About Tough to Crack Car Puzzle #202

Facel Vega is one of the top makes in the world and we expected that the car would be recognized easily in last week's puzzle. And it was.

First response came quickly on a beautiful Saturday morning by Anders Svenfelt. '1962-64 Facel Vega Facellia F2 Coupé. This 2-passenger model is in fact a hardtop welded on a convertible body. Hand built and expensive . In fact, the smaller Facellia led to the downfall of the company, and it was the engine that was the fault. The overhead camshafts hadn't sufficient bearings and cooling was bad. The foundry Pont-à-Mousson hadn't got that much experience of engine casting either. It was swapped for a slightly larger engine from Volvo 1800, alas to late.'

Quickly Larry A. Lewis told us his own experience with the car: ' I almost bought one many years ago until I found that the frame was broken and repaired with welded-on concrete rebar.'

It clearly was a car with character as George Giese said 'Very obviously a Facel Vega Facelia and the unhappy driver has stopped to consider his fate for he is in Arizona's Superstition Mountains on a Friday 13 and he has just run over a black cat so he fears the fate that may be fall him. I think it is that the lovely little French twin cam motor will likely explode, leaving him with no choice to replace it as no Facelia parts are to be found!'

Gerd Klioba came with more information about the car: 'This is the Facel-Véga Facel 6, the last new Facel-Véga model, only available from July to October 1964, when Facel-Véga closed down. Meant to fill the gap between the four-cylinder III and the eight-cylinder II, it was basically a Facel III with elongated front, but identical wheelbase, to accommodate an Austin-Healey 3000 engine, which was slightly reduced in bore (82.55 x 88.9 mm) to avoid the penalty tax for cars beyond 16 CV. A projected new V6 engine by Harry Mundy never saw the light of day, as only 32 Facel 6 were built, 25 coupes and 7 convertibles.'

Steve Kupferman added 'It was Facel Vega’s move into the small sports car market to compete with Alfa Romeo and Porsche. Styling was similar to the bigger Facel HK500. The car’s designer, Jean Daninos took styling cues from the Mercedes 190SL.' and 'About 1,100 Facellias were produced. The Facellia appeared in a music video and in an Agatha Christie tv series in France.'

Robbie Marenzi came with more information about the specific car: 'The car(Cordon Rouge) belongs to renowned sculptor Dr. Neil Lawson Baker, who with Andrew Powell came second in class 1999 Montecarlo Challenge(car number 74) and first in class 1999 The Marathon (car number 42- puzzle picture) and fourth 2000 London-Istanbul Rally. It was found in a Paris bodyshop and for years damaged on purpose to teach apprentices how to lead fill dents.

Facel 6 was a Facel III with a, for tax reasons, slightly reduced Austin Healey engine, according to various sources, 30 to 42 cars were built. Prices US$6,000'

So, what is it? And therefore, who is the winner of this weeks puzzle.

As far as our sources go, it is a Facel 6. The precessor of the Facellia, with the Austin Healey engine. As Robbie Marenzi told us most information about this specific car, we therefore declare him the winner of the 5 points in the six month competition, sponsored by Hans Compter Rare Cars.

Congratulations Robbie!

Publiziert:

Samstag Februar 23rd, 2019

About Tough to Crack Car Puzzle #202

So, what is it? And therefore, who is the winner of this weeks puzzle.

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