1928 Hispano Suiza H6C

Hispano-Suiza was one of the prominent European auto-makers of its day. The company had Swiss and Spanish origins with a parallel manufacturing base in France. The Swiss connection was with their Swiss engineer, Marc Birkigt, who had been responsible for the design of the Barcelona-built Castro, which would become the basis for the first Hispano-Suiza. What followed from Birkigt was a range of T-head fours, and by 1913, an overhead cam-designed engine was introduced.

Another Swiss-born individual working with Hispano-Suiza was engineer Louis Massuger. Together with Birkigt, they developed a cast-aluminum design with thin steel liners, making the engine stiffer, lighter, and easier to build. The initial engine utilizing this design was a water-cooled V8 with shaft-drier overhead camshafts. Later, this engine would be built in France, Britain, Italy, Spain, and the United States.

One of the vehicles introduced in the post-World War I era was the H6 of 1919. These were powered by an overhead cam six of 6.6 liters. The engine followed aircraft design practices, being cast in aluminum with steel liners. It had a fixed-head design with two valves per cylinder, seven main bearing crankshafts, and full-pressure lubrication. Along with a light and rigid chassis, the H6 had excellent performance. Stopping power was provided by servo-assisted brakes with finned aluminum drums.

In 1924, the company introduced a more sporting model dubbed the H6C. These were built alongside the H6B. Under the bonnet was a large, 7.9-iter powerplant capable of propelling the vehicle to 110 mph.

The Hispano-Suiza were engineering marvels with equally impressive bodies. Coachbuilders such as Franay, Proulx, D'Ieteren, Labourdette, Pourtout, and Henry Binder were tasked with creating elegant designs to cloth the Hispano-Suiza chassis.

by Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2019