Hispano Suiza was of the great pre-war luxury automakers, and this 1933 J12 shows the advanced engineer and amazing build quality the company could produce.
, it was recently featured on"Jay Leno's Garage," where Jay Leno and Nethercutt Collection Vice President Cameron Richards discussed what made this car so special.
The name Hispano Suiza is Spanish for"Spanish Swiss," denoting the nationalities of the company's two founders. Based in Spain, Hispano Suiza started out making cars in the early years of the 20th century, but gained prominence with its aero engines, which powered World War I fighter planes. Jay actually has aAfter the war, Hispano Suiza returned to making cars, developing a V-12 specifically for automotive applications. Sitting under the J12's long louvered hood, the 250-hp 9.
While Hispano Suiza remained based in Spain, this car was built in France, where the company had opened a satellite factory. It was sold locally to Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe, a wealthy Shell Oil heiress and one of the first French female pilots. Of 120 J12s made, this is one of nine with coachwork by Henry Binder, and the only one of those nine with a"short" 146-inch wheelbase chassis, Richards noted.
Hispano Suiza gradually phased out its car division to focus on its aviation business, and was later bought by French aviation conglomerate Snecma . The dormant brand was revived in 2019 with the