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Jean Daninos, founder of Facel, made his name producing special bodywork for Panhard, Simca and Ford of France, but dreamt of building his own high-performance car. He achieved his ambition in 1954 with the Facel Vega FVS, a glamorous close-coupled four-seater using an American Chrysler engine. In terms of image, his cars set the standard for the many American-engined supercars that would follow in its wake.
Beautiful and fast, the FVS was followed by the uprated HK500 (one horsepower per 500 kilos) in 1959, with a bigger engine and standard power steering if automatic transmission was specified. Most HK500s had disc brakes, too - much needed on these rapid, heavy cars, which were good for 130 mph plus. The HK was the fastest-accelerating four-seater car in the world for several years. Handling wasn't a strong point (the power steering was related to a system found on a truck) but the HK500 was much favoured as a long-distance express and driven by many famous personalities and racing drivers of the day: Stirling Moss was an owner and a great fan.
The marque died in 1964, by which time the HK500 had morphed into the even more dramatic and chic Facel II, of which only 162 were built.
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