Founded in 1904 this Spanish / Swiss company began its life making large capacity automobile and aircraft engines in Barcelona under the direction of Swiss engineer Marc Birkigt. The emphasis was on engineering excellence and high quality of materials employed as well as clever design techniques.Recognizing that there was a demand for their cars from wealthy European industrialists as well as from the likes of Indian Maharajahs and Hollywood glitterati, the Hispano-Suiza operations in Paris offered their discerning clients a choice of coachwork to fit over the running chassis, and in 1919 the company announced their H6 model with a six cylinder engine and a capacity of 6.6 litres. This was to become their mainstay power unit up until the early 1930s, and as is well known, they also went on to build the massive J12 engine with its 9 litres of cylinder capacity.The fabulous H6B we are delighted to be offering left the factory in August 1924 and was shipped to London where its first owner commissioned the elegant coachwork it still wears today, which is by Mitchell Coachworks of Nottingham. At present we are trying to research more of the early history but we believe it was shown at the London Motor Show the same year. In any event it disappeared to France where it remained in a former private museum, well preserved if slightly neglected, and was acquired by the current custodians from there. Rather amazingly the car had withstood all the years in store and once cleaned, the quality with which it had been born soon reappeared.Hispano-Suiza are rightly regarded as the most prestigious of Spanish motoring brands and this particular H6B combines Swiss engineering, French manufacturing and English coachwork, so genuinely cosmopolitan and a motor car designed for a discerning collector.

 

Price on request