Hispano Suiza - Hispano Suiza pre 1914
The Hispano Suiza cars were designed by Marc Birkigt, and below we are looking at the models he designed at Hispano Suiza that were built prior to the first World War, along with the tyre sizes we know they were listed with from the factory:
- Type D, 4 cylinder "12hp" (80x110mm) tyre size 815x105
- Type A, 4 cylinder "15hp" (80x130mm) tyre size 815x105
- Type B 4 cylinder "20hp" (80x180mm) tyre size 820x120
- Type G, 4 cylinder "20hp" (90 x180mm) tyre size 880x120
Hispano Suiza campaigned their technically advanced cars in races during 1909 and 1910 with drivers that included Chassagne and Zucarelli, later famous for being part of Les Charlatans while assisting another Swiss Ernest Henri in the design the Grand Prix Twin can Peugeots. Taking part in the 1910 Coup de l'Auto race the cars won and Birkigt then made a road going version with a larger 3619cc engine, christened the Alfonso XIII, after the Spanish King Alfonso XIII's interest in them, of which there were various models, with the 3.6 litre 80x180mm model being the most popular. Production ceased at the onset of the war in 1914, by which time the radiators had changed from the flat type, and were a pointed V shaped. Production of this model resumed after 1918 and continued to 1920.
