Quick post today, all the rest of the lore about the car is in yesterday’s post. The next post is gonna take a while because I’m gonna need to make a fake ad for it, and such. shrugs
The 1955 Mesaia
Again, FAAL was aiming to keep this design for a while. even if they didn’t
So you get a car that’s infinitely more square than literally all that was being sold at the end of the fifties.
It kept the same “longitudinal FWD with reversed engine” layout that had been developed for both this car and the Plebia II, as well as the monocoque chassis (that had here a 2490mm wheelbase) and the whole suspension setup. Like I said. Bigger Plebia.
And as a bigger car, of course, it needed a bigger engine. The 123P hasn’t been built to go over 1200cc, and even then, the small single barrel carburator was choked and all you get more was low end power. Also, every single attempt at fitting a double barrel carb resulted in barely decent power and the fuel consumption of an alcoholic.
So they invested in yet another declination of their crossflow pushrod OHV layout; the 154P engine.
By designation, you got it, it’s a 4 cylinder, 1500cc max displacement.
In the Mesaia, at launch, it was available in two displacements, each having two single barrel carbsfrom the Plebia, and legally were in the tax brackets just above the Plebia’s engine, to make the choice of which FAAL car you buy a matter of tax horsepower.
154P13Ce2 - 50hp@4500, 91nm@2700, 1307cc (5cv)
154P15Ce2 - 60hp@4500, 107nm@2700, 1537cc (6cv)
The car was available in two trims, and two body types. Sedan, and Wagon (later Coupe but that’s for next post).
Mesais 132. Base model. No options whatsoever, but comes standard with seatbelts and progressive coilovers, because FAAL really wanted to get rid of the reputation they were getting with their first generation of chassis.
The car was equipped with the 50hp engine with a 4 speed manual. It weighed about 780kg, took a painful 20.4sec to get to 100km/h, and had a top speed of 127km/h, with a fuel economy of 10.5L/100km.
Mesaia 152L - The upper trim. Chromes everywhere. Hubcaps. Foamy seats. A radio with central speaker. The dashboard was painted in body colour, which gave a nice touch.
Came with the 60hp engine, which didn’t really improve the performance by much since the car got fatter, at 850kg.
But still, 0-100km/h in 17.5sec, top speed 135km/h. Fuel economy, 11.2l/100km.
You might notice that the brand went all the way on the wagon to offer the lowest possible loading line on the trunk. That hatch goes wayyyyy down. Their intent was to try and get workers who didn’t have much to load in to ditch the Plebia Fourgonnette that was still on sale at that time, in favor of this wagon.
So as little of them uncomfortable, god forbidden obsolete workhorses get out of the chains. So they could free the space, and not be seen with the “FAAL - Planks with wheels!” stamp on their forehead.
And it did! For a few model years, the wagon even outsold the sedan. What a twist.
Speaking of that, today’s photoshoot is a 132 Wagon. Because it was the only one of the batch with fixtures that didn’t clip workhorses deserve love too.
Mesaia 132 Wagon - Photoshoot
(Yep. They’re still retaining the “small grilles at both sides of the license plate” design cue.)
(Squarest car you could buy in 1955!)
(That foglight? Factory. Pretty rare option in 1955.)
(Trunks couldn’t get any better than that.)
(Fun fact: on NONE of the FAAL cars with the name of the brand in full letters on the hood, do the letters have the same spacing between them.)
(“We’re done using mk1 Plebia door handles as trunk latches when I say we’re done.”)
Next part: "The Ad that was never meant to be"
ˢᵘᵇᵗᶦᵗᶫᵉ﹕ “ᵇᵘᵗ ʷᵃˢ ᵃᶰʸʷᵃʸ, ᵃᶰᵈ ᵃᶫˢᵒ ᵍᵃᵛᵉ ᶠᴬᴬᴸ ᶦᵗˢ ᶰᵉʷ ᶫᵒᵍᵒ ᵇᵉᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ᵖᵒᵖ ᶜᵘᶫᵗᵘʳᵉ ᶦˢ ᵃ ᵗʰᶦᶰᵍ” ᵇᵘᵗ ᶦᵗ ᵈᶦᵈᶰ’ᵗ ᶠᶦᵗ