Hispano-Suiza
Encyclopedia
Hispano-Suiza was a Spanish automotive and engineering firm, best known for its luxury cars and aviation engines in the pre-World War II period of the twentieth century. In 1923, its French subsidiary became a semi-autonomous partnership with the parent company and is now part of the French SAFRAN Group
SAFRAN
Safran is a French conglomerate involved in defense, aerospace propulsion and equipment, and security. It is the result of a merger between the propulsion and aerospace equipment group SNECMA and the defense conglomerate SAGEM. Its headquarters are located in Paris.The name Safran, literally...

. The Spanish parent sold all its automotive assets to Enasa
Enasa
ENASA was a Spanish vehicle manufacturing company, incorporated in 1946 having bought the automotive assets of the Spanish arm of Hispano-Suiza. It produced trucks, buses and military armored vehicles under the Pegaso and, for a short while, Sava brands. Enasa belonged to the state-owned INI...

, the maker of Pegaso
Pegaso
Pegaso was a Spanish make of trucks, omnibuses, tractors, armored vehicles, and, for a while, sports cars. The parent company, Enasa, was created in 1946 and based in the old Hispano-Suiza factory, under the direction of the renowned automotive engineer Wifredo Ricart...

 trucks and buses, in 1946.

Early years

In 1898 a Spanish artillery captain, Emilio de la Cuadra, started electric automobile production in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

 under the name of La Cuadra. In Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, De la Cuadra met the talented Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 engineer Marc Birkigt
Marc Birkigt
Marc Birkigt was a Swiss engineer who moved to Barcelona, Spain when he was hired as an engineer by Emilio de la Cuadra, founder of Hispano-Suiza automobiles. He created the Dewoitine company along with Émile Dewoitine. Birkigt was nominated for the Car Engineer of the Century prize for the...

 (lived 1878–1953) and hired him to work for the company in Spain. La Cuadra built their first gas-powered engines from Birkigt designs. At some point in 1902, the ownership changed hands to J. Castro and became Fábrica Hispano-Suiza de Automóviles (Spanish-Swiss Car Factory) but this company went bankrupt in December 1903.

Yet another restructuring took place in 1904, creating La Hispano-Suiza Fábrica de Automóviles also under Castro' s direction. Four new engines were introduced in the next year and a half. 3.8 litre and 7.4 litre four-cylinder and a pair of big six-cylinder engines were produced. This company managed to avoid bankruptcy and in Spain remained in operation, as a car, truck and aviation engine producer, with its main plant located in Barcelona, until 1946. They mass-produced cars, trucks and buses and a number of hand-made racing and luxury cars, some owned by King Alfonso XIII of Spain
Alfonso XIII of Spain
Alfonso XIII was King of Spain from 1886 until 1931. His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, was appointed regent during his minority...

.

France was soon proving to be a much larger market for their luxury cars than Spain. In 1911, a new factory, called Hispano France, was set up in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret
Levallois-Perret
Levallois-Perret is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.-Name:The name Levallois-Perret comes from two housing developments, Champerret and Village Levallois , and which resulted in the incorporation of the...

. In 1914, production was moved to larger factories at Bois-Colombes
Bois-Colombes
Bois-Colombes is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe...

, under the name Hispano-Suiza.

World War I

With the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the company turned to the design and production of aircraft engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...

s under the direction of Marc Birkigt
Marc Birkigt
Marc Birkigt was a Swiss engineer who moved to Barcelona, Spain when he was hired as an engineer by Emilio de la Cuadra, founder of Hispano-Suiza automobiles. He created the Dewoitine company along with Émile Dewoitine. Birkigt was nominated for the Car Engineer of the Century prize for the...

. His chief engineer during this period was another Swiss, Louis Massuger. Birkigt's solution to building aero engines was unique: instead of machining separate steel cylinders and then bolting them to a crankcase, he used cast aluminium blocks into which thin steel liners were screwed. This made the engine overall much stiffer, easier to build and lighter. His design was a V-8 and was the first of what are today known as "cast block" engines and also sported overhead cams, propeller reduction gearing and a host of other features that did not appear on most other engines until the late 1920s. Another major design feature was the use of a hollow propeller shaft to allow a gun to be fired through the (reduction geared only) propeller spinner, avoiding the need for a synchronizer gear, a feature used in future Hispano-Suiza military engines.

