Founded in 1904, Hispano-Suiza can trace its origins to Barcelona in 1898, when Emilio de la Cuadra opened an electric car factory. The company’s head engineer, Marc Birkigt, was responsible for all great Hispano-Suiza designs, beginning with one- and two-cylinder powered cars at the turn of the century. When Birkigt and his business partner acquired the company in 1904, it was given the name Hispano-Suiza, which translates to Spanish-Swiss, owing to Birkigt’s involvement and Swiss nationality. He had the unbridled support of the King of Spain, Alfonso XIII, who was also a devoted Hispano-Suiza owner. When King Alfonso required something with more exhilarating performance than the company’s earliest offerings for his already impressive stables, Birkigt developed a long-stroke, T-head, four-cylinder engine to be used in voiturette racing.

A racing Hispano-Suiza equipped with Birkigt’s new four-cylinder led the company to victory in the 1910 Coupe de l’Auto race in Boulogne, France, with Frenchman Paul Zuccarelli at the wheel. Public demand for this racing variant arose immediately. King Alfonso was honored when Hispano-Suiza named this new model after him and called it Alfonso XIII. These customer models were capable of 75 mph in stock form and could be tuned to 90 mph in racing conditions. The Alfonso XIII was one of Europe’s first purpose-built sports cars.

While the earliest provenance of this Hispano-Suiza is unknown, it was purchased as a bare frame in the 1960s by Francisco de la Rocha, a former Hispano-Suiza dealer and noted collector of the marque from the province of Galicia, Spain.

After his death in 1996, Mr. de la Rocha’s family sold his collection of almost 40 Hispano-Suiza cars. This chassis, still without coachwork, was purchased as part of a large collection of chassis and spare parts by Patricio Chadwick. Collector Jorge Fernandez purchased it from Chadwick in 2001 and commissioned its restoration at Chadwick’s Barcelona shop. Marque historian Emilio Polo was tasked with researching correct details which would give the car the appearance of an Alfonso XIII racing voiturette. Great effort was applied to carry out the project, including sourcing a Hispano-Suiza type 15 four-cylinder engine and fabricating voiturette-style coachwork. Its faux-patinated finish is evocative of the Alfonso XIII racing example owned by Albert Roulinat of Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, a gentleman driver in Spain.

In 2004, the Mullin collection acquired this Hispano-Suiza via French classic car specialist Charles Bronson and subsequently displayed it at the Mullin Automotive Museum. Widely recognized as one of the first true sports cars in Europe, the Alfonso XIII helped establish Hispano-Suiza as a manufacturer of fine competition and luxury automobiles. This voiturette-style Hispano-Suiza, so evocative of Birkigt’s successful early cars, would make a compelling addition to any collection or Edwardian-era car tour.