in showroom stock restored condition–parked at the curb!! These are easily $450K-$500K at auctions, and rarely seen outside of museums.
wowie! fascinating car ..first learned of FV in my “car encyclopedia” my mum got me in ~73. WHAT the heck is going on with those side windows. Looks like no seal? Overlapping glass?
My first thought was “what a gawd awful fugly car”. But once I got past the 3rd world dictator’s limousine front end, it is a good looking car.
Being long in front and short in back makes me wonder if this might have been the first of the “personal luxury” cars of the 60’s.
“Limousine front end”. Good call. Made me think of this photo I saw just a few days ago.
Dman I have that exact limo as a huge metal model. Weighs a ton.
Those headlight eyelashes on Xi’s car really make a statement, don’t they?
As does the peasant-slicing hood ornament.
That’s actually a Harakiri ornament implanted into that auto maker’s design studio by Japanese agents.
If ExEye were to stick his arm out at that angle in Germany, he’d immediately get arrested for excercising a forbidden gesture
Being long in front and short in back makes me wonder if this might have been the first of the “personal luxury” cars of the 60’s.
Those proportions were of course ubiquitous in the pre-war era, and carried right over for European sports and luxury-sports cars like the F-V. Their first car, the Facel-bodied 1951 Bentley (below) set the template for F-V cars to come.
As for the F-V, what a stone cold beauty. Might be my first buy after a lottery win. I don’t see a bad angle anywhere.
What an exceptional curbside find. And what a handsome car.
Good to know about your brother. I’ve got three siblings and it’s been iffy, especially with one. But I’m making an effort with the other two.
Absolutely stunning subject car!
As for the 1989 Pontiac LeMans, that did not compute! My eyes are still burning after the quick internet search. Condolences to your brother on his first car. Hopefully there was no long term trauma. 😉
That LeMans was nothing but trouble for him. In its last year, it started only about 60% of the time.
I hate it when that happens ~ I know I often make comments about lack of proper care but sometimes it’s like the vehicle is haunted .
I’ve been struggling with a dead simple old Honda single I love very much that used to run flawlessly, it began to get hard to start and then simply puttering to a halt, I’ve done everything I know including rebuilding the engine to get back to top compression and replacing the entire electrical system yet it flat refuses to start .
-Nate
Always love to see Facel Vegas. Thanks for the photos and the essay. My brother and I would look these over AND OVER at the NY International Automobile Shows.
Been a while since I’ve seen the “better known, fossil Vega”, predecessor.
This car is way too valuable to be sitting at the curb unattended. It’s awesome.
Beautiful car, I wonder what it would feel like to actually sit in that interior. It looks so incredibly comfortable in pictures. I’d imagine that it might not be so good for driving, but in a car like this, I could just sit.
And good to hear that there’s hope for improving sibling relationships as one moves on down the timeline. I haven’t found that yet, but perhaps there’s still hope.
Thanks for the catch and the perspective.
Styling has aged very well. In spite, of the wraparound windshield.
Wow, what a beautiful car, and it’s just sitting at the curb – perfect!
I have one sister and we’ve always gotten along pretty well; we always pooled our friends and hung out as a group when we were kids. We still live within 20 minutes of each other and see each other at least a couple times a month. I guess I’ve been lucky all along!
Is it a hard or soft “c” in Facel? My two years of HS French didn’t cover acronyms, and I wouldn’t remember anyway.
Moderate regular exercise like walking can be an effective treatment for mild depression.
Soft C, like an S.
Bit of an odd one, that.
Since it’s an acronym (Constructeurs), they don’t use the cedilla.
But they stick on acute on the E in Véga.
Quite stunning cars. I think the Facelia is very pretty.
Such a meticulously maintained specimen. I bet this looks better than when it rolled off the assembly line or even on the showroom floor. The paint, chrome, glass and interior is in concourse condition and almost appears fake but surely it’s not.
What an eye-bugging find, Jim Grey! Arguably not an entirely beautiful car (and reportedly not such a good drive either), but it is, without question, utterly, utterly glamorous.
None of my dear siblings would take a pic of any car for me, almost entirely because they wouldn’t know what it was – including a fabulous curbside Facel Vega. Bless ’em, they are none of them interested in cars at all. But then, we forget hereabouts that most of the world isn’t either, which is as it should be.
My relationship with all my siblings (I’m last of six) has remained pretty constant since childhood, and it’s all pretty fine too, but I only recently decided that the one “difficult” sister has had my 55 years to curtail her behaviors, and hasn’t, so I shall consciously keep any future contact to the cordial minimum. After all, one can tilt at windmills, but not unto pointless exhaustion – especially when it’s only me that gets worn out by the effort!
First, what an amazing car to find unattended at the curb. I find it hilarious that out of all the people here who might have stopped to photograph this even if we were being chased by an angry dog, it was your brother who found it – the guy who couldn’t really have cared less, but who only did so as a sort of present to you.
Second, I am glad to hear of how your relationship with your brother has improved over the years. My situation has been kind of the opposite – three siblings (one full, two half) who have always gotten along fine and have even been close sometimes, but none of us can find or make the time from our busy lives to actually visit each other. It doesn’t help that we are all separated by at least 100 miles. So I will confess a touch of envy at your relationship with your brother.
I remember seeing several different Facels in St. Louis back in the 1960s and 1970s.
I can’t explain how these glamorous cars ended up there.
While the city has a few fashionable neighborhoods it’s hardly Monte Carlo..
I especially remember a Facel II that belonged to a guy that looked more like Cary Grant than Cary Grant.
So pretty and in a glorious color to boot .
I never heard anything about how these are to drive until now .
Really nice to hear about your and your brother coming together ! .
I’m the baby of six and only close to the eldest brother and even he tests my patience at times .
-Nate