Hispano-Suiza (literally: Spanish-Swiss) was a Spanish automotive and engineering firm and after World War II was a French aviation engine and components manufacturer. It is best known for its luxury cars and aviation engines pre-World War II. In 1923, its French subsidiary became a semi-autonomous partnership with the Spanish parent company. In 1946, the Spanish parent company sold all its Spanish automotive assets to Enasa. In 1968, the French arm was taken over by the aerospace company Snecma, now a part of the French SAFRAN Group.
Hispano-Suiza designed the first 4 cylinder 16 valve engine and the car considered to have been the first sports car, the Hispano Suiza 45 Cr.
History
Early years
In 1898 a Spanish artillery captain, Emilio de la Cuadra, started electric automobile production in Barcelona under the name of La Cuadra. In Paris, De la Cuadra met the Swiss engineer Marc Birkigt (1878–1953) and hired him to work for the company in Spain. La Cuadra built their first gasoline-powered engines from a Birkigt design. At some point in 1902, the ownership changed hands to J. Castro and became Fábrica Hispano-Suiza de Automóviles (Spanish-Swiss Automobile Factory) but this company went bankrupt in December 1903.
The Hispano-Suiza 8 was a water-cooledV8SOHCaero engine introduced by Hispano-Suiza in 1914 and was the most commonly used engine in the aircraft of the Entente Powers during the First World War. The original Hispano-Suiza 8A was rated at 140hp (102kW) and the later Hispano-Suiza 8F reached 300hp (220kW).
HS-8 engines and variants produced by Hispano-Suiza and other companies under licence were built in twenty-one factories in Spain, France, Britain, Italy, and the U.S. Derivatives of the engine were also used abroad to power numerous aircraft types and the engine can be considered as the ancestor of another successful engine by the same designer, the Hispano-Suiza HS-12Y (and Soviet Klimov V12 derivative aero-engines) which served in World War II.
Design and development
Origins
When World War I began, the production lines of the Barcelona based Hispano-Suiza automobile and engine company were switched to the production of war materiel. Chief engineer Marc Birkigt led work on an aircraft engine based on his successful V8 automobile engine. The resulting engine, called the Hispano-Suiza 8A (or HS-8A), made its first appearance in February 1915.
The HS.404 was an autocannon produced by Hispano-Suiza and derivates and was widely used as both an aircraft and land based weapon in the 20th century by French, British, American and numerous other military services, particularly during the Second World War. The cannon is also referred to as Birkigt type 404, after its designer Marc Birkigt, and later versions based on British development are known as 20mm Hispano. Firing a 20 mm caliber projectile, it delivered a useful load of explosive from a relatively light weapon. This made it an ideal anti-aircraft weapon for mounting on light vehicles, as well as a fighter aircraft gun, replacing the multiple 7.62 mm (.30 caliber) and .303 inch (7.7 mm)machine guns commonly used in military aircraft of the 1930s. The HS.404 was produced by the French subsidiary of Hispano-Suiza.
Development
From Oerlikon to Hispano
In the 1930s, Hispano Suiza S.A. was licensed to build an propeller shaft version of the Swiss Oerlikon FF S or Becker model, an advanced primer ignition blowback design, firing from an open bolt. The Oerlikon FF S was based on the Oerlikon 20 mm anti-aircraft auto-cannon. The Hispano-Suiza version was called the "Hispano-Suiza Automatic Cannon Type HS.7" and HS.9. The Swiss cannon, like all pre-war Oerlikon guns, was a blowback weapon with certain unique features: a barrel that does not recoil and a heavy breechblock which is never locked against the breech and actually moves forward when the gun is fired. Shortly after production began, the Hispano-Suiza and Oerlikon companies disagreed over patent rights and their business connection came to an end.
Story continues ...It’s been a bad year for priceless cars in transport trucks this year, after several cars were burned to a crisp on their way out of this year’s Monterey Car Week, including a Hispano-Suiza supercar and a one-off FordGhia concept.
MONTEREY >> Another historic vehicle exhibited during Classic Car week was destroyed in a trailer fire Wednesday, this time on Monterey-Salinas Highway and York Road... The vehicle was a 1934 Hispano-SuizaJ12 Vanvooren Cabriolet ... 18 ... .
Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling in Zardoz. Sean Connery as Zed in Zardoz ... But one of the greatest movie miscastings of all time was in Zulu (1964) ... E. P ... Known as the Hispano Aviacion HA-1112, they were initially powered by a Hispano Suiza engine ... .
Article content ...Story continues below ... Article content ... PlayVideo ... 3.00 ... 1934 Hispano-SuizaJ12 Vanvooren Cabriolet. 1934 Hispano-Suiza J12 Vanvooren Cabriolet Photo by Jil McIntosh ... At this show, the car came second in its class to a 1923 Hispano-Suiza.
The company began by producing bicycles and by 1899 had expanded into motorcycles ... The Skoda logo with the ‘winged arrow’ was first used in 1926. The company began, under licence, producing luxury cars for the Spanish Hispano Suiza company ... .
‘Peggy,’ said a friend, ‘is absolutely revolting about sex ... She pretended to share his interest in communism, even joining the party, but resented being left increasingly alone while he toured the country in her Hispano-Suiza lecturing and recruiting.
