Hispano Suiza

In the early days of the automobile, examples bodied in wood were hardly uncommon. In fact, wood was a natural choice, given that the craftsmen who made horse-drawn contraptions like wagons and coaches, and whose business evolved into car making, built most all of their conveyances in wood . . . wheels included. Metal soon became the favored material, as well-suited to volume stamping (think Ford Model T) as to handmade, bespoke commissions from the finest European and American coachbuilders. But wood still had its admirers, and probably the most well-known car—and certainly most beautiful—to wear a wooden body is the 1924 Hispano Suiza H6C Tulipwood Torpedo.

Founded in 1904, the Spanish automotive engineering company known as Hispano Suiza gained renown as a maker of luxurious, high-performance cars under the direction of Swiss engineer Marc Birkigt. Employing state-of-the-art technology with quality every bit the equal of Rolls-Royce, Hispano Suiza won races and attracted the attention of Spain’s King Alfonso XIII, who acquired more than two dozen examples over the years.

The 1924 Hispano Suiza H6C Tulipwood Torpedo being offered at the upcoming RM Sotheby’s Monterey Auction. 

Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s.

During World War I, the company provided more than 50,000 V-12 engines for Allied aircraft. Powerful and reliable, the engine became the basis for an inline-six mill—introduced in 1919 and made through 1933—that was essentially one half of the V-12 design. Advanced for its day, the 6.6-liter engine, called the H6, featured an aluminum head and block, a seven-bearing crank and shaft-driven overhead cam. It was eventually enlarged to 8.0-liter displacement with the H6C, in which form it developed about 195 hp, shifted by a three-speed transmission.
Using a ladder frame, the rolling chassis featured a power-assisted hydraulic drum brake system, an industry first that was so advanced it was even licensed to Rolls-Royce. Each Hispano Suiza was delivered as a rolling chassis to a client’s coachbuilder of choice. As a result, cars from the marque have featured stunning bodies from a variety of makers. The example offered by RM Sotheby’s during its annual sale in Monterey, Calif., from August 18 through 20, is justly famous, not just for its exquisite and unrepeatable body but because of its provenance and competition history.

The car is fit with Hispano Suiza’s 195 hp H6C engine, which is shifted by a three-speed transmission. 

Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s.

As heir to the aperitif and cognac fortune, André Dubonnet was one of the automaker’s most important customers. He was also a pilot and “gentleman racer,” like his contemporary competitor Woolf Barnato, who captured eight international records in an H6. Dubonnet had ordered his H6C so that he could compete in the 1924 Targa Florio, commissioning Nieuport, a French aviation company, to build a lightweight, torpedo-shaped body in tulip wood, its planks attached to an aluminum frame with thousands of brass rivets.

The rolling chassis features a power-assisted hydraulic drum brake system, an industry first at the time. 

Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s.

At more than 18 feet long, the Hispano Suiza is huge—just ten inches shorter than a new Rolls-Royce Phantom—but weighs less than 3,500 pounds, of which the body accounts for only about 160 pounds. A 46-gallon fuel tank and low-profile competition radiator made the Torpedo a purpose-built machine, which Dubonnet piloted to sixth place in the 1924 race, later competing in the Coppa Florio where he finished fifth overall and first in class.

Nieuport, a French aviation company, built the body from tulip wood, its planks attached to an aluminum frame with thousands of brass rivets. 

Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s.

Following its short racing career, the car was modified for road use, eventually with new fenders to complement the torpedo body, along with copper trim embellishing the design. Recently in the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, Calif., this unique and irreplaceable masterpiece is expected to fetch as much as $12 million.

Michael Fux recently parted with some of his most prized supercars in an effort to pare down his collection. But old habits die hard.

The renowned car collector, known for acquiring dream machines with outlandish paint schemes, has just added a bespoke purple Hispano Suiza Carmen Boulogne to his technicolor fleet.
The attention-grabbing hypercar was presented to Fux at the exclusive Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance over the weekend. While the American entrepreneur already owns more than 160 flashy four-wheelers, this is rumored to be his first electric ride. It’s also the first Boulogne to hit US soil.

“We are very proud to deliver this unique version of the Hispano Suiza Carmen Boulogne to our first client in the United States, and doing so on the occasion of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance allows us to show the world, and especially the American market, what Hispano Suiza can achieve,” Hispano Suiza’s Chairman Miguel Suqué Mateu said in a statement.

The Boulogne was presented to Fux at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. 

Hispano Suiza

To recap, the Boulogne is the quicker, more powerful successor to the Spanish marque’s Carmen EV that was released in 2019. Unveiled in 2020, the zero-emissions road rocket is capable of churning out a staggering 1,114 hp via four electric engines mounted on the rear wheels. The automaker says just 24 examples of the Boulogne will be produced.
Months in the making, the hypercar was custom-built by the Hispano Suiza team in Barcelona to meet the collector’s particular proclivities. The carbon-fiber bodywork is finished in a unique purple shade, known as “Ocean Song Rose,” which was inspired by the Fux’s favorite flower of the same name. In fact, Fux even sent one such rose to the design department so they could accurately reproduce the hue.

