1926 Hispano Suiza H6B Cabriolet

Emilio de la Cuadra, a Spanish army captain, started Hispano-Suiza in 1898. He hired Swiss engineer Marc Birkigt to design their first gasoline-powered engines. By 1905, they were producing a series of large four- and six-cylinder engines for automobiles. During World War I, they provided engines for airplanes. Birkigt designed a series of pioneering aircraft engine innovations that included the first use of a cast engine block, propeller reduction gearing, and a hollow propeller shaft to allow firing a gun through the propeller. When the War came a close, they returned to automobile and engine production and developed a strong reputation for building luxury automobiles.

Hispano-Suiza produced roughly 2,350 H6 cars that included the H6B and H6C models, from 1919 to 1933. The H6 featured an all-aluminum, overhead camshaft 403 cubic-inch straight 6-cylinder engine. It was essentially half of Birkigt's V12 aviation engine. The brakes were light-alloy drums on all four wheels with power assist, an industry-first technology that was licensed to other manufacturers including Rolls-Royce.

This Hispano-Suiza H6B was given a Cabriolet Le Dandy coachwork at the Henri Chapron Works in 1931. Several Delage D8s received Le Dandy bodies, some with full-flowing fenders and others with cycle fenders. This car is believed to have been owned by the Bey of Tunisia, first fitted with a body that is no longer known. Five years after its manufacture, it returned to the Hispano-Suiza factory and was rebuilt to the most up-to-date specifications. It was then sent to Chapron where it received its current coachwork. Although unconfirmed, it is believed that the car was on the Hispano stand at the Paris Salon in 1932.

It was brought into the US in the 1950s by Alec Ulmann, who later sold it to a gentleman from Long Island, NY, Joe Weider, who drove it extensively for 30-40 years. After having a complete body-off restoration, it debuted at Pebble Beach in August 2004, where it was chosen Best in Class out of seven Hispano Suizas.

In 2005, it was exhibited after a complete restoration at the prestigious Pebble Beach, California Concours, and was chosen Best in Class. It won Best in Class at the Hilton Head Concours in 2005. In 2005, at the Meadowbrook Concours, it was named 'Most Elegant Motor Car' out of 200 entries.