Captain Haddocks Facel Vega Page

Facel Vega in sorrow - decease of Jean Daninos, constructor of automobiles of prestige

PARIS, Oct 14, 2001 - Jean Daninos, the constructor of luxury cars Facel Vega, passed away Saturday in Cannes (Sea-Alpes) from the consequences of a cancer at the age of 94 years, came to know by his relations on Sunday.
Born december 2, 1906, Jean Daninos, brother of the romancier Pierre Daninos, had founded the society Facel (Forges et Ateliers des Constructions d'Eure-et-Loir) in 1939 to realise his dream to design his own automobile.
This engineer had collaborated before with Citroën for the "Traction Avant" and worked in aviation.
The Facel society produced the bodies of luxury cars like the DynaPanhard or the Ford Comète.
The first Facel Vega, designed by Jean Daninos, arose in 1954, equipped with a Chrysler engine.
Daninos counted around his clients stars of showbusiness (Tony Curtis, Ava Gardner) and racing drivers (Stirling Moss, Maurice Trintignant).
Several racecars followed until, for want of support of a great constructor, the last french make of grand luxury came into peril and diappeared in the middle of the years 1960. During ten years of existence, the make had built only 3.000 Facel Vega, which are much wanted today.
The funeral of Jean Daninos will take place with intimity in Jouy-en-Josas (Yvelines) at a date not yet decided, as his relations have indicated.

in memoriam Jean Daninos - a galery »»»

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PARIS, Oct 14, 2001 - Jean Daninos, the constructor of luxury cars Facel Vega, passed away Saturday in Cannes (Sea-Alpes) from the consequences of a cancer at the age of 94 years, came to know by his relations on Sunday. Born december 2, 1906, Jean Daninos, brother of the romancier Pierre Daninos, had founded the society Facel (Forges et Ateliers des Constructions d'Eure-et-Loir) in 1939 to realise his dream to design his own automobile. This engineer had collaborated before with Citroën for the "Traction Avant" and worked in aviation. The Facel society produced the bodies of luxury cars like the DynaPanhard or the Ford Comète.	The first Facel Vega, designed by Jean Daninos, arose in 1954, equipped with a Chrysler engine. Daninos counted around his clients stars of showbusiness (Tony Curtis, Ava Gardner) and racing drivers (Stirling Moss, Maurice Trintignant). Several racecars followed until, for want of support of a great constructor, the last french make of grand luxury came into peril and diappeared in the middle of the years 1960. During ten years of existence, the make had built only 3.000 Facel Vega, which are much wanted today. The funeral of Jean Daninos will take place with intimity in Jouy-en-Josas (Yvelines) at a date not yet decided, as his relations have indicated.
in memoriam Jean Daninos - a galery »»»