Hispano Suiza - Hispano Suiza pre 1914
The Hispano-Suiza cars were designed by Swiss engineer 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 Jean Chassagne and Paolo Zucarelli, later famous for being part of the "Les Charlatans" group assisting another Swiss engineer Ernest Henri in the design the Grand Prix Twin camshaft Peugeots. Hispano-Suiza built cars to compete in the 1909 Coppa de Catalunia race for Voiturettes, and led briefly. Victorious in the 1910 Coup de l'Auto race the cars, Birkigt then made a road going version of the race car, with a larger 3619cc engine, the 14/45hp Type 15T was 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. Many say this was the worlds first true sports car. 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 resumed after 1918 and continued to 1920.
