"In the world of motoring some few cars come to deserve the adjective 'great' because, although they have faults like everything else in this imperfect world, they provide such a highly desirable combination of virtues.

Driving the latest Facel Vega HK500 in Britain, France, Switzerland, and Belgium…we found it hard to keep superlatives out of the conversation" ( Motor, April 1960 ).

The most famous and successful of the various Facel Vega models, the HK500 was introduced in May 1958.

True to company founder Jean Daninos' vision of a hand built 'grand routier' that could compete on the world stage, the newcomer counted the likes of the Ferrari 250GTE, Maserati 3500GT and Aston Martin DB4 among its rivals.

Derived from that of the preceding FVS, the sport saloon's tubular steel chassis was equipped with independent double-wishbone front suspension, a 'live' rear axle and four-wheel finned drum brakes (though, discs were soon optional).

Maintaining the short-lived manufacturer's rep...