With about 160bhp on tap, it clips along at a regal pace – and once we’re on the A-roads the H6C more than holds its own

They say that the star that shines half as long shines twice as brightly – and looking at the history of Hispano-Suiza the old adage seems to hold true. Once the purveyors of luxury and competition cars with the royal seal of approval, the company’s 32-year run at the top of the tree created a legacy that remains with us to this day.

Hispano-Suiza as we know it now was formed in 1904 following a six-year attempt by the romantically named Spanish (hence ‘Hispano’) artillery captain Emilio de la Cuadra and the talented Swiss (‘Suiza’) engineer Marc Birkigt to build a handful of cars. Even then, the quality of these Hispano-Suiza cars reflected Birkigt’s obsession with fine engineering.

The following year, La Hispano-Suiza Fábrica de Automóviles, based in Barcelona, burst onto the scene – again with Birkigt in the engineering driving seat. Within 18 months the revitalised company had introduced a range of luxury cars powered by a selection of gargantuan in-line fours and straight-sixes of between 3.8 and 7.4 litres.

Hispano-Suizas soon became a major force at the top end of the market – and, in a show of patriotic car buying, King Alfonso XIII of Spain became a high-profile customer. The principal market for these cars, however, was France, and that precipitated the opening of a new factory, known as Hispano France, in the Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret. And by the turn of World War One, such was the company’s success that it needed to move to larger premises at Bois-Colombes.

Following the war, Hispano-Suiza wowed everyone at the 1919 Paris Motor Show with possibly its greatest car of all. The H6 was designed from the word go to be the best car in the world. At its heart was a 6.5-litre straight-six that had been developed from the Hispano-Suiza’s WW1 V12 fighter-plane engine (50,000 were built and, according to legend, none suffered mechanical breakages during combat). Birkigt wouldn’t have it any other way.

It was an inspired decision on Birkigt’s part to go with this power unit, as it would prove a standard-bearer for many years to come. In the interests of lightness the cylinder block and head were cast in aluminium; for reliability and smoothness it featured twin plugs, twin coils and a shaft-driven overhead camshaft. And at the bottom end the billet crankshaft and sleeved pistons were further evidence of its fantastic engineering depth.

Although the H6’s chassis was more conventional than its engine (the semi-elliptic leaf springs all-round were more than adequate), it still featured worthy innovations such as the servo-assisted ‘servobrake’ system, which drew its power directly from the gearbox.

The bodies were coachbuilt by carrozzerie hand-picked by Hispano-Suiza, and given the ingredients the final package was a clear challenger for Europe’s finest, and ended up being its most expensive, car.

In 1922 the H6 was shortened and uprated to B-specification, turning into a very effective racing car in the process; and a couple of years after that the 8-litre H6C was created, becoming Hispano-Suiza’s mighty new flagship. The car in our feature, currently for sale at Hendon Way Motors, is one of the final H6Cs – but with an interesting story behind it, typical of so many of the breed.

Originally supplied in short-chassis form, the 1928 ‘Monza’, similar to the one that won that year’s Indianapolis 500 race, was fitted with a Labourdette skiff body. In the hands of its second owner, a Binder town carriage body was installed – with an especially small chauffeur’s compartment. It was in this form, and in a slightly bedraggled state being used as an opera ferry car, that the car was rediscovered by F1 journalist Gérard ‘Jabby’ Crombac in Paris during the early 1960s.

Along with his friend, Autosport magazine’s John Bolster, Crombac designed a new two-seater body for the car, based closely on the styling of the Indy 500-winning car. With the sleek body in place, and with its high-profile driver a regular on the contemporary motor sport scene, this Hispano-Suiza became one of the best-known examples in the world. Crombac used the Monza to drive to a number of European Grands Prix, and with a top speed of well over 100mph it still managed to make a serious impression on les autoroutes.
 
By this time Hispano-Suiza was long-extinct as a motor manufacturer – car production had ceased in 1936, when it became clear that Europe stood on the brink of war once again. Just as it had for WW1, Hispano-Suiza went into mass-production, this time making guns rather than engines. The final vehicle off the line was a K6, and few would have predicted that this would be the last-ever Hispano-Suiza luxury car.
 
Today the name continues to have resonance with enthusiasts and, despite it being 72 years since that last K6 emerged from the factory, the prospect of driving any Hispano-Suiza is an exciting one.