1918–1936

After World War I Hispano-Suiza returned to automobile engine design and, in 1919, introduced the H6
Hispano-Suiza H6
The Hispano-Suiza H6 was a luxury automobile from the 1920s. Introduced at the 1919 Paris Motor Show, the H6 was produced until 1933. Roughly 2,350 H6, H6B, and H6C cars were produced in total....

, earning them a reputation even greater than that of Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Limited
Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....

 in England. Indeed, Rolls-Royce featured many Hispano-Suiza patented features, under licence. Most notably, Rolls-Royce used for many years the famed Hispano-Suiza power brakes, reputedly the best in the world, which used the torque generated by a drum brake mounted on the transmission shaft to power those on the wheels.

The H6 featured an inline 6 cylinder overhead camshaft
Overhead camshaft
Overhead cam valvetrain configurations place the engine camshaft within the cylinder heads, above the combustion chambers, and drive the valves or lifters in a more direct manner compared to overhead valves and pushrods...

 engine based on the features of the V8 aluminium World War I aero engine and a body by the famed American designers Hibbard & Darrin
Hibbard & Darrin
Hibbard & Darrin was a French coach building company.Two American designers, Thomas L Hibbard and Raymond H Dietrich had met while working for Brewster...

. Through the 1920s and into the 1930s, they built a series of luxury cars of increasing refinement. In fact, the 1930s V-12 car engine reverted to pushrod valve actuation to achieve even less engine noise.

During this time, Hispano-Suiza released the 37.2 Hispano-Suiza car built at the Hispano works in Paris.

In 1923 the French arm of Hispano-Suiza was incorporated as the Societé Française Hispano-Suiza, the Spanish parent company subscribing for 71% of the share capital. From then on, the French company gained an increased degree of financial independence, while the technical links were always kept strong.
The mascot statuette atop the radiator used by this firm after World War I was the stork
Stork
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family in the biological order Ciconiiformes, which was once much larger and held a number of families....

 of the province of Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

, taken from the squadron emblem painted on the side of the aircraft of the renowned World War I French ace (and Hispano-Suiza customer) Georges Guynemer
Georges Guynemer
Georges Guynemer was a top fighter ace for France during World War I, and a French national hero at the time of his death.-Early life and military career:...

, which was powered by a Hispano-Suiza engine.

In 1925, Carlos Ballester obtained permission to represent the Hispano-Suiza brand in Argentina. The agreement consisted of a phase in which the chassis were imported, followed by complete domestic production in Argentina. Thus “Hispano-Argentina, Fábrica de Automóviles S. A. (HAFDASA)
Hispano Argentina Fábrica de Automóviles
Hispano-Argentina is an Argentine manufacturing company of aircraft, vehicles, machinery, weaponry and public works.*Hispano-Argentina Fábrica de Automóviles S.A. *Hispano-Argentina de Obras Públicas y Finanzas -History:...

" was born, destined to the production of Hispano-Suiza motors and automobiles, and also the production of spare parts for other car, truck, and bus manufacturers.

A fictional example of a Hispano-Suiza appears in the P.G. Wodehouse "Blandings Castle" stories; the family drove or rather were driven in a Hispano-Suiza (H6), rather than, say, a Rolls-Royce. Also in the Agatha Christie novel The Seven Dials Mystery the main character, Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent, drives herself about in her "Hispano".

World War II

In 1936, Hispano-Suiza was told to stop production of cars and turn solely to aircraft engines once again. At the time they had just introduced a new series of water-cooled V-12
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....

 engines and the Hispano-Suiza 12Y
Hispano-Suiza 12Y
The Hispano-Suiza 12Y was a French aircraft engine in the pre-WWII era. Developed from the earlier, and somewhat smaller, 12X, the 12Y became the primary 1,000 hp class engine and was used in a number of famous aircraft, including the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 and Dewoitine D.520...

 was in huge demand for practically every French aircraft. However Hispano was never able to deliver enough of these engines, and many French fighters sat on the ground complete but for the engine.

Another development of the era was a series of 20 mm autocannon
Autocannon
An autocannon or automatic cannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannons are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a...

, first the Hispano-Suiza HS.9 and then the more famous Hispano-Suiza HS.404
Hispano-Suiza HS.404
The Hispano-Suiza HS.404 was an autocannon widely used as both an aircraft and land weapon in the 20th century by British, American, French, and numerous other military services. The cannon is also referred to as Birkigt type 404, after its designer. Firing a 20 mm caliber projectile, it delivered...

