When enthusiasts consider the nationality of the world’s finest early automobiles, most minds wander to places like America that produced the Packard and Duesenberg, or maybe Great Britain with their Rolls-Royce and Bentley but many don’t think of Spain or Switzerland.
Though not as well-known as some of the early automotive pioneers like Karl Benz, Henry Ford and Ferdinand Porsche, Marc Birkigt deserves recognition. Born in Geneva and educated in Switzerland the talented design engineer landed at a firm in Barcelona working on batteries and electric locomotives, but the King of Spain, a car enthusiast, wanted to get in on the burgeoning world of motor cars and in 1904, he supplied Spanish financial backing which, combined with Birkigt’s Swiss engineering, spawned the Hispano-Suiza, a name that embodied the Spanish-Swiss collaboration.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.