Stephanpellegrino1 has found something very exceptional: a 1958-1961 Facel Vega Excellence. This makes the first found appearance of one of these at CC; Imperialist’s detailed write-up of these rare big French four door hardtops is here. Yes, we’ll show you some pictures of how it looked once upon a time. And how this one will look again someday, hopefully.
Here it is in full profile.
Open the center-closing side doors, and this is what greets you.
And one more shot. Do check out the Excellence’s full story on the link in the top paragraph.
Someone’s going to have their work cut out for them to get this one back in order. The early versions sported Chrysler’s legendary 392 hemi, but sometime during the production run, after the stock of hemis ran out, Chrysler new 413 RB wedge engine replaced it. I’m struggling to identify which engine is in this one; I can’t quite decide if those are partially hidden hemi valve covers or not. I’m inclined to think they are. One of you will know.
Wow! If that car was any less of a collector’s piece, I could readily see it crushed for scrap. Whoever decides to take that job on is going to have a couple of years worth of work ahead of him.
I could just see this one as a long-termer on one of Velocity’s antique car restoration shows.
Looking and the dark one on the side view (I’ve never seen one of these in the metal), I was surprised to discover the car is nowhere near as attractive as I’ve always assumed it was. All those lines are all over the place and very little works together.
I wondered if Paul was joking when he implied that someone was going to restore this car. But if this is an extremely rare and valuable collectable I guess it’s still worth the very extreme amount of effort this will take to restore.
Reminds me of a Jaguar XKE that Gas Monkey Garage sold to a guy after finding it rotting on a property. So far gone you could barely get it off the transporter with a forklift.
Still made money on it for a guy who was going to restore it.
This car will be restored, these are worth massive money when restored. You could spend a fortune and still be fine but they are so rare, it’s a labor of love too and worth it. I wish I could buy this, I would. Probably 1 of 2 or 3 cars I would ever consider purchasing in this condition.
The good ones look like a parts-store-flyer generic car circa 1961.
“I was surprised to discover the car is nowhere near as attractive as I’ve always assumed it was. All those lines are all over the place and very little works together.”
A long-wheelbase hardtop can look weak in the middle, as if it is going to (if not in fact) sag. And the Facel has a dip in the beltline and a weird chrome slash right where it looks like the car would crack in two. Add to this the reverse-slant A-pillar, and the whole car looks structurally questionable.
Sacre bleu! If this one could talk it would tell one of the saddest tales ever.
I can’t say on the engine, but it looks like it has a generator instead of an alternator. Chrysler started using alternators in 1960, but this is not to say that 1) the Facel Vega used them or 2) that it is not an early build 1959 413. If it has the old 392 I say just cut the car up and put that Hemi in a classic Charger! (Yes, I am being sarcastic). 🙂
It’s got a flat tire.
And what about the bag on top of the car? That’s gonna scratch the finish when it gets lifted off.
Ran when parked – I swear.
Rear view:
Can you tell me where this car is located ?
Division St., Boonton NJ
Probably owned by the Kanter brothers, antique car parts sellers in Boonton nj
Interior:
Looks like it is going to require a bunch of work just to move it from that spot. With the lower sills & floor rusted away like that, the windshield frame appears to be the only thing holding the front & back halves together.
Wow. Imagine paying a shop $150 per hour to work on that mess. I see a lot of hours, and a lot of $
Maybe what this really needs is Facel Vega’s Tom Shaunessy of Ferrari fame. Store it and sell the remaining parts off at a good markup.
It’s still in better shape than this one. Restoring either one would be a sisyphean task.
Im seeing a parts car here, but how many people are looking for the parts that this car can provide?
Beyond remedy, probably won’t make it as a parts car either.
I’d say it’s already been a parts car for some time given some of the stuff that’s missing. Given that, I’d also say it’s pretty unlikely it’s got the Hemi if the engine is still there.
It brings tears to my eyes. These were magnificent automobiles. The French government killed this big cars with their “horsepower tax.” Hopefully, someone with “pochette plein” will restore it.
The French gov’t killed Facel all right, but not through tax. The tax regime existed before Facel came to be. They just exported 90% of production and made a nice living out of it. Until the smaller Facellia came out in 1960, which badly upset Facel’s financial balance and forced it into government control. De Gaulle didn’t like Facel’s use of foreign engines and therefore decided to kill it in 1964.
I’m thinking it would be cheaper (and easier) to just recover the badging from this, maybe the VIN plate (if such a thing exists), and build a new one.
well you could always cook a vin…
Coq au vin? 😉
Old Pete,
That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day, and so subtle.
In the interior shot (specifically, the interior shot in the more comprehensive write up linked to at the beginning of this one), I’m not seeing anything that looks like a gearshift. Given the Chrysler origins of the power train, did these have push button transmissions?
Indeed they did. Or a 4-speed manual Pont-a-Mousson ‘box.
Not my monkey, not my Circus, but……
At what point does it make sense to try to restore? I get that this is either 1 of 11 (if the ultra rare first edition 1958 model) or 1 of 137, but we know that rarity does not equal valuable. French car in America? Deduct 75% of value. Facel who? Deduct another 20%(or add that back on if selling at BJ auctions). There are enough of these out there that the small market desiring to own one probably already does. And I have to also agree that the styling is too polarizing. It reminds me more of the Aston Martin Lagonda of the 1980s. Rare? Uniquely styled? Interesting appointments? Yes to all, but they are not worth their costs to own and operate, much less restore and recoup any investment.
Sometimes, we just have to let them die.
Rarity equals value in terms of Facel’s – I do agree w/you generally but these are very much an exception.
The Excellence rivals the 57-58 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham in its lack of side protection. These beautiful cars were the pinnacle of sacrificing safety for style.
There are plenty of people who would buy this car, even in this condition. Hemmings Motor News is full of “Wanted” ads for old European cars.
Sad to see such a lovely car treated so… like watching a Hi-lo with a claw yanking engine/transmissions out of cars and the automatic transmission fluid makes it look like its bleeding.
To work a bit off JFranks comment these things were incredibly rare and expensive when new.
Who the (h e doublehockeysticks) lets a car like that get into that shape in the first place??
Wow thats a mess, you’d need to be keen and skilled or very cashed up to tackle restoring that one, but people do, a friend recently sold the only known in NZ 14/40 Humber that looked in that condition and its being restored, wood framed body the wood rotted away in 60 years of outside under tree storage and the body(alloy) collapsed.
The builder of these cars was pleased how many FVs have been maintained in driveable condition over the decades or restored. Mine is in the former category and was awarded a 2nd place ribbon a few weeks ago at a show. It creates keen interest, even while filling up at a gas station.
Great color, I get the same thing at gas stations and everywhere also..
I’m a former owner of a Facel-Vega Excellence, serial number EX1-101.
Photographs simply don’t do these cars justice. When you see one in person and realize how low and long it is, inevitably people just love how they look. No other luxury GT sedan comes close. After I had a terrible fire in 1995 I had to sell off several cars, and my Excellence went to New England where I’m told it went thru a major restoration. Almost 30 years later, I still miss that car.
I’m pretty sure [as pointed out above], this is owned by Fred & Dan Kanter, as they both collect Facel-Vega cars.