Brief complementary history of Hispano-Suiza.

-This chapter is based on notes and summary texts by J. Garcia and W. Ricart. And of course, the author of this publication, Ricardo Miguel Vidal through his many visits to museums and libraries in search of new information, and to contrast the already obtained, has not had controversies with the Hispano-Suiza history except in isolated cases in tyhe French section.

-In France they want to understand that  is a genuinely French company, without adequately explaining its Spanish roots in Barcelona, ​​at least on a colloquial level. And that interest in concealment is noticed despite the evidence of the name itself or the flags in the brand's logo. Over time this position decreases.

“Hispano-Suiza logo”

-The name "Hispano" is for being Spanish, having been born in Barcelona thanks to the meeting of several preeminent partners of the industry in the city, headed by Damian Mateu.

-And "Suiza" (Switzerland) in honor of technical director and important partner Marc Birkigt, who contributed the patents and was the designer of all the brand's projects.

-The logo with a winged disk, wheel or central rotor, had the Spanish flag on top and the Swiss underneath.

-Hispano Suiza was founded in 1904 to continue with the construction of automobiles from the previous "La Cuadra" and "Castro" factories where Marc Birkigt had worked as a designer.

-Logically he made new projects, which he numbered correlatively Type 1, 2, 3 ...

-Due to the war that Spain maintained in Morocco, Hispano Suiza was commissioned to develop an aviation engine.

-They were assisted by two military engineers named Sousa Peco and Quesada.

-They also received a small batch of existing aviation engines for possible inspiration.

-Soon, the first project was established, an 8-cylinder Vee-engine with cylinder banks at 90° giving 140 CV.

-The four-cylinder banks on each side were mounted on aluminum casting blocks, with mixed cooling, that is, by water at cylinder head level, and by air through fins on the cylinder skirts.

“First Tipo 31 details”

-Initially it had 11 fins, but due to refrigeration and seizure defects, the water chamber was increased, and the fins were reduced to 8. Finally, on Type 34 there were no fins at all.

-In 1911 Hispano Suiza from Barcelona sets up a factory in Llevalois-Perret, near Paris, France, to offer its products not without misgivings of the French themselves.

-In 1913 it moves to some larger factories in Bois-Colombes.

-The decision to establish in France is influenced by the ease of obtaining special materials, skilled labor as a whole, a larger market, stability and less union conflicts.

-And above all, the absence of unfair tariffs that Spain used for protecting the importation of finished products such as automobiles (whose representatives in Madrid were influential people and aristocrats), and taxing raw materials to produce the same products in Spain.

-Just the opposite of logic. See Paco Costas's page.

With the arrival of WWI (1914-1918) and faced with the demand of the French military, they are interested in the Spanish engine to be presented to the tender. This caused a strong reaction from the native manufacturers.

-These French manufacturers proposed requirements for the Spanish engine. Then Birkigt suggests a 50-hours operation test at full demand, with the condition that the other manufacturers would pass this test as well.

-Hispano-Suiza passed the test with ease, with the main competitor not reaching 30 Hrs.

-In 1915 model 31 is still built with 8 fins on the cylinders in France, which we can see at the MAE Engine Reserve with a distinctive plate that credits it as the first engine made there.

-The tender was won while manufacturing licenses were granted to other French and allied companies.

-It is in that war when the identification stork of Guynemer's SPAD VII squadron is taken as logo in France. This aircraft was conceived around Hispano Suiza's V8 engine.

“The stork that we would see on Hispano Suiza cars”

-Among all the engine builders they made more than 50,000 V8 engines from which just over 35,000 units were made in France.

-At the end of WWI there was a dispute between Hispano Suiza and the French Government, with the latter claiming not to pay the license fees for the engines, which involved a huge sum.

-Because of war surplus, Hispano Suiza factories focused on the production of cars, and the study of new projects, being the H6 a prodigious car (Type 46), head of a saga that still retains its prestige today.

-Ruling the dispute in favor of Hispano-Suiza in 1922, the French Government retaliated by canceling or reducing their orders for aviation engines.

-In a brilliant and quick maneuver, Damian Mateu segregated the part of the company settled on French soil, creating the Société Française Hispano Suiza (SFHS), of which Marc Birkigt would be founder and important shareholder as well as technical director.

-When the situation was normalized in 1923, the two companies apparently began to operate separately.

-While the Hispano-Suiza companies were obtaining records of height and speed, their fame and the request of other countries for in-licence construction increased. Although the V8 engines were apparently the same, we can see by the silhouettes on scale showed below that the size was different from 150 CV to 300 CV.

“Relation between 2 Hispano Suiza V8 engines” (AEHA)

-The Spanish factory provided the national aeronautics, while the French one evolved more quickly obeying the interests of SFHS. There were the 12V, 24H, radial and weapon engines.

-Besides, in Spain there was a civil war between 1936 and 1939 in which the Barcelona factory was seized and collectivized and was renamed SAF-9.

-After finishing the civil war, the factory was taken by the new Spanish state, soon becoming nationalized as ENASA-Pegaso to manufacture trucks and building some copies of the 12Z-89 engine for the Spanish Me-109 aircraft.

-In France the factory was bombed by the Germans during WWII, but after the war it continued to build engines, entering the turbine era with full success.

-Later they diversify in landing gear (Messier-Hispano) and lately they make accessory boxes for the modern turbofans that are built by Snecma.