Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Hispano Suiza shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Hispano Suiza offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Hispano Suiza at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Hispano Suiza? Wrong! If the Hispano Suiza is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Hispano Suiza then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Hispano Suiza? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Hispano Suiza and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Hispano Suiza wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Hispano Suiza then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Hispano Suiza site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Hispano Suiza, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Hispano Suiza, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
Hispano-Suiza was an originally
Spain and then Spanish-
France automotive and engineering firm (actually, from 1923 on, two different companies) best known for their cars, engines (including world famous aviation engines) and weapons designs in the pre-
World War II period. Today they are part of the French
SAFRAN, while the Spanish company in 1946 sold all their automotive assets to Enasa, the maker of
Pegaso trucks and sport cars.
History
Early Years
In 1898, a
Spain artillery captain, Emilio de la Cuadra, started with electric automobile production in
Barcelona under the name of
La Cuadra. In
Paris, De la Cuadra met the talented
Switzerland engineer Marc Birkigt (lived 1878 -1953) and hired him to work for the company in Spain. La Cuadra built their first gas powered engines from Birkigt designs. At some point in 1902, the ownership changed hands to J. Castro and became
Fábrica Hispano-Suiza de Automóviles (
Spanish-Swiss Car Factory) but this company also went
bankrupt in December 1903.
Yet another reformation took place in 1904, creating
La Hispano-Suiza Fábrica de Automóviles also under Castro' s direction. Four new engines were introduced in the next year and a half. A 3.8 liter and a 7.4 liter four cylinder engines were produced as well as a pair of big six cylinder powerplants. This version of the company managed to avoid bankruptcy and in Spain remained in operation, as a car, truck and aviation engine producer, with is main plant located in Barcelona, until 1946. They mass-produced cars, trucks and buses and a number of hand-built racing and luxury cars, some of which ended up being owned by King
Alfonso XIII of Spain.
However by this point in the early years of the century, France was proving to be a much larger market for their luxury cars than Spain. In
1911 a new factory, known as
Hispano France, was set up in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret. In
1914, they moved to larger factories at Bois-Colombes and took the name
Hispano-Suiza.
World War I
With the start of
World War I, the company turned to the creation of aircraft engines under the direction of
Marc Birkigt. His solution to building aero engines was unique. Instead of machining separate steel cylinders and then bolting them to a crankcase, he used cast aluminum blocks into which thin steel liners were screwed. This made the engine overall much stiffer, easier to build and lighter. His design was a V-8 and was the first of what are today known as "cast block" engines and also sported overhead cams, propeller reduction gearing and a host of other features that didn' t appear on most other engines until the late 1920' s. Another major design effort was the use of a hollow propeller shaft to allow a gun to be fired through the propeller spinner, thereby avoiding the need for a synchronizer gear. This design would be a feature of all future Hispano-Suiza military engines.
1918-1936
After World War I, they returned to automobile engine design and, in 1919, introduced the
Hispano-Suiza H6, earning them a reputation similar to that of Rolls-Royce Limited in England. The H6 featured an inline 6 cylinder
overhead camshaft engine based on the features of the V8 aluminium WW1 aero engine and a body by Hibbard & Darrin.Georgano, G. N.
Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886-1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985) Howard Darrin would later design the 1942 Packard
Packard 180, as driven by Banacek. Through the 1920s and into the 1930s, they built a series of luxury cars of increasing refinement. In fact the 1930s V-12 car engine reverted to pushrod valve actuation to achieve even less engine noise.
In 1923, the French arm of Hispano-Suiza was incorporated as the
Societé Française Hispano-Suiza, the Spanish parent company subscribing for 71% of the share capital. From then on, the French company gained increased degrees of financial independence, while the technical links were always kept strong.
The mascot statuette atop the radiator used by this firm after WWI was the stork of the province of Alsace, taken from the squadron emblem painted on the side of the aircraft of the renowned WWI French ace (and Hispano-Suiza customer) Georges Guynemer, which was powered by an Hispano-Suiza engine. At the time, this was an emblem of revanchism.
In fiction at this period, the Emsworth family in the P.G. Wodehouse "Blandings Castle" stories drove or rather were driven in an Hispano -Suiza (H6), rather than, say, a Rolls-Royce.
