CarBrandLogos archive · Hispano-Suiza · 1931

Hispano-SuizaJ12

A 9.4-litre V12 chassis sold bare, for owners who brought their own coachbuilder.

Photo: QuinlanTerry · Public domain

The story

A defining chapter in Hispano-Suiza history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Hispano-Suiza J12, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Replacing the H6 meant answering the V12s that Cadillac, Packard and Daimler had begun to build, and Marc Birkigt answered with a 9,424 cc overhead-valve twelve of deliberately unstressed design. It made its power at low revs, drove through a three-speed gearbox with tall gearing, and was quiet enough that the usual measure of the car was how little you noticed it working. From 1935 the engine grew to 11,310 cc for the most demanding bodies.

1942 Nash Ambassador X-ray · The original uploader was CZmarlin at English Wikipedia. · Public domain

Design and engineering

Hispano-Suiza sold only the rolling chassis, built at Bois-Colombes. Everything above the frame was arranged privately between the customer and a coachbuilder, so no two J12s are quite alike: Saoutchik, Vanvooren, Fernandez et Darrin and others produced saloons, cabriolets and coupés of extraordinary length. The customers were royalty, industrialists and the sort of buyer for whom a Rolls-Royce Phantom was the obvious alternative.

Hispano-Suiza J12 Front-view · No machine-readable author provided. Luc106 assumed (based on copyright claims). · Public domain

In production

It was also a car with poor timing. Launched in 1931 into a collapsing luxury market, it sold in small numbers through the 1930s and stopped in 1938 as Hispano-Suiza's attention moved to aviation and armaments. Survivors are among the most valuable French-built cars of the era, valued as much for the coachwork as for Birkigt's engine underneath.

Hispano-Suiza J12 Rear-view · No machine-readable author provided. Luc106 assumed (based on copyright claims). · Public domain

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1931–1938

Engine

9424 cc overhead valve

Designer

Marc Birkigt

Technical specification

The J12, in detail.

Production: 1931–1938
Class: Ultra-luxury car
Body style: by arrangement with the customer's coachbuilder
Layout: Front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Engine: 9424 cc overhead valve; OHV V12 engine; V-12 ; (11310 cc from 1935 on)Sfn; Robson; 1990; p=72
Transmission: 3-speed manual
Designer: Marc Birkigt ; (chassis only)Sfn; Kimes; 1990; p=642
Assembly: France: Bois-ColombesSfn; Nicholson; 1982; p=307 ; (chassis only)Sfn; Kimes; 1990; p=642
Manufacturer: Hispano-Suiza