as requested by Grant, I display here some pics of my 1964 Facel III; finally not so odd in a Jensen forum, as for me Facel is the french Jensen or the other way round depending which side of the channel you hart belongs to:
bought it 2 years ago, delivered by truck from the Netherlands,
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but lived most of its life in Spain, I was lucky enough to find previous owners, they gave me these period pics
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the interior has been retrimmed in a lovely way
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Last edited by rolando38 on Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
the engine is not an American V8 as on the Big Facels, but hopefully it's not either the Pont a Mousson with its foibles; it's the Volvo B18, same as the Volvo P1800 (which I also have, maybe for a next topic)
the comfort is not as good as expected, with a rigid rear axle, and the power is limited, but with only 440 cars produced in coupé (of which around 230 know to the Amicale facel Vega) , it's a pretty rare car
Wow .. Roland .. thank you so so much for dedicating the thread to little Ole me!! ..You've made me feel important!!
It is truly beautiful .. I am so envious..
I really love these cars but they are way out of reach for me...I am not that familar with all the different models and I thought they all had the Chrysler V8's ... There are 2 just around the corner from me here sitting in the garden of a deceased man now, they have been sitting there and rotting away for years, the back looks the same as your one Roland but your does look smaller , I'll go around there and take some Pics to show you ... and your is manual .. would you not be tempted to put a Mopar V8 in it Roland or is the chassis smaller in your model?
Thank you for posting this for me Roland .. you must be a proud man!! ... did you do the leather trim work in this one too?
Good night Mr Roland
With my kind regards to you ...
Grant
Hervé Lequippe
Paris, France
Int III 133/5767 1972 Grey/Red interior
Triumph Spitfire 1500FH 1976 White/black
Porsche 911 993 CarreraS 1997 Blue/Grey
Triumph Spitfire Works Le Mans 1964/1965 "ADU3B" (Project)
Peugeot 206 cc 2001 Silver Grey/Blue
Lovely! As the Volvo was an expedient replacement for the Pont-a-Mousson I would be tempted to put in either a Volvo with turbo, a Lotus twin cam turbo or a SAAB 2.0 turbo. (The Rover V8 is a bit too wide I think?) BTW somebody (sorry cannot remember who/where/when) told me that the rear axle could be tought better manners by playing around with spring and damper rates. Factory setup was a bit "crashy".
Per
Not only English cars these days, an Italian is part of the stable again
rolando38 wrote:as requested by Grant, I display here some pics of my 1964 Facel III; finally not so odd in a Jensen forum, as for me Facel is the french Jensen or the other way round depending which side of the channel you hart belongs to:
bought it 2 years ago, delivered by truck from the Netherlands,
>>>>>snip<<<<<
It's fair to say that Facel paved the way wrt the use of US V8 in a European GT/Luxury car: The first iteration came out in 1954.
Per
Not only English cars these days, an Italian is part of the stable again
thanks for your feedback guys
as I am keen on original, I 'll definitily not try to put any other engine than the B18, and I don't think it would cope with a V8, not to mention the decrease in value
Grant : looking forward to your pics ! being a member of the Amicale Facel Vega, I can get in touch with experts that would probably be able to trace back the chassis number and (partial) history file of the car !
rolando38 wrote:thanks for your feedback guys
as I am keen on original, I 'll definitily not try to put any other engine than the B18, and I don't think it would cope with a V8, not to mention the decrease in value
Grant : looking forward to your pics ! being a member of the Amicale Facel Vega, I can get in touch with experts that would probably be able to trace back the chassis number and (partial) history file of the car !
No Probs Roland I shall take some pics ... The same Ole Fella who has no passd away also had an Aston DBSV8, I used to see him about and wave and I am sure he wondered who am I waving at him,!!! Anyway he was restoring another Facel Vega too, ... Rumour was that it was originally John Lennons .. Dont know how true that was, I did knock on the dorr to talk to his wife when he passed away as I was woring just opposite the house, but sadly I did not get an answer .. maybe that is why there are another 2 Facels there ... maybe for spares?
