1935 Hispano Suiza J12 Drophead Coupe

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 to a close, they returned to automobile and engine production and developed a strong reputation for building luxury automobiles.

The Hispano-Suiza company is currently part of the French SAFRAN Group, while the Spanish company sold all its automotive assets to the maker of Pegaso trucks and sports cars in 1946.

The J12 was introduced in 1931 and was powered by a 574 cubic-inch V12 engine producing 220 horsepower. The car was capable of 115 mph. Each engine block was machined from a single 700-pound billet. The cars were very expensive and only 120 were sold during the production run between 1931 and 1938.

This Drophead Coupe with coachwork by VanVooren was originally owned by Richard Paine. The current owner acquired the car in 1991. It is one of just eight such cars ever built. Little is known of this car's early history but it is thought that it first carried limousine coachwork by Fernandez et Darrin but was soon re-bodied by Vanvooren. It is understood to have arrived in Los Angeles in the 1950s and has been a resident in California ever since.