Barcelona, Spain 1899: Marc Birkigt, a young Swiss engineer, sets up shop in Barcelona, the industrial capital of Catalonia.


Marc Birkigt (1878-1953)

He develops an internal combustion engine for the company La Cuadra. In 1904, Birkigt and Spanish banker Damian Mateu establish their own company, with the two partners contributing, respectively, capital and patents.


1914 Hispano-Suiza Type 26 James Flood Sports Roadster

La Cuadra is renamed Hispano-Suiza, in honor of the nationalities of its two co-founders, or more officially "Sociedad Hispano-Suiza, fabrica de automoviles, systema Birkigt."

In the year 1911 Marc Birkigt sets up a Hispano-Suiza plant in Levallois, near Paris, to manufacture automobile chassis and engines.


Spad VII 1st World War

1914 Hispano-Suiza opens another plant near Paris, in Bois-Colombes, to assemble and sell luxury car models manufactured in Spain in the French market. This factory will support the war effort by producing engines for light planes.

2 years later the Series production of aircraft engines, especially for the SPAD VII flown by French ace Georges Guynemer starts. His squadron is known as La Cicogne ("The Stork"), and this emblem will soon be adopted by Hispano-Suiza in honor of the valiant pilots of the First World War.



At the end of the first world war, Hispano-Suiza enjoys a sterling reputation. It restarts civilian production, looking to develop more innovative new products. The company’s expertise will be applied to cars, planes, boats and trains. Hispano-Suiza introduces the elegant H6 32CV, nicknamed the "French Rolls Royce", at the first post-war automobile show, and decides to decorate it with the Stork emblem.


1938 Hispano-Suiza H6C Saoutchik Coupé

Hispano-Suiza becomes 1923 an independent company, and no longer a subsidiary of the original Spanish company.

Ten years later the unrivaled performance of Hispano-Suiza aircraft engines helps set 14 international records, including the West to East crossing of the North Atlantic by Coste and Bellonte.


Martin Baker Ejector seat

War breaks out, and all resources are dedicated to weapon manufacture. Hispano-Suiza supplies engines, propellers and guns for French fighters. Factories operate normally until occupation of the North zone. After the armistice, the Bois-Colombes plant is requisitioned. Some of the machines and tools are shipped to Tarbes, in southwest France. Bombing by the Allies will partly destroy the Bois-Colombes plant.



After the war Hispano-Suiza was primarily an aviation 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, using the original factories for power transmissions and accessory systems for jet engines.



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