La Fabrica de Autom6viles La Hispano-Suiza was founded in 1904 by a group of Spanish businessmen, which took over the establishment of a Barcelona car constructor, a certain J. Castro. But why 'Suiza'? Because the designer of the Castro car, produced from 1901 to 1904, was none othher than a young Swiss engineer, Marc Birkigt.
In 1911, a French branch was established, at Levallois-Perret in the suburbs of Paris, to assemble the four-cylinder Spanish cars. The factory moved to Bois-Colombes in 1914. Until 1919, Hispano-Suiza was hardly known as a car manufacturer outside Spain, but from that year, the French factory produced a new model which was to become the most famous Hispano-Suiza of all, the B6. Also see:
Lost Marques - Hispano Suiza