I'll keep you posted Roland Mr Man
Frankoid wrote:Not sure if Lennon had a Facel, Ringo certainly did. And Lionel Bart . Gotta love 'em
Morning Francis, yes It's me that has probably got it wrong then... strangley enough something is nagging in my head( and I dont know why as I never saw the car) but I had a vision that is was a Reddy Metallalic colour, so maybe the neighbour mentioned the colour that it was, he didnt finish it and I think they knew what they had, the son apparantly was going to contact the owners club, it could be still there though!! but I somehow doubt it know the value of them!! ... Good find that Pic Francis .... A bit of a "Geezer" springs to mind!! Ringo that is ... NOT YOU Francis!! ... You've had your day too Francis
Last edited by Grant on Mon Jan 23, 2017 12:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
but a standard Facel II with no history and average condition would not reach a quarter of this figure; HK500 are cheaper (not cheap though)
please bring this old lady some biscuits for tea time Grant....
but a standard Facel II with no history and average condition would not reach a quarter of this figure; HK500 are cheaper (not cheap though)
please bring this old lady some biscuits for tea time Grant....
After this thread I know realise that it is the one like Ringo had that I like the best, not sure my favorite is HK500, I like Ringo's one and that is a 1964 Facel 2 yes? and yet yours Roland is a Facel 3 but has the smaller engine and ringo's being a 2 looks wider and has the V8 in it ... so they went from have the V8 in 1964 with a wider body to a Model 3 which seems narrower with a smaller engine ... or were they just made to order then Roland please
Yes I will tread carefully with the dear old lady, I shall be going round to her house in my Jensen Mk2 which I got on the road today, this one I bought about 6 months ago for £9k, I'll upload the pics shortly on thos thread Roland
Here below are some pics of a Mk2 that I bought last year for £9k gbp Roland, I have been through the car for the last 6months just doing Mechanicals, steering rack, bushes, uprated anti roll bar, shocks and stuff like that, I also put 7inch wheels on it and got it MOT'd today and on the road, lots of stereo in there, I converted the Jensen 8 track to Ipod connection and pre-amplifer leads and added 4 amplifiers with sub woofers under the seats and a graphic equaliser.. also re-webbed the seat bases with new Pirelli webbing, really pleased with it and only spend 2K on the parts, but alot of my time .. looks and drives absolutly lovely, I was like a kid in a sweet shop driving it today!! , I have rebuilt an old Chrysler 4 speed A833 Manual gearbox for it and made the clutch pedal ,, that'l be going in next >>>
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Absolutely gorgeous Grant ! blue IMHO is the color that suits her best
and you got it for pocket money ! a once in a lifetime occasion, congrats ! and you managed to keep it with its original trimming
I understand yesteerday's joy after the MoT, this happened to me also with tehe E-type , although there was nothing to do on engine and gearbox, just front susension, brakes and interior
as for the Facels, yes you are mainly correct: Facel started back in 1954, launching powerful, American V8 powered, luxury cars sold mainly to celebrities, ambassadors, industrial bosses: Facel FV2B, HK500, etc looking pretty much identical albeit the engines that would follow Detroit's yearly production improvements
Then in 1959 they decided to launch a "smaller" car - for the wives of the celebrities ? - the Facellia, and after seeking advice for a suitabe (smaller) engine, they opted for french manufacturer Pont-a-Mousson, better known for steel production than engines (I think this was the first - and last - they ever made); it happened to be disatrous, the DOHCS engine would overheat and they were obliged to change under warranty half of the numbers sold, at a cost that meant the end of the company a few years later
In the meantime they tried to overcome the problem launching in 1961 the Facel II - your favorite, mine too, but only 182 units were sold (price was higher than a Rolls Royce at the time, and now is 10 times the price of a period Rolls !)
To try to gain back reputation on the small units, they negociated with Volvo the use of their sturdy B18 in replacement of the faulty Pont-a-Mousson, and had some success, with 470 units sold of the Facel III (my car)
Eventually, a last version , the Facel VI, was equipped with the 6L engine fro the Big Healey (another connection with Jensen), but this was the end of the game, less than 100 cars were produced and the company went bankrupt in late 1964
..You've made me feel important!! 
... There are 2 just around the corner from me here sitting in the garden of a deceased man now, they have been sitting there and rotting away for years, the back looks the same as your one Roland but your does look smaller 
... and your is manual 
