The Hispano-Suiza H6 is a
luxury car
A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities, quality, performance, and associated status compared to moderately priced cars.
The term is subjective and reflects both the qualities of the car and the ...
that was produced by
Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...
, mostly in France. Introduced at the 1919
Paris Motor Show
The Paris Motor Show (french: Mondial de l'Automobile) is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held during October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show presently take ...
,
[Ultimatecarpage.com – Hispano Suiza H6C Monza] the H6 was produced until 1933. Roughly 2,350 H6, H6B, and H6C cars were produced in total.
Specifications
The H6 engine featured a
straight-six engine
The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine bala ...
inspired by designer
Marc Birkigt
Marc Birkigt (8 March 1878, Geneva – 15 March 1953, Versoix) was a Swiss engineer, automotive and aviation pioneer, and co-founder of Hispano-Suiza in 1904.
He lived in Barcelona, Spain when he was hired by Emilio de la Cuadra in 1898 to wor ...
's work on
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...
engines.
[Conceptcarz.com – 1922 Hispano Suiza H6B] It was an all-aluminium engine displacing .
[Browne, T.C. p.118.] Apart from the new
overhead camshaft
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...
, it was essentially half of Birkigt's aviation
V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to:
Aircraft
* Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter
* Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft
* Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project
* Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...
design.
The seven-bearing
crankshaft
A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating shaft containing one or more crankpins, that are driven by the pistons via the connecting ...
was milled from a steel
billet
A billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. Historically, a billet was a private dwelling that was required to accept the soldier.
Soldiers are generally billeted in barracks or garrisons when not on combat duty, alth ...
to become a sturdy unit,
while the
block
Block or blocked may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting
* W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...
used screwed-in steel liners,
and the water passages were
enamelled to prevent corrosion.
[Browne, T.C. p.119.]
One of the most notable features of the H6 was its brakes. They were light-alloy drums on all four wheels
with power-assist
the first The First may refer to:
* ''The First'' (album), the first Japanese studio album by South Korean boy group Shinee
* ''The First'' (musical), a musical with a book by critic Joel Siegel
* The First (TV channel), an American conservative opinion ne ...
in the industry, driven with a special shaft from the transmission. When the car was decelerating, its own momentum drove the brake servo to provide additional power.
This technology was later licensed to other manufacturers, including arch-rival Rolls-Royce.
[Autos.ca: Motoring Memories – Hispano-Suiza]
The 1922 H6B was slightly more powerful. An () engine was used in 1924's H6C.
The H6 series was replaced in 1933 by the
J12, which initially used a
V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to:
Aircraft
* Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter
* Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft
* Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project
* Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...
pushrod engine
An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located bel ...
.
Special versions
A series of five racing H6Bs with short wheelbases and slightly enlarged engines was built in 1922.
These were referred to as "Boulogne", to celebrate the H6's triple victory at the sports car race at Boulogne by pilots Dubonnet, Garnier, and Boyriven in 1923 (Journal des debats, July 27, 1923).
Woolf Barnato
Joel Woolf BarnatoPronounced Barnatoo – from Barnett too (27 September 1895 – 27 July 1948) was a British financier and racing driver, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s. He achieved three consecutive wins out of three entries in the ...
piloted a Boulogne to eight international records, including a average over , at
Brooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...
in 1924.
André Dubonnet
André Dubonnet (28 June 1897 – 20 January 1980) was a French flying ace, athlete, race car driver, and inventor. He was the grandson of Joseph Dubonnet, founder of the Dubonnet apéritif firm, from which he inherited substantial wealth.
Early l ...
entered an H6C Boulogne in the 1924
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...
.
[Browne, T. C., p.119-20.] Powered by a
straight 6
The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balan ...
(estimated to produce ),
[Browne, T. C., p.120.] Dubonnet demanded a maximum body weight of ,
and the aircraft maker
Nieuport- Astra complied with
tulipwood
Most commonly, tulipwood is the greenish yellowish wood yielded from the tulip tree, found on the Eastern side of North America and a similar species in some parts of China. In the United States, it is commonly known as tulip poplar or yellow pop ...
strips
(later determined to have been
mahogany
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...
), fastened to an aluminium frame with thousands of tiny rivets.
Dubonnet finished the gruelling event without a body failure, and drove home to Naples afterward.
