1926 Hispano Suiza Roadster
© A. J. Gomm, 1996
The Hispano-Suiza Alfonso model, was one of the first sports cars, made in an era before the term had general use. Yet this car filled the criteria admirably, with above average handling and performance, built for enjoyment rather than utility motoring. The name Hispano-Suiza--meaning literally Spanish-Swiss--came from the fact that the Swiss designer, Marc Birkigt, was the designer of the cars built at Barcelona. The 15T or Alfonso XIII model was derived from the series of long-stroke, four-cylinder racing cars which the company made in 1910, a name earned by having the King of Spain as one of it's first customers, probably one of the most enthusiastic of European royals for motoring of that time, or since.
It came into production in 1911 and remained on the market until about 1916, but due to the Great War the final production models were sold only in Spain, and little is known about them. The Alfonso was produced in two wheel base lengths, 270 cm and 295 cm, the shorter with two-seat coachwork, and had a four-cylinder 3,620 cc engine of 64-hp. This comparatively large engine gave it an effortless top gear performance of up to 80 mph, and many owners, including the King, found it untiring even on journeys of several hundred miles.
In the 1920's the Hispano-Suiza became better known as a French car, as the models produced at the factory at Bois-Colombes, near Paris, were generally more expensive and glamourous than those produced by their Spanish cousins in Barcelona. Typical of this was the H6, the star of the 1919 Paris Motor Show. During the Great War the Hispano company had produced aero engines and the engine of the H6 was in fact half of a proposed V-12 aero engine. Consequently the single-OHC 6,597 cc unit was immensely strong. It also had four wheel braking operated by mechanical servo, making the rear-wheel only braked Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost seem old fashioned.
Originally proposed as a touring or town car, the power and braking ability of the H6 made it ideal for development as a sports car and in 1921 aperitif millionaire, André Dubonnet, entered his standard four-seat tourer in the Georges Boillot Cup and won. This led to a team of cars and drivers being entered for the 1922 event, with larger engines of 7,982 cc and short wheelbase. They were to win in 1922 and 1923. and the large engine was offered as an option in Hispano touring cars from 1924, the big sixes being made until 1934.
