Due to their elevated status in the world, it’s not rare that Facels get invited to all the best places, especially if they are in top notch condition, so I guess it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Facels were present at a number of Concours last weekend and indeed, a Facel 11 was a class winner at one of them.

The one closest to home was the Concours of Elegance at Windsor Castle run by Thorough Events Ltd. Their patron is His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent and the director is James Brooks-Ward. The first Concours of Elegance was held back in 2012 at Windsor and has been held at a royal palace every year since.

The cars were entitled in the catalogue (although they weren’t for sale) as 66 of the World’s Rarest Cars and included many delectable cars from an 1842 phaeton to a specially modified 2016 Alfa Romeo Touring Disco Volante Spyder, a special based on an Alfa 8C. Most of the cars were pretty special and some had come a long long way, including from the United States. Many of the photographs in the £20 catalogue were from last year’s Concours d’Elegance at the Villa d’Este on Lake Como which suggests that they are almost part of a Concours travelling roadshow.

But it was therefore quite an honour that Dr Hartmut Ibing of Dusseldorf was invited to exhibit his silver grey 1962 Facel 11 on white sidewalls at Windsor. The car looks in stunning condition but I have to confess that I didn’t feel that this colour combination really showed the Facel off at its best. This is a personal opinion; I have just seen better colours. But it also begs the question why a British owner was not invited to exhibit his car (not mine, it’s not good enough). There are a number in the UK which I feel would have been more attractive.

Meanwhile, over at Chantilly north of Paris, several Facels gathered in cloudy conditions to show off the marque on various stands at the Chantilly Arts et Elegance Richard Mille 2016. And as you can see, there was a lot of elegance present.

It was here that the well-known 1964 Facel 11 of Bruno-Henry Couvrat won first prize for Chefs d’oeuvre de la Carrosserie Francaise (French coachbuilders) post-war. Now that, I feel, is a better colour.

And down south, there were over 100 cars on the outskirts of Marseilles, gathered under a viaduct, for the 10^th roués du Coeur with a blast on Michelin’s test track at Miramas, a Concours d’Elegance and a run from Cassis to Marseille. Seven Facels were present, including this one pictured.

All in all, a busy weekend while the sun still shone.

Ends