This vehicle is currently housed at the
Blackhawk Museum near
Danville, California
The Town of Danville is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California. It is one of the incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in their names instead of "city". The population was 43,582 at the 2020 census ...
.
A later series of short-wheelbase H6Cs was built, eventually being referred to as "Monzas".
![Hispano-Suiza at Denver transport museum 057](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Hispano-Suiza_at_Denver_transport_museum_057.jpg)
A six-wheeled H6A was ordered by the
King of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece was ruled by the House of Wittelsbach between 1832 and 1862 and by the House of Glücksburg from 1863 to 1924, temporarily abolished during the Second Hellenic Republic, and from 1935 to 1973, when it was once more abolishe ...
, but after his abdication was purchased by the motion picture director
D. W. Griffith. It is now at the
Forney Museum in Denver.
[Forney Museum of Transportation – 1923 Hispano Suiza Victoria Town Car]
Specifications: 1924 H6C Dubonnet Boulogne Targa Florio speedster
![HS 1924 Tulipwood sx](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/HS_1924_Tulipwood_sx.jpg)
*Length:
*Width:
*Height
**cowl:
**windshield:
*Wheelbase:
*Wheels: center-locking
*Weight:
*Transmission: three-speed manual
*Suspension:
**Front: beam
**Rear: live axle, semi-elliptic leaf spring
*Engine: Hispano-Suiza straight 6
**Bore:
**Stroke:
**Displacement:
**Maximum power: at 3000 rpm (estimated)
Škoda
Some early H6s were built at Hispano-Suiza's industrial complex at La Sagrera, Barcelona, but most H6s were built at Hispano-Suiza's French division in the Parisian suburb of Bois-Colombes. Some 100 H6s were built under license by
Škoda
Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to:
Czech brands and enterprises
* Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav
** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...
in Czechoslovakia from 1926 to 1929. To cope with the poor fuels available, the compression ratio had been limited to 4.5:1 and engine power to at 1800rpm.
H6B Dubonnet Xenia
In 1938, Hispano-Suiza built a
one-off H6B for André Dubonnet, in which he installed the engine from the H6C, his own
custom suspension system, and custom bodywork by coachbuilder
Saoutchik
Founded by cabinet maker Jacques Saoutchik (born Iakov Savtchuk in Russian Empire in 1880), Saoutchik was a French coachbuilding company founded in 1906. In the 1930s, the company became well known for their often extravagant automobile designs ...
. This H6B served as his own personal car, as well as a showcase of his automotive technologies and aerodynamical innovations. The H6B Dubonnet Xenia is currently owned by
Peter W. Mullin
Peter W. Mullin (born 1941) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of the M Financial Group and chairman of its subsidiary, M Financial Holdings. Additionally, he serves as the chairman of Mullin Barens Sanford Financial. ...
and is on display at the
Mullin Automotive Museum
The Mullin Automotive Museum is a privately owned automobile museum in Oxnard, California, US. Established in 2010, it displays the personal car collection of businessman and philanthropist Peter W. Mullin. The museum has a large collection of v ...
in
Oxnard
Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
In popular culture
In ''
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
''Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'' is an Australian drama television series. It was first broadcast on ABC on 24 February 2012. It is based on author Kerry Greenwood's historical mystery novels, and it was created by Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger. ...
,'' Australian detective Phryne Fisher drives a red 1923 Hispano-Suiza H6, which makes frequent appearances in the television series.
In several Agatha Christie novels, main characters drive a Hispano. In ''The Secret of Chimneys'' and ''The Seven Dials Mystery'' the description fits a Hispano-Suiza Dubonnet from 1924.
A Hispano-Suiza features heavily in the 1924 best-selling novel (later also a play)
The Green Hat by
Michael Arlen
Michael Arlen (16 November 1895 – 23 June 1956), born Dikran Kouyoumdjian ( hy, Տիգրան Գոյումճեան), was a British essayist, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and scriptwriter of Armenians, Armenian origin, who had his ...
.
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*{{Cite web
, url = http://www.forneymuseum.org/FE_HispanoSuiza.html
, title = Forney Museum of Transportation - 1923 Hispano Suiza Victoria Town Car
, access-date = 2011-10-17
, work
Forney Museum of Transportation, location = Denver, Colorado
External links
H6
Luxury vehicles
Cars introduced in 1919
1920s cars
1930s cars