Hispano Suiza returns (again) (twice)

For fans of byzantine, long-running dramas involving old-established continental family names, fabulous 1930s beauties, mystery billionaires and bitter rivalries, this one’s for you. Hold on tight.

Hispano Suiza, the legendary Spanish marque known for its brilliant engineering and, in its 1930s heyday, for its glamorously swooping coachwork, is returning to the Geneva motor show. Except there are actually two separate companies, both laying claim to the name, with two different cars. One (a Spanish family firm) will be exhibiting in Geneva. The other (a Swiss/Austrian outfit) have just launched their car, but won’t actually have it at the show. Though they’ll probably be there in person. Confused? You will be.

One HP is headed by veteran designer Erwin Leo Himmel, aided by ex-Mercedes man Olivier Boulay, and has just released a series of photographs of their new car, the Maguari HS1 GTC – you can see the full set in the gallery at right. They last exhibited in 2010 with an ambitiously-priced Audi-based supercar, but nothing was heard since. Now, though, they clearly have some new funding and are back in the fray. The name, by the way, relates to the marque’s stork emblem, which peeks out of their car’s front spoiler in a slightly pedestrian-menacing way.

Himmel is an interesting designer, who penned the Audi Quattro Spyder in 1991, a car which was influential and much admired, though overshadowed at its launch by the flashier Avus concept. He went on to launch VW’s European Design Centre in Spain, then established Fuore Design which built concepts based on Subarus and Jaguars, among others, in the early 2000s. Himmel’s new company is called Hispano Suiza Automobilmanufaktur AG.

The other Hispano Suiza, based in Barcelona, is owned by the Mateu family, whose ancestor Damián founded the company in 1904 along with genius engineer Mark Birkigt. These days they make their living from luxury leisure conglomerate The Peralada Group, but the company exhibited several concepts at Geneva in the very early 2000s though have been a bit quiet since.

Now, though, they have teamed up with Spanish engineering R&D firm QEV Technologies, whose background is in Formula E racing, to source an electric powertrain for the new car. Interestingly, QEV is the technology arm of Mahindra Formula-E Racing, plus the European R&D facility for Chinese firm BAIC.

This Hispano Suiza has so far only released some enigmatic teasers showing a carbon fibre monocoque and a rather vague outline of the car, rather sweetly named ‘Carmen’ after the current President’s mother, but they promise to have something to wheel on to the show floor in Geneva.

The Spaniards have, however, dropped some strong hints about styling by referencing the 1938 Dubonnet Xenia, a simply gorgeous example of late ’30s coachbuilding and swoopy streamlined design. You can see more of that in the gallery at right.

Meanwhile, back to the interesting bit – the impending row. The other Hispano Suiza (registered in Switzerland, though Himmel is Austrian. Do keep up) has been rather sniffy about their namesakes. “I’m quite surprised that they are advertising the car under our brand name,” complained Himmel in a long statement on their press release. “I got the European rights for Hispano Suiza back in 2010. Meanwhile I also own the rights in our global key markets. Miguel Suqué Mateu, the great-grandson of Birkigt’s finance partner Damian Mateu, promotes the car displayed in Geneva. But until [recently] they had no or little interest in the automotive industry at all.”

Ouch. The Mateu family hit back with this: “Since it was founded, four generations of the Suqué Mateu family have preserved the family brand, injecting impetus and dynamism to maintain the significant heritage. On taking control of the company, Miguel Mateu – the son of the founder – continued the production of prestigious, top-of-the-range cars.”

This one will probably run for some time, and we’re certainly not going to get caught in between two organisations that can no doubt afford some very expensive lawyers. But we’ll be talking to both companies in Geneva and hopefully they’ll both find some way to put aside their squabbles and actually sell some cars.

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