The hypercar is good for a gutsy 1,114 hp. 

Hispano Suiza

The gleaming exterior contrasts with “Birkigt White” accents and a high-gloss black grille that sports the Hispano Suiza logo. Polished aluminum alloy wheels offer added pizzaz. The cabin, meanwhile, is covered with a matching “Birkigt White” leather and has the name of the model embroidered on the headrests.
Fux’s stacked garage houses an orange Rolls-Royce Cullinan and a pink McLaren 720S, among many other eye-popping models. EV or no, the purple hypercar should feel right at home in his garage.
Check out more photos below:

Hispano Suiza

Hispano Suiza

Hispano Suiza

Hispano Suiza

Hispano Suiza

Hispano Suiza

For aficionados of the automobile, gathering to see and talk cars with like-minded souls—whether in parking lots over coffee or inside storied museums and warehouses—offers a collective celebration that was put on hold during the pandemic.

But as vaccine distribution slowly loosens Covid-19’s fierce grip, one such escape returns. Beginning April 9, the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, Calif., will reopen to the public, allowing access to a dazzling array of French-made rolling sculpture brought together by collector Peter Mullin. It’s an assemblage that is both award-winning and historically significant.

The sprawling 47,000-square-foot facility houses scores of vehicles that hark back to a time when most cars were one-off works of art commissioned by royalty, industrialists and legendary racing drivers. Standout Mullin pieces include one of only three Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantics in existence, the one-of-a-kind 1938 Hispano-Suiza Dubonnet H6B “Xenia,” a 1937 Talbot-Lago T150-C SS Goutte d’Eau and one of only three Bugatti EB 110 Supersport “Le Mans” examples to be built.

The Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, Calif. 

Photo: Courtesy of the Mullin Automotive Museum.

“The Mullin Automotive Museum presents a captivating educational experience for car enthusiasts to learn more about French history and culture of the Art Deco era,” says founder and executive director Peter Mullin. “After several months of closure, we are thrilled to reopen our doors and continue sharing our passion for this genre in a safe and responsible manner.”

One of only three remaining examples of the Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic. 

Photo: Courtesy of the Mullin Automotive Museum.

The museum harbors not only classic cars but also an array of artifacts that bring to life the artistry of France’s belle epoque, a period that comprises the final decades of the 19th century to the start of World War I. For example, the museum’s half-dozen exhibits include “The Art of Bugatti,” which showcases furniture designed by Carlo Bugatti, father of Ettore Bugatti who founded the namesake automaker in 1909. To this day, the eponymous marque makes some of the world’s most expensive and powerful cars. On the more whimsical side is “Le Mans,” which recreates pit lane areas from the French endurance race as a way of spotlighting cars that ruled over the 24-hour motorsport contest.

A pristine 1937 Talbot-Lago T150-C SS Goutte d’Eau. 

Photo by Drew Phillips, courtesy of the Mullin Automotive Museum.

While most other collections limit what’s presented to gleaming showpieces, Mullin makes sure that his museum gives visitors a glimpse into how some cars are found before master restorers take them back to concours-quality condition.

To that end, don’t miss the “Schlumpf Reserve Collection,” an assortment of unrestored cars from a wealthy European textile family. It includes 65 vehicles, many of them from Bugatti, that were accumulated during years when the family’s business was actually failing. That eventually led an angry mob to burn down their facilities, damaging some of the cars.

A 1994 Bugatti EB 110 Supersport “Le Mans” on display. 

Photo by Drew Phillips, courtesy of the Mullin Automotive Museum.

An even more eye-opening—and heart-rending—exhibit, however, is “Lady of the Lake,” starring a completely rusted shell of a 1925 Bugatti Type 22 Brescia Roadster. Suffice to say that its ready-for-Hollywood story involves Grand Prix driver René Dreyfus, a card game gone bad, an abandonment deep below the surface of Italy’s Lake Maggiore and, decades later, a resurrection and sale that honors a boy who died from a violent attack.

The “Lady of the Lake,” a 1925 Bugatti Type 22 Brescia Roadster recovered from Italy’s Lake Maggiore. 

Photo: Courtesy of the Mullin Automotive Museum.

While museum officials are excited about reopening—new days and hours are Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.—they acknowledge that the pandemic is not yet in the rearview mirror. Temperature checks will be conducted at the door, masks are mandatory and hand-sanitizer stations stand guard.
In addition, capacity will be limited to 25 percent and attendees will choose between either a morning or afternoon visit so staff can clean between sessions. Tickets are $16 for adults and $14 for both seniors and students with ID. Active military members with ID and children under the age of two-years-old are admitted for free.