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Facel Métallon
- The other Facels...
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Before and during the period of Facel Vega
production there was another side to the Facel business: building
special bodies for the major car companies, Ford (France) and Simca in
particular. These low production coupés and
convertibles received in-house styling by Jean Daninos, the Facel chief.
The FVCC would be
interested to trace any of these cars that have found their way into the
UK. If you know of one, please contact the
webmaster. |
Simca 8
Sport (1948-1951)
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What was to become Facel's first major venture into special production cars started life as a
prototype convertible for the Fiat 1100S styled by the famous Battista Pinin Farina. Fiat, then the parent company of Simca, allowed the car to be exhibited on the
Simca stand at the 1948 Paris Motor Show and the public
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1949 Simca 8 Sport |
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management to commission a limited series production. As Simca was at
full capacity in their own plants, Facel Métallon was
chosen to produce the car. In the 18 months it took to set up the
assembly lines at Facel, a fixed-head coupé version was developed -
effectively a convertible with a hard-top welded on. But it was Jean Daninos who was responsible
for achieving the perfect match of the roofline to the original Farina
styling. The first cars left the factory in 1950 with only minor changes
to the styling of the prototype. The 50 bhp of specially uprated
1200 cc Simca engine gave the car a maximum speed of 135 kph and it
performed well in the 1950 Monte Carlo rally, finishing 4th overall and
winning its 1100-1500 cc class. On later coupé models the split
windscreen was replaced by a full-width curved screen. |
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Simca 9
Sport (1952) |
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1952 Simca 9 Sport |
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By 1951 the Simca 9 Aronde
had replaced the Simca 8 on which the Facel cars were based.
Unlike the Simca 8, the Aronde was a monocoque construction
and so some major re-engineering was required to continue
production of Facel's |
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Sport models - in particular, the structure was no longer a sufficiently
rigid basis for convertible models. July 1952 saw the first monocoque Simca 9 Sport coupes emerge from the Facel production line.
Visually very similar to its Simca 8 predecessor, it was in fact
slightly longer, there being a greater distance between the door and
rear wheel arch. Power was increased marginally to 51 bhp.
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Simca 9
Sport (1953-1954) |
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But already by the 1952 Paris Motor Show in October, a Simca 9 Sport
model completely restyled by Jean Daninos was on display. Smoother
wings, a wrap-around rear screen and a roof-line with small windows to
the rear of the doors made the car look more modern. With the possible
exception of the rather clumsy grille, the styling was very elegant and
characteristic of the later Facel Vega's.
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1953 Simca 9 Sport |
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Indeed, Daninos considered the
'53 model to be the most beautiful that Facel-Métallon built for Simca. Unfortunately, the heavy body with its
high quality finish was let down by the
underpowered Simca engine. The car was not well received by the motoring
press and a high price further limited its market - few were sold.
Although a prototype convertible was built, all production cars were coupés.
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Simca Coupé-de-Ville / Week-End (1955-1956) |
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1955 Simca Coupé-de-Ville |
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For the '55 production year, the name "9 Sport" was dropped
and the same model, with minor styling modifications,
re-emerged as the Coupé-de-Ville.
To cut costs - the now more affordable selling price was
down by almost 30% - the interior was simplified: gone were
the tachometer and the leather upholstery.
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In 1955 the first convertibles, known as the Simca Week-End, were
produced. Both versions benefited from the new 57 bhp Simca "Flash
Spécial" engine in 1956. |
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Simca Plein Ciel / Océane (1957-1962) |
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Although Europe was spared some of the wilder excesses of
late-fifties American car styling, there were definite influences in the
new '57 models baptized the Plein Ciel (coupé) and Océane (convertible).
The overall appearance of a lower, wider, car was
accentuated by a broader
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1958 Simca Plein Ciel |
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radiator grille and the highly fashionable wrap-around
windscreen. And, of course, to be totally up-to-date the car had
sprouted more prominent rear wings.
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1958 saw some further restyling - elaborate shaped bumpers
in particular. But
rising prices and disappointing sales forced a cost-cutting
simplification of the "S" models launched in 1959 - the only versions
that survived into 1960. Power increased to 62 bhp with the fitting of
the Rush Super engine in the same year. |
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1959 Simca Océane |
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The last appearance of the Simca-by-Facel
cars at the Paris Motor Show was in October 1961. For their final year
of production the "S" was dropped from the model names and the cars
received the Rush Super M engine pushing the power up to 70 bhp.
Production of these stylish coupés and convertibles
ceased in July 1962. |
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Ford Comète (1952-1955) |
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1952 Ford Comète |
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The Comète was very much the
personal pet-project of François Lehideux (formerly of
Renault), who took over as president of Ford France in 1950
after the disastrous, and costly, premature launch of the
Ford Vedette had forced the resignation of his predecessor.
Keen to make his mark but locked in industrial disputes with
his workforce, Lehideux decided that his new |
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prestige model should be developed
independently of the Ford organisation and, having been impressed with
the work on the Simca 8 Sport, he chose Facel Métallon for the task. |
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Thus the Comète was designed
in complete secrecy by Daninos in Italy without the
knowledge of Ford's own design studio until its press launch
in August 1951 - interestingly, it did not even carry the
Ford badge. |
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The Comète was based on the
chassis of the Vedette but shared no body panels with that
car, and was decidedly more elegant. |
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The quality of the finish was very
luxurious and made ample use of stainless steel for bumpers, and
exterior bright-work as well as for the dashboard. The engine was also
taken from the Vedette, and while a 2225 cc V8 may sound adequate, its
meager 60 bhp gave the heavy car disappointing performance. |
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Prototype convertible |
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Series production started at
the Facel plant in September 1951 and power was increased to
68 and then 74 bhp by summer of 1952. Although two prototype
convertibles were developed, they never entered production
as their price was considered too prohibitive. |
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As industrial relations at Ford France
grew worse, two troubleshooters were sent in from headquarters. Francis
C. Reith and Walter McKee found dubious accounting practices that
exaggerated the profitability of the company and parking lots full of
unsold cars - with many Comètes among them. Lehideux was forced out in
April 1953 and replaced by Reith to carry out major reforms. |
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Nevertheless, despite poor sales and the
loss of the president who had sponsored the project, production - and
development - of the Comète continued. In 1953 a bored-out version of
the original engine pushed the capacity up to 2355 cc and the power up
to 80 bhp. |
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1954 Ford Comète Monte Carlo |
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For 1954 a new version was launched: the
Comète Monte Carlo, visually distinguishable by the coupe-frites
radiator grille and the (false) air-intake in the bonnet - under which
there was now the 3.9 litre V8 Ford Mistral engine producing 105 bhp.
Despite an increase in weight, the car was capable of 155 km/h. |
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On 4 July 1954, Ford France came under the control of Simca which
already had long-standing links with
Facel Métallon. But the writing was on the wall for the
Comète which had never sold well and had no place in the new
model range. In its final days the finish of the Comète was downgraded
to reduce costs and production ceased altogether in early 1955. Records
show a total production of 2165 Comètes of which 699 were Monte Carlos. |
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Peter Harrison
(Special thanks to
Jean-Jacques of the
Simca-by-Facel website
for background information and the use of pictures)
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