There is an image that certain late 1950s-mid 1960s expensive grand tourer coupes present, and in short, that image looks a lot like James Bond, Mad Men and, to an extent, the namesake of the animated series Archer: It was a car that spoke elegance, class, and sophistication at every level, from first glance to the inspection of the tiniest of details. It had power to spare, but it was not obnoxious about it. It was drop dead gorgeous without trying, and the interior was borderline timeless. They were the kinds of cars that were coveted from new, and now fetch dizzying amounts of money at auctions. You know the names: DB5, XK-E, 300SL, 250GTO. You know they are excellent, worthy of hours of staring, and are the pinnacle of their brand. But, I’d argue that a French/American mix would be more worthy of the crown.

Facel S.A. was in business barely more than a decade, but their cars (if you ignore the company-sinking Facellia) were strong statements of class and luxury. The Facel Vega series set up a concept that worked: Using Chrysler components and power trains, Facel would do what they did best and coach-build a body around all of it. Using 383ci and 413ci big-blocks and either 727 TorqueFlites or the Pont-a-Mousson four-speed manual transmission, the cars would hustle nicely, but it was the attention to detail and the distinctly European look that sold the couple hundred cars produced. Care to guess what it would take to get into a Facel Vega II today? Starting bids for basket cases have hit well above the $200,000 mark, and quality cars are easily half of a million…which seems like a deal, considering that the car looks like a million bucks sitting still.