. The 404 was licensed for production in Britain and equipped almost all RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 fighter aircraft during the war. Production was also set up in the US, but these versions never matured even though the USAAC and US Navy both wanted to use it in place of their existing .50 weapons. A lesser-known success was the Hispano-Suiza HS.820
Hispano-Suiza HS.820
The Hispano-Suiza HS.820 was a 20 mm autocannon developed primarily for aircraft use, but more widely used in a series of ground-based anti-aircraft guns...

, a higher performance 20 mm design that was also used in the US as the M139. A variation of the 20 mm guns used on the Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft were produced by International Harvester
International Harvester
International Harvester Company was a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P...

 .
In 1970 Hispano-Suiza sold their armaments division to Oerlikon
Oerlikon Contraves
Rheinmetall Air Defence AG is a division of German armament manufacturer Rheinmetall, created when the company's Oerlikon Contraves unit was renamed on 1 January 2009 and integrated with Rheinmetall's other air-defence products...

, the HS.820 becoming the KAD.

In 1940, Hispano-Suiza together with the private Spanish bank Banco Urquijo and a group of Spanish industries founded SEAT
SEAT
SEAT, S.A. is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded on May 9, 1950 by the Instituto Nacional de Industria , a state-owned industrial holding company....

's predecessor company, the 'Sociedad Ibérica de Automóviles de Turismo' (S.I.A.T.) with the vision to establish Spain's national mass-producing car maker.

1950s–Today

After the Second World War Hispano-Suiza was primarily an aerospace firm. Between 1945 and 1955, they built the Rolls-Royce Nene
Rolls-Royce Nene
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Bridgman, L, Jane's fighting aircraft of World War II. Crescent. ISBN 0-517-67964-7-External links:* *...

 under licence, began designing landing gear
Landing Gear
Landing Gear is Devin the Dude's fifth studio album. It was released on October 7, 2008. It was his first studio album since signing with the label Razor & Tie. It features a high-profile guest appearance from Snoop Dogg. As of October 30, 2008, the album has sold 18,906 copies.-Track...

 in 1950 and Martin-Baker
Martin-Baker
Martin-Baker Aircraft Co. Ltd. is a manufacturer of ejection seats and safety related equipment for aviation. The company origins were as an aircraft manufacturer before becoming a pioneer in the field of ejection seats...

 ejection seats in 1955. Their attention turned increasingly to turbine manufacturing and, in 1968, they became a division of SNECMA
Snecma
Snecma is a major French manufacturer of engines for commercial and military aircraft, and for space vehicles. The name is an acronym for Société Nationale d'Étude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation .In 2005, the Snecma group, which included Snecma ,...

. In 1999 they moved their turbine operations to a new factory in Bezons
Bezons
Bezons is a commune in the north-western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.-Transport:Bezons is currently served by no station of the Paris Métro, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest station to Bezons is Houilles – Carrières-sur-Seine station on Paris...

, outside Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, using the original factories for power transmissions and accessory systems for jet engines. In 2005 SNECMA merged with SAGEM
SAGEM
SAGEM was a major French company involved in defence electronics, consumer electronics and communication systems.In 2005, Sagem merged with SNECMA to form SAFRAN...

 to form SAFRAN
SAFRAN
Safran is a French conglomerate involved in defense, aerospace propulsion and equipment, and security. It is the result of a merger between the propulsion and aerospace equipment group SNECMA and the defense conglomerate SAGEM. Its headquarters are located in Paris.The name Safran, literally...

.

The brand may be seeing a revival, however, with the showing of a model at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show priced at €700,000 with an Audi R8 V10 engine tuned to 750 horsepower.

Models (passenger cars)

Model Year N° of cylinders Horsepower (CV) Engine displacement
Engine displacement
Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre to bottom dead centre . It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters , litres , or cubic inches...

