1962 FACEL VEGA Facellia F2B Cabriolet

model of refinement and elegance Rare Series 1 convertible, less than 614 produced 100% French sports car withthe Pont-à-Mousson engine French historic registration title Chassis n° F2B 109B Engine n° 16-1176 A symbol of French refinement and elegance, the Facel-Vega company, for Forges et Ateliers de Construction d’Eure et Loire SA, produced only about 2,900 cars during its brief existence. Built by hand, they were very luxurious models intended for aesthetes in search of exclusivity and distinction. Sensing the need for a more widely available model, the brand’s founder, Jean Daninos, introduced a small sports car, the Facellia. Unveiled in 1959, it was powered by a 1.6 litre Pont-à-Mousson engine with double overhead camshafts. Considered capricious, it kept evolving on the F2 model to finally be replaced by the Volvo B18 engine that will be found from 1963 on the Facel III. According to the reference book Facel-Vega, “Le Grand Tourisme à la française“ by Jean-Paul Chambrette, the total production of Facellias is estimated to be at 1,045 units, including 614 convertibles. This Facellia F2B is presented in its strict original configuration with a metallic blue paint and a red leather interior. Responding to order 8464, it was delivered new in Belgium on August 31, 1962 to Garage Beherman-Demoen in Brussels and remained in the same family from 1968 to 2017. Occasionally used by its second owner, it was finally put away for almost twenty years before coming out again in the 1990s. It is during this period that a partial restoration is started. At the beginning of the 2010s, the bodywork is completely restored as well as the hood and the upholstery. A few years later, the brakes and the engine are rebuilt in Alsace before the family decides to sell it in 2017 at an auction under the nave of the Grand Palais in Paris. It is a French collector who bought it after a very competitive bidding battle. Since then, the car has passed through the hands of the specialist Pierre Brandin of the Vega Passion workshop with many expenses made for an amount of more than 13,000 €. Pleasant to drive, its steering is light, the engine pleasant, as well as the handling of the gearbox. Beautiful and pleasant to drive, its bodywork is not free of small defects and some expenses will be necessary, in particular on the electric harness. Sold with its maintenance invoices and its identification certificate delivered by the Amicale Facel, this is one of the most desirable and rare French convertibles.