A Spanish Hispano-Suiza

1933 Hispano-Suiza T56 Bis Berline by Fiol

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Cernobbio, Italy | May 25, 2019

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Hispano-Suiza was founded in Barcelona by a Spaniard and a Swiss engineer he met in Paris. In 1911, the company opened a factory near Paris, and most of the company’s well-known and lusted-after cars were produced by the French arm of the company, which became a semi-autonomous company in its own right after 1923.

What we have here is a rare example of what is probably the grandest car produced by the Spanish arm, the 1928 through 1936 T56. It is essentially the same chassis as the H6C that was built in Paris, but these were marketed under the T56 name and built in Spain.

It is powered by an 8.0-liter straight-six that developed somewhere in the neighborhood of 190 horsepower. This, a T56 Bis, is one of about 200 produced, a smaller number than the H6C. It was bodied by Fiol in Barcelona and recently restored. You can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Not sold.