1926 Hispano Suiza H6B

Hispano-Suiza had Swiss and Spanish origins with a parallel manufacturing base in France. The Swiss connection was from their Swiss engineer, Marc Birkigt. Birkigt designed a range of T-Head fours, and by 1913, an overhead cam engine was introduced. Louis Massuger, also of Swiss origin, worked at Hispano-Suiza and together with Birkigt developed a cast-aluminum design with thin steel liners. This setup made the engine lighter, strong, and easier to build. The early examples had a water-cooled V8 design with shaft-drier overhead camshafts.

Hispano-Suiza introduced the H6 model in 1919 and it would remain in production until 1933, with approximately 2,158 examples being built. Power was sourced from a 6,597cc, overhead-camshaft six-cylinder engine designed by Marc Birkigt, created from one-half of the proposed V-12 aero engine. The engine was built in unit with a three-speed gearbox and had seven main bearings, aluminum-alloy pistons in steel-sleeved cylinders screwed into the light-alloy block, and a pressure-lubricated crankshaft. It delivered 135 horsepower at 2,500 RPM and was kept in the driver's control by light-alloy drum brakes with power-assist located on all four wheels. As the vehicle was decelerating, its momentum drove the brake servo to provide additional power.

In 1922, Hispano-Suiza introduced the H6B powered by a slightly more powerful engine. The final iteration of the model consisted of the bored-out H6C with an engine capacity of 7,982cc that had been introduced in 1924. They were built alongside the H6B.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2019