HISPANO-SUIZA ALFONSO. It was strange that a trendsetter should come from Spain, rather than France,

Meaning simply "Spanish-Swiss", this romantic-sounding concern was founded by two Spaniards, Damien Mateu and Javier Castro, and a young Swiss engineer, Marc Birkigt. Their first products, catering for a small, exclusive market, were of high-quality four-cylinder touring type, advanced in having their engine and gearbox in one unit, and shaft rather than chain final drive. One of Hispano-Suiza's most distin-guished patrons, King Alfonso XIII of Spain, was a great motor sporting enthusiast who decided that his country should have its own major road race, the Catalan Cup, in 1909. At that time Grand Prix racing was in suspension, and the premier class was for so-called "voiturettes", with bore and stroke restrictions ranging from 100 x 250mm (1,957cc) for single cylinder-engined cars to 80 x 192mm (1,920cc) for twins, and 65 x 140mm (1,852cc) for four-cylinder units, together with a dry weight of 600kg (1,3231b) minimum A Spanish voiturette race with no Spanish participants was unthinkable, and Hispano-Suiza came up nobly with a 65 x 140mm water-cooled four based on one of their smaller production models, and employing a T-head with large-diameter side valves operated by two camshafts in the crankcase, a three-speed gearbox, shaft final drive and artillery wheels. Three of these ran in the Catalan race, but were too new to place better than fourth. The trio then finished 5-6-7 in the Coupe des Voitur-ettes at Boulogne, indicating that at least they had found reliability. For 1910 Birkigt found more speed. The stroke restrictions were removed, so he increased it in the Hispano-Suizas to 180mm, at the same time equipping them with quickly-detachable Rudge-Whitworth wire wheels for the second Catalan Cup, when one car finished third. The stroke was then further increased to 200mm, giving 2.6 litres for the Coupe des Voiturettes, again at Boulogne, where one Hispano-Suiza driven by Zuccarelli won the race, and the others placed third and sixth. Thus a conventional four had at last defeated the freak long-stroke singles and twins and, more, a Spanish car had defeated the French in the season's biggest race. A few weeks later the Hispanos scored another win in the Ostend voiturette race, and with this double reclame the company decided to commercialise their success and market a light sporting road edition of their racing voiturette. For this car, designated the 15T, Birkigt specified a larger bore of 80mm in con-junction with a 180mm stroke, giving a capacity of 3,604cc. This gave an output of about 55bhp at 2,300rpm, which was transmitted through a multi-plate clutch, a three-speed gearbox in unit with the engine, and an open propellor shaft with bevel final drive. The engine/gearbox unit also served as chassis bracing, Birkigt dispensing entirely with a subframe, while the very large, flat honeycomb-type radiator was supported on the front frame cross-member. The chassis had pressed-steel side members and semi-elliptic springing front and rear, and braking was by rather small hand-operated internal expanding brakes on the rear wheels, and a sturdier pedal-operated transmis-sion brake with broad ribbed drum. King Alfonso took delivery of the first car in 1911, and drove it over the rough, twisty roads of those days some 250 miles from San Sebastian to Madrid at an average of close on 50mph. Greatly pleased at its performance, he permitted it to be called the "Alfonso XIII". That same year Hispano-Suiza opened a new factory at Levallois, in Paris, certainly a more central location for car production, both for labour and material supplies than Barcelona. The comely Alfonso was among the first models to be built there, finding a ready interna-tional market among motoring sports-men and selling well in Edwardian Britain at a chassis price of £425—not so cheap as it sounds, when an average British mid-sized car such as a Humber, Rover or Singer cost little more than £325 completely bodied and equipped. Its RAC rating was 15.9hp, coinciden-tally the same as the post-war 3-litre Bentley whose characteristics it antici-pated to a degree. Despite its side valves, the long stroke engine gave it a long-legged gait, with effortless cruising at close on 60mph, excellent pick-up, and remarkable top gear flexibility, enabling the car to come down to around 8mph without a change-down. Even so, the three gear ratios were very wide, requir-ing frequent use, while the light but precise gearchange, in an outside gate on the right-hand side, made this more a pleasure than a chore. The makers claimed a maximum of 77mph, and Brooklands lap speeds of 81.51mph and 78.5mph were achieved by two privately owned Alfonsos in 1914. The steering was high-geared, requiring but 11 turns lock to lock, while the handling and general balance were excellent. Despite its large radiator area, the Alfonso tended to overheat, and would boil in traffic. A vee-radiator was used on racing Alfonsos in 1912, and a few cars so fitted were supplied to French customers. A variety of special sporting bodies could be fitted by out-side carrossiers, including a very pretty two-seater with swept, flat-section wings and an elegant tail, while a bolster-tanked version and a "cloverleaf" three-seater were popular in France. From 1912 two wheelbases, 8ft 8in and 9ft 10in were available, the respec-tive chassis weights being 1,456 and 1,6801b. The longer model enabled coachbuilders to fit more spacious four-seater "torpedo" bodies, and closed models were also built. After 1912 the multi-plate clutch gave way to an excel-lent cone-type, a four-speed-and-reverse gearbox became available, and three-quarter-elliptic rear springing was adopted..Most Alfonsos were built at Levallois, then at Bois-Colombes when Hispano-Suiza moved to a bigger factory there early in 1914. By then the design had become outdated, and Birkigt had already introduced other models with overhead camshafts before the First World War broke out.

Supporting the contention that "the racing car of today is the sports car of tomorrow", the 2.6 litre T-head side valve four-cylinder Hispano-Suiza which won the 1910 Coupe des Voiturettes at Boulogne provided the basis for the later 3.6 litre "Alfonso" road model

survive the war, after which Hispano-Suiza's name, widely respected for the excellent V8 aero-engines they had built in 1914-18, rose to the very summit with the magnificent big six-cylinder and V12 luxury cars the company pro-duced into the 1930s.

• 4 cylinders in line, fixed head ; 80 x I80mm, 3,620cc; sv in T-head, operated by two camshafts; single Hispano-Suiza carburettor; Bosch h.t. magneto; cast-iron pistons; tubular connecting rods; 4 plain main bearings; 57bhp at 2,300rpm. Transmission: Multi-plate clutch; 3-speed gearbox in unit with engine (4-speed gearbox fitted after 1912); open propellor shaft final drive. Chassis: Pressed steel side members; semi-elliptic springing front and rear (4-elliptic at rear after 1912); transmission brake and internal-expanding brakes on rear wheels. Dimensions: Wheelbase, 8ft 8in (9ft 10in also available after 1912); track, 4ft Oin (rear track on long-wheelbase cars, 4ft 3M); approx. dry weight, 1,4601b (short wheel-base), 1,6801b (long wheelbase).