The Nostalgia of Forgotten Gods: Hispano-Suiza, Spain, 1904-1938
27 April 2024 3 min read 4 images
Photo credit: Broad Arrow Auctions, Mullin Automotive Museum, Revs Institute, Wheelsage
Hispano-Suiza concentrated on the production of luxury cars since its inception in 1904, positioning itself as a competitor to Rolls-Royce and Isotta Fraschini. A key figure in the history of the Spanish brand is Marc Birkigt, a Swiss-born engineer who moved to Barcelona in 1899 to design electric vehicles. The idea failed and the company was bought by steel entrepreneur Damián Mateu that took over the shares, forming the Sociedad Anonima La Hispano-Suiza, a sort of joint stock company with several financiers. Birkigt maintained the role of technical director and under his leadership the brand presented in the first real Hispano-Suiza in 1904: the 20HP.
Right from the start, its manufacturing quality and design were appreciated, to the point that it received an order from King Alfonso XIII of Spain, a passionate fan of automobiles and racing. Hispano-Suiza realized the opportunity and decided to participate in racing and won the Coupe des Voiturettes in France. Success became an opportunity for marketing and Hispano-Suiza commercialized a model developed out of the racing car with a special dedication included in the model's name: The “Alfonso XIII.” The car had excellent performance: Equipped with a 4-cylinder 3600cc engine and 60hp of power, it was capable of exceeding 100 km/h.
As we were able to see in our previous stories about Panhard (you can read more here: https://roarington.com/media-house/stories/the-nostalgia-of-forgotten-gods-panhard-and-levassor-france-1886-1967) and Delahaye (https://roarington.com/media-house/stories/the-nostalgia-of-forgotten-gods-delahaye-france-1894-1954), France had already developed an interesting automotive industry at that time that put it at the forefront of the sector. For this reason, Hispano-Suiza decided to open a plant in Levallois, located just north of Paris, which soon became its reference, surpassing the one in Barcelona in terms of technical capacity.
In 1914, Birgkit began developing the successor to the “Alfonso XIII,” but the outbreak of war forced the Spanish brand to convert production to aircraft engine construction, an experience the Swiss engineer would leverage at the end of the conflict. The new 6.6-liter, 135hp inline-six engine in the 1919 Hispano-Suiza H6B was derived from aeronautical engineering. For the first time, the coat of arms depicting a stork with spread wings appeared on the car, which would become the company's symbol. The H6B and subsequently the H6C of 1925 with an 8-liter engine brought the brand to the same level of luxury as Rolls-Royce and Isotta Fraschini thanks to the numerous one-offs made by the most important coachbuilders of the time. The whole aristocracy wanted one in the garage.
The success of the H6B and H6C encouraged Birgkit to build a truly outstanding model for the time, the Hispano-Suiza J12 equipped with a mighty 12-cylinder 10-liter engine that propelled the car up to 180 km/h. Three years later the engine was further upgraded to 250hp making the J12 reach a top speed of 200 km/h, a staggering performance for those times. The car remained in production until 1938, then the catastrophe of World War II brought an end to the prestigious brand. Mark Birgkit died in 1953 but his legacy remains in the hearts of enthusiasts thanks to his avant-garde creations that made the Spanish manufacturer a flagship for more than 30 years.
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