Facel Excellence EX1
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Car producer : |
Facel |
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Model: |
Excellence EX1 |
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Year: |
1958-1961 |
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Type: |
Sedan |
Facel was a French manufacturer of automobiles from 1954 to 1964.
The company was named after the original metal stamping company FACEL, and the company's first model, the Vega, named after the star,] was introduced at the 1954 Paris Auto Show. The cars were advertised with the slogan For the Few Who Own the Finest.
Initially successful, the company failed after the debut of its mechanically troubled Facellia model.
The Excellence was a luxury saloon automobile unveiled by Facel-Vega of Paris, France, at the Paris Auto Show in October 1956 to rave reviews by the motoring press.
Production started in 1958 and lasted until the company ceased production in 1964. The car was based on an elongated chassis from the Facel Vega FV Coupé. It was the only four-door model the company ever made. Production ended after only 156 cars had been built. The low production figure is a direct result of the car's exorbitant purchase price. When new, it cost about as much as four Citroën DS saloons, which themselves were hardly to be considered cheap cars. The towering price could still be boosted by ordering optional equipment, which gradually became available over the car's production run, such as power steering, power brakes, electric windows, wire-spoke wheels, and air conditioning.
For model year 1958, Chrysler discontinued the Hemi engines, and after stocks had dried up, Facel-Vega started using the 361 CID (5.9 Litre) Chrysler 'Wedge' head V8 engines.
Be it as it may, a 361 powered Excellence was anything but a slouch. It had the same nominal horsepower output as the Hemi it replaced. The more faint at heart may be pleased to learn, that from late 1959 onwards, an Excellence could be stopped via optional power disc brakes up front.
The 1958 - 1961 Excellences were the most numerous of the bunch with 137 examples being built.
