The name Hispano-Suiza translates from French to “Spanish-Swiss,” which is appropriate, as this superb French automobile was born from the genius of Swiss engineer Marc Birkigt and was originally produced in Barcelona, Spain. However, it would be the Hispano-Suizas built in France that became most legendary. In particular, the H6B sported an aircraft-derived six-cylinder engine, employing machined steel cylinders with integral combustion chambers in a cast aluminum block, with two valves per cylinder driven by a single-overhead camshaft and a pressure-lubricated crankshaft turning on seven main bearings. The engine produced 135 horsepower with truly impressive torque and smoothness, matched by a chassis with advanced servo-assisted four-wheel brakes and custom coachwork offered by the world’s finest craftsmen.

The H6B offered here was custom-bodied by the renowned Hooper & Company of London, to a design not dissimilar from their open tourers on Rolls-Royce chassis of the era. Believed to have been first delivered in Kenya, it remained in that country for decades, with its history having been traced back to 1954, when it was sold by a farmer at Njoro to one Gordon Farrar. The Farrar family used the Hispano as a regular automobile until around 1959 or 1960, after which it was sold to Mary Wright, who is believed to have later sold the car to one J.D. Sutherland. In 1970 the car was acquired from Sutherland via Ed Jurist’s Vintage Car Store of Nyack, New York by Jurist’s contemporary, Tom Barrett. In 1975 it was purchased by David Uihlein, the well-known collector and historian of significant early American racing cars, known in particular for his expertise on Mercer. It remained in the Uihlein collection until early 2013, when it was sold by its longtime owner’s estate to longtime Hispanophile Terence E. Adderley.

Presented in an older restoration with abundant charm, the Hispano shows evidence of its enthusiast ownerships, including slightly smaller wheels, fit in the 1960s to accommodate the tires then available, and exhaust which was fabricated in the Uihlein ownership. Displayed in recent years in the Adderley Collection, it would be a wonderful basis for sorting, after which it could be employed as an excellent performer in Classic Car Club of America CARavans and similar events, as well as Hispano-Suiza Society rallies on both sides of the Atlantic. Alternatively its striking design would make it a surefire concours competitor following a fresh restoration—a choice of opportunities as tempting as the Hispano-Suiza itself.