World War II
In 1936 with
World War II clearly looming, Hispano-Suiza was told to stop production of cars and turn solely to aircraft engines once again. At the time they had just introduced a new series of water-cooled V-12 engines and the Hispano-Suiza 12Y was in huge demand for practically every French aircraft. However Hispano was never able to deliver enough of these engines and many French fighters sat on the ground, complete but for the engine.Another development of the era was a series of 20 mm autocannon, first the
Hispano-Suiza HS.9 and then the more famous
Hispano-Suiza HS.404. The 404 was licensed for production in England and equipped almost all Royal Air Force fighter aircraft during the war. Production was also set up in the US but these versions never matured even though the USAAC and
US Navy both wanted to use it in place of their existing .50 weapons.
1950s-Today
After the Second World War, Hispano-Suiza was primarily an aerospace firm. Between 1945 and 1955, they built the
Rolls-Royce Nene under license, began designing landing gear in 1950 and
Martin-Baker ejection seats in 1955. Their attention turned increasingly to turbine manufacturing and, in 1968, they became a division of
SNECMA. In 1999, they moved their turbine operations to a new factory in Bezons, outside of Paris, using the original factories for power transmissions and accessory systems for jet engines. In 2005, SNECMA merged with SAGEM to form SAFRAN.
See also
External links
- French Hispano-Suiza webpage
- Spanish Hispano-Suiza webpage
- Gallery of Hispano-Suiza cars
- Hispano-Suiza truck&bus history (in Spanish)
Hispano-Suiza was an originally Spain and then Spanish-
France automotive and engineering firm (actually, from 1923 on, two different companies) best known for their cars, engines (including world famous aviation engines) and weapons designs in the pre-World War II period. Today they are part of the French
SAFRAN, while the Spanish company in 1946 sold all their automotive assets to Enasa, the maker of
Pegaso trucks and sport cars.
History
Early Years
In 1898, a Spain artillery captain, Emilio de la Cuadra, started with electric automobile production in Barcelona under the name of
La Cuadra. In Paris, De la Cuadra met the talented Switzerland engineer
Marc Birkigt (lived 1878 -1953) and hired him to work for the company in Spain. La Cuadra built their first gas powered engines from Birkigt designs. At some point in 1902, the ownership changed hands to J. Castro and became
Fábrica Hispano-Suiza de Automóviles (
Spanish-Swiss Car Factory) but this company also went
bankrupt in December 1903.
Yet another reformation took place in 1904, creating
La Hispano-Suiza Fábrica de Automóviles also under Castro' s direction. Four new engines were introduced in the next year and a half. A 3.8 liter and a 7.4 liter four cylinder engines were produced as well as a pair of big six cylinder powerplants. This version of the company managed to avoid bankruptcy and in Spain remained in operation, as a car, truck and aviation engine producer, with is main plant located in Barcelona, until 1946. They mass-produced cars, trucks and buses and a number of hand-built racing and luxury cars, some of which ended up being owned by King Alfonso XIII of Spain.
However by this point in the early years of the century, France was proving to be a much larger market for their luxury cars than Spain. In
1911 a new factory, known as
Hispano France, was set up in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret. In
1914, they moved to larger factories at
Bois-Colombes and took the name
Hispano-Suiza.
World War I
With the start of World War I, the company turned to the creation of
aircraft engines under the direction of
Marc Birkigt. His solution to building aero engines was unique. Instead of machining separate steel cylinders and then bolting them to a crankcase, he used cast aluminum blocks into which thin steel liners were screwed. This made the engine overall much stiffer, easier to build and lighter. His design was a V-8 and was the first of what are today known as "cast block" engines and also sported overhead cams, propeller reduction gearing and a host of other features that didn' t appear on most other engines until the late 1920' s. Another major design effort was the use of a hollow propeller shaft to allow a gun to be fired through the propeller spinner, thereby avoiding the need for a
synchronizer gear. This design would be a feature of all future Hispano-Suiza military engines.
1918-1936
After World War I, they returned to automobile engine design and, in 1919, introduced the
Hispano-Suiza H6, earning them a reputation similar to that of
Rolls-Royce Limited in England. The H6 featured an inline 6 cylinder
overhead camshaft engine based on the features of the V8 aluminium WW1 aero engine and a body by
Hibbard & Darrin.Georgano, G. N.
Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886-1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985) Howard Darrin would later design the 1942 Packard Packard 180, as driven by
Banacek. Through the 1920s and into the 1930s, they built a series of luxury cars of increasing refinement. In fact the 1930s V-12 car engine reverted to pushrod valve actuation to achieve even less engine noise.
In 1923, the French arm of Hispano-Suiza was incorporated as the
Societé Française Hispano-Suiza, the Spanish parent company subscribing for 71% of the share capital. From then on, the French company gained increased degrees of financial independence, while the technical links were always kept strong.
The mascot statuette atop the radiator used by this firm after WWI was the
stork of the province of
Alsace, taken from the squadron emblem painted on the side of the aircraft of the renowned WWI French ace (and Hispano-Suiza customer) Georges Guynemer, which was powered by an Hispano-Suiza engine. At the time, this was an emblem of revanchism.
In fiction at this period, the Emsworth family in the P.G. Wodehouse "Blandings Castle" stories drove or rather were driven in an Hispano -Suiza (H6), rather than, say, a Rolls-Royce.
World War II
In 1936 with World War II clearly looming, Hispano-Suiza was told to stop production of cars and turn solely to aircraft engines once again. At the time they had just introduced a new series of water-cooled
V-12 engines and the
Hispano-Suiza 12Y was in huge demand for practically every French aircraft. However Hispano was never able to deliver enough of these engines and many French fighters sat on the ground, complete but for the engine.Another development of the era was a series of 20 mm autocannon, first the
Hispano-Suiza HS.9 and then the more famous
Hispano-Suiza HS.404. The 404 was licensed for production in England and equipped almost all
Royal Air Force fighter aircraft during the war. Production was also set up in the US but these versions never matured even though the
USAAC and US Navy both wanted to use it in place of their existing .50 weapons.
1950s-Today
After the Second World War, Hispano-Suiza was primarily an aerospace firm. Between 1945 and 1955, they built the
Rolls-Royce Nene under license, began designing landing gear in 1950 and Martin-Baker ejection seats in 1955. Their attention turned increasingly to turbine manufacturing and, in 1968, they became a division of SNECMA. In 1999, they moved their turbine operations to a new factory in Bezons, outside of Paris, using the original factories for power transmissions and accessory systems for jet engines. In 2005, SNECMA merged with SAGEM to form SAFRAN.
See also
External links
- French Hispano-Suiza webpage
- Spanish Hispano-Suiza webpage
- Gallery of Hispano-Suiza cars
- Hispano-Suiza truck&bus history (in Spanish)
Hispano-Suiza - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hispano-Suiza was an originally Spanish and then Spanish-French automotive and engineering firm (actually, from 1923 on, two different companies) best known for their cars, engines ...
Hispano-Suiza HS.404 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
edit] Development. It was based on the earlier Swiss Oerlikon FF S weapons, which Hispano-Suiza manufactured under license in France as HS.7 and HS.9.
Hispano-Suiza Canada Inc. Website
Hispano-Suiza Canada Inc is a subsidary of the French corporation Hispano-Suiza. Hispano-Suiza Canada has been working with the world’s major aircraft manufactures for several ...
Hispano-Suiza Canada Website
Careers. Hispano-Suiza Canada (HSC) is a world leader in research, development, certification, production and support of electronic embedded controls and monitoring for various ...
Hispano Suiza Model Cars
Many Hispano Suiza Model Cars often available with a free fitted personalised number plate of your choice. All in stock at Model Marque, Norwich, UK. Available from ouronline model ...
Hispano-Suiza, 1904-1936
Aviso Legal
Hispano-suiza sa
Hispano-Suiza, a SAFRAN Group company, is a world leader in the design and production of power transmissions, electronic control units and control systems for commercial and ...
Aéro-Club Hispano-Suiza - Page d'accueil
Basé à Pontoise-Cormeilles en Vexins. Activités vol moteur, vol de nuit et aux instruments. Possède des avions pas variable et train rentrant. Historique. Photos.
Category:Hispano-Suiza vehicles - Wikimedia Commons
Media in category "Hispano-Suiza vehicles" The following 18 files are in this category, out of 18 total.
Cámara Oficial de Comercio Hispano Suiza
Diseño y desarrollo web: www.emred.com
