GTP Cool Wall: 1959-1962 Facel Vega HK500

[Wiegert]

1959-1962 Facel Vega HK500 nominated by @C-ZETA

Body Style: 2-door coupe
Engines: 5.8L Chrysler Hemi V8, 6.3L Typhoon V8 Chrysler B-383
Power: 335 hp (5.8), 360 hp (6.3)
Torque: 398 lb-ft (5.8), 425 lb-ft (6.3)
Weight: 1750 kg (5.8), 1762 kg (6.3)
Transmission: 3-speed automatic
Drivetrain: Front-engine, rear wheel drive
Additional Information: The HK500, the definitive Facel, was essentially an uprated FVS. Power steering was then well established and the 500 was a 147mph car, even if disc brakes did not arrive until 1960. The 6.3 litre Facel II, the last of the line, replaced it in 1962.​

Spoiler: Additional images

 

[Fastcarguy]

Fast with good looks. Only thing that could make it better would be a manual transmission. solid cool.

 

[Dagger311]

Sub Zero, nice looking classic car with a wonderful engine to match.

 

[Ken]

Cool from me. It would be sub zero, but I can't get over that back end. It just looks odd.

 

[ThrasherDBS]

Gotta say, looks kinda goofy, but still seems kinda cool at the same time. That's some pretty good power for a car in those days.

Cool.

 

[Roger the Horse]

Big 60s European GT car.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

One of the fastest Sub Zero votes I've ever made.

 

[Tornado]

Why, that's certainly an amalgamation of discarded Detroit styling cues.

 

[Adamgp]

Nice power and decent looks, except for the Edsel-esque grill.

Still cool.

 

[Cano]

Facel Vega
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​

Sub-freaking-zero.​

 

[HELLAFLUSH240SX]

Looks like the bastard child of a Aston Martin DB4, Chevrolet Corvette C1, and Mercedes 300SEL. Cool.

 

[SVT Cobra GT]

Looks better with wire wheels but it looks like something Rockstar would design. Meh.

 

[TheCracker]

Probably the chicest car money can buy. SZ.

 

[Stotty]

The interior is stunning!

Exterior is a bit of mixed bag for me - I really like the glass house and the front end, but to me, the slab sides make the car look heavy and ungainly... it lacks the delicacy of Italian cars of that era.

Low cool.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

Seriously uncool. Heavy and ugly, and 3-speed auto seals the deal.

 

[Tyger]

SZ for reasons already given above, but only just, because no manual option.

 

[Rallywagon]

I gave it a SZ. That car is great looking, especially considering the years of production. Besides, who doesn't like a good facel?

 

[mustafur]

Why does it rub off on me as some kind of Communist Sports Car.

I don't like the styling but the interior looks good.

Low cool.

 

[MoLiEG]

Nope. I swear I gave it a try. It's ugly.

Uncool.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

I love the rear treatment, actually. More so than the busy front. The glasshouse is pretty, and I'm fine with the slab sides, as they give off a different attitude to the more curvy Italians of the era. This looks heavier, yeah, but in a powerful, brutish way. Which is appropriate given its engine, and market placement.

Oozes presence on the curbside. SZ it is.

 

[Patruck GT2]

American engine, French handling. Driving that car will probably be painful.

 

[Rallywagon]

American engine, French handling. Driving that car will probably be painful.

Naah, lock up the diff and drift corners. Probably turn better, especially if your still running bias ply.

 

[Ken]

I love the rear treatment, actually

I thought I knew you. Geesh. That back end looks a five year old obsessed with art deco drew it while he was half asleep. Don't get me wrong, I like the car. But I would never walk around the back of it.

 

[20832]

Very solid cool for me, one of the members of our local oldtimer club actually owns a Facel Vega, looks so much pretty in person than in pictures.

 

[Legro]

American engine, French handling. Driving that car will probably be painful.

I think you mean comfortable.

It'd be much worse if it was French engine, and American handling.

 

[Patruck GT2]

I think you mean comfortable.

It'd be much worse if it was French engine, and American handling.

I must agree on that. However, apart from a few masterpieces (Citroen over all), French cars are, in my experience, quite unpleasant to drive. Suspension stiffness to a very low level, not-so-precise steering, and a general feeling of the "French conception of comfort" which basically is reducing vibrations at the expense of everything else.
If for comfortable you mean no vibrations, probably that will be comfortable. Everything above 20Hz will probably be damped like in heaven. But pray you have 2 or 3 km to dissipate the residual movements after a tight corner...

 

[Wiegert]

A rakish '50s greenhouse sitting atop a '60s slab-sided body. Not the prettiest marriage of styles and quite brutish for a French creation, albeit with an American edge.

I've always had trouble warming to this and FVS, but when it comes down to visual presence without going full-on vulgar, it just about pulls it off. And I don't care what anyone else says. That rear is nothing short of superb.

Cool.

 

[TexRex]

Easy SZ. When I'm done with French compacts and microcars in the Imports forum, it'll surely end up there.

the Edsel-esque grill

Do what now? You mean the fact that it has a top, a bottom and two sides, and is positioned centrally in the front of the car just ahead of the engine and radiator?

 

[Adamgp]

Do what now? You mean the fact that it has a top, a bottom and two sides, and is positioned centrally in the front of the car just ahead of the engine and radiator?

That would be it.

 

[TexRex]