Editing Facel Vega (section)

===Facellia===
[[File:Facel Vega.jpg|thumb|right|Facellia F2, 1961 to 1963]]
[[File:Facel-III-av.jpg|thumb|right|Facel III]]
In 1960, Facel entered the [[sports car]] market with the Facellia, with a premiere at the Paris Motor Show in 1959. It was a small car similar in size to the then popular [[Mercedes-Benz 190SL|Mercedes 190SL]]. Facellias were advertised in three body styles: cabriolet, 2+2 coupé and 4-seat coupé — all with the same mechanical parts and a {{convert|2450|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} wheelbase. Styling was similar to the Facel HK500, but with rather elegant (though fingernail-breaking) flush door handles. Following Facel Vega's demise several of M Daninos's styling cues were "borrowed" by Mercedes-Benz.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} Prices were roughly [[United States dollar|US$]]4,000 for the Facellia (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|4000|1960}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars {{inflation-fn|US}}), US$5,500 for the Facel III (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|5000|1960}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars {{inflation-fn|US}}) and US$6,000 for the Facel 6 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|6000|1960}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars {{inflation-fn|US}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nadaguides.com |title=New Car Prices and Used Car Book Values |publisher=NADAguides |access-date=2016-05-15}}</ref>

With the idea of creating a mass-produced all-French sports car competing with the [[Alfa Romeo Giulietta (750/101)|Alfa Romeo Giulietta]], the [[Triumph TR3]] and [[Porsche 356]]B, Facel moved away from Chrysler engines because Chrysler didn't offer a four-cylinder engine at the time. Instead, the Facellia had a four-cylinder 1.6&nbsp;L twin-cam engine designed by former [[Talbot-Lago]] chief engineer Carlo Machetti, who won at Le Mans, along with the advice of famed English cylinder-head guru [[Harry Weslake]],<ref>{{cite book|title= The Encyclopedia of the Car | page = 224| first = Chris | last = Horton | isbn = 1-840670533}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/marquetime-facel-vega-1.1159678?mode=amp|title=Marque Time - Facel Vega|publisher=The Irish Times|date=29 September 2004|access-date=4 March 2021}}</ref> and built in France by Paul Cavallier of the Pont-à-Mousson company (which already provided manual gear boxes for the company's larger models) so as to be compliant with the punitive [[Tax horsepower#France|French horsepower tax]] system and increase sales.<ref name="cars-in-profile"/> The engine had only two [[Bearing (mechanical)|bearing]]s supporting each [[camshaft]], using special steels, as opposed to the usual four or five. Despite the metallurgical experience of Pont-à-Mousson, this resulted in excessive flex, timing problems, and frequent engine failures.

Famed engineers [[Charles Deutsch]] and [[Jean Bertin]] were called in to solve the issues, but it was not enough and the engine was pronounced a disaster and the Facellia with it.<ref name=IMS362>{{cite magazine | title = Från skilda fronter |trans-title=From different fronts | page = 28 | language = sv | editor-last = Björklund | editor-first = Bengt | location = Lerum, Sweden | magazine = Illustrerad Motor Sport | number = 3 | date = March 1962 }}</ref> The updated Facellia F2 was presented at the March 1961 [[Geneva Motor Show]]. Company president, Jean Daninos having been obliged to resign in August 1961 in response to the company's financial problems, the new boss, a former oil company executive called André Belin, gave strict instructions to the after-sales department to respond to customer complaints about broken Facellia engines by replacing the units free of charge without creating "difficulties".<ref name=Automobilia1962>{{cite journal| title =Automobilia| journal = Toutes les voitures françaises 1962 (Salon Paris oct 1961)| volume = 19| page = 34|year = 1200|publisher=Histoire & collections|location=Paris }}</ref> The strategy was intended to restore confidence among the company's customer base.<ref name=Automobilia1962/>  It would certainly have created a large hole in the income statement under the "warranty costs" heading, but it may have been too late for customer confidence.

;Volvo engine

The troublesome powerplant was replaced with a [[Volvo B18 engine]] in the Facel III, but the damage was done. Production was stopped in 1963 and despite the vision of it being a "volume" car, only 1,100 were produced - still enough to make this Facel's highest production number. Facel lost money on every car they built, with the luxury car side of the company being supported entirely by the other work done by Facel Metallon.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

The small [[Facellia]] met with little success and the losses from this, due to strong competition at the luxury end of the market, killed off the business which closed its doors at the end of October 1964. What was, according to some, the best small Facel, the '''Facel 6''', which used an [[Austin-Healey]] 2.8-litre engine, came too late to save the company with fewer than 30 having been produced when the financial guarantors withdrew their support.