 (cc)
Brakes Gearbox Maximum speed
10 HP 1904 6 10 ~ ~ ~ ~
14–16 HP 1904 6 From 14 to 16 ~ ~ ~ ~
Armoured type Birkigt 1905 4 20 ~ ~ ~ 87 kilometre per hour
20-30 HP 1906 ~ From 20 to 24 ~ ~ ~ 100 kilometre per hour
40 HP 1906 ~ 40 ~ ~ ~ 100 kilometre per hour
60–75 HP 1907 6 From 60 to 75 ~ ~ ~ ~
12–15 HP 1907 ~ From 12 to 15 ~ ~ ~ ~
20–30 HP 1908 4 From 20 to 30 ~ ~ ~ ~
24–30 HP 1908 4 From 24 to 30 ~ ~ ~ ~
30–40 HP 1908 4 From 30 to 40 ~ ~ ~ ~
Alfonso XIII 1912 4 64 3620 Drum brake in back wheels (front wheels without brakes) Manual transmission, 3 gears and reverse 121 kilometre per hour
15–20 HP 1909 4 From 15 to 20 ~ ~ ~ ~
20–30 HP 1909 4 From 20 to 30 ~ ~ ~ ~
T21 1913–14 ~ From 15 to 30 ~ ~ ~ ~
T22 1913–14 ~ From 18 to 60 ~ ~ ~ ~
T23 1913–14 ~ From 30 to 90 ~ ~ ~ ~
T26 1914–15 ~ 20 ~ ~ ~ ~
T30 1915–24 ~ 16 ~ ~ ~ ~
32 HP 1916 ~ 32 ~ ~ ~ ~
H6B
Hispano-Suiza H6
The Hispano-Suiza H6 was a luxury automobile from the 1920s. Introduced at the 1919 Paris Motor Show, the H6 was produced until 1933. Roughly 2,350 H6, H6B, and H6C cars were produced in total....

1919 6 135 6600 4 wheel drum brakes with Hispano Suiza power-assisted brakes Manual transmission, 3 gears and reverse 137 kilometre per hour
T48 1924 4 90 3746 ~ ~ ~
T49 1924–36 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
T64 1929–33 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
T60/T60 RL/T60 1932–43 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
H6C
Hispano-Suiza H6
The Hispano-Suiza H6 was a luxury automobile from the 1920s. Introduced at the 1919 Paris Motor Show, the H6 was produced until 1933. Roughly 2,350 H6, H6B, and H6C cars were produced in total....

1924 6 160 8000 4 wheel drum brakes with Hispano Suiza power-assisted brakes Manual transmission, 3 gears and reverse 177 kilometre per hour
T56 1928–1936 6 46 ~ ~ ~ ~
J12
Hispano-Suiza J12
The Hispano-Suiza J12 was a luxury automobile made by Hispano-Suiza from 1931 to 1938. It replaced the Hispano-Suiza H6.The J12 was powered by a V12 engine with pushrod-operated overhead valves. The engine initially displaced with bore and stroke both being and, with a compression ratio of...

1931 12 220 9500 ~ ~ 185 kilometre per hour
K6 1934–37 6 120 5200 4 wheel drum brakes with Hispano Suiza power-asssisted brakes Manual transmission, 3 gears and reverse 140 kilometre per hour


The models H6B (1919–29), H6C (1924–29), Hispano Suiza Junior or HS26 (1931–32), J12 (1931–38) and K6 (1934–37) were made by the French division, the rest were all manufactured in Spain.

List of Hispano-Suiza aircraft


List of Hispano-Suiza aircraft engines

  • Hispano-Suiza 8F
    • 8Fb
  • Hispano-Suiza 9V
    • 9Vbrs
  • Hispano-Suiza 12G
    • 12Gb
  • Hispano-Suiza 12H
    • 12Hbr
  • Hispano-Suiza 12J
    • Hispano-Suiza 12Jb
  • Hispano-Suiza 12L
    • 12Lb
    • 12Lbr
  • Hispano-Suiza 12N
    • 12Nb
    • 12Nbr
  • Hispano-Suiza 12X
    • 12Xbrs
  • Hispano-Suiza 12Y
    Hispano-Suiza 12Y
    The Hispano-Suiza 12Y was a French aircraft engine in the pre-WWII era. Developed from the earlier, and somewhat smaller, 12X, the 12Y became the primary 1,000 hp class engine and was used in a number of famous aircraft, including the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 and Dewoitine D.520...

    • 12Ydrs:760 hp (567 kW), 860 hp (641 kW)
    • 12Ycrs:830 hp (620 kW)
    • 12Y-45:910 hp (679 kW)
    • 12Y-43:930 hp (694 kW)
    • 12Y-37:1,050 hp (783 kW)
    • 12Y-51:1,085 hp (809 kW)
  • Hispano-Suiza 12Z
    Hispano-Suiza 12Z
    -References:...

    • 12Z-17
    • 12Z-89
  • Hispano-Suiza 14A
    • 14Aa
    • 14Ab
  • Hispano-Suiza 14H
    • 14Hbrs
  • Hispano-Suiza 18
    • 18Sbr
  • Hispano-Suiza 24Z
  • Latécoère-(Hispano-Suiza) 36Y
  • Hispano-Suiza 48H
  • Hispano-Suiza 48Z

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK