TG
@TG57Roadmaster
YO
Reply to TG57Roadmaster…
Reply Replies (42)
This image appears on the same page with the Prince of Monaco’s H6C De Villars Torpedo, above. Mlle. Deutsch De La Meurthe won the 940-kilometer Women’s Paris-Cannes Rally of 1930 in this H6C Torpedo.
Both images can be found in Emilio Polo’s second Hispano-Suiza volume, the SAH Cugnot Award-winning, El Vuelo De Las Cigüeñas, (The Flight Of The Storks, 1999).
Besides writing the 3 Hispano-Suiza volumes, Emilio Polo was a prolific writer of automotive history, with articles that appeared in many Spanish auto magazines and was the author of other car books. A frequent vintage rally and concours participant, he restored several of the old cars in his collection and was very well known in the hobby in Europe and beyond.
After Sr. Polo's passing, a friend bought his rather large archive last year and it now resides in Limassol, Cyprus. It's a fascinating collection of bound volumes of early auto magazines, automotive guides, auto and topical magazines, reference books and more - one man's decades-long acquisitions of material that touches on all aspects of motive transport, mostly in Spanish and French. Stay tuned...
Emilio Polo in his Madrid office, around the time of the publication of his first Hispano-Suiza book, Los Orígenes De Una Leyenda. (The Origins Of A Legend, 1994).
TG
Because access to the collection is extremely limited by the Atwell family, I am curious if the Hisso owned by the Texas family is still in the Texas Hill Country (specifically Fredericksburg / Kerrville. I did get a tour many years ago with a club group to see the car.
Also thinking the car listings in the CCCA might be a good place to 'mine' to see if some folks would like to forum here.
I'm not an owner or knowledgeable of H-S, just a Texan who happened across your post! Good luck.
One in the National Auto Museum in Reno.
Craig
Jun 25, 2022We should have of repository for Hispano-Suiza on the Forum. I’ll get the ball rolling with this query…
The Prince of Monaco’s H6C Grand Touring Torpedo by De Villars won first prize in Class A at the XXII Monte Carlo Concours d’Elegance in 1930. Emilio Polo’s Volume 2 indicates the Prince ordered two chassis within two months of each other: (12/29) chassis # 12248, motor # 302192; and (1/30) chassis # 12266, motor # 302208.Do we know if the De Villars Torpedo survived?
The image was found in this 1930 issue of La Hispano Suiza Revista, from the Emilio Polo Archive, Limassol Cyprus.
TG
Seems as if the good Prince of Monaco was influenced by recent Harley Earl-lead styling...
I think I saw that this was coming to auction at Pebble this summer?
Maybe one of the top 50 most iconic cars of all time?
Jun 26, 2022One in the National Auto Museum in Reno.
Craig
I saw this at Amelia a couple years ago. It is fantastically cool.
Obviously the colors aren’t helping it either…
Jun 26, 2022I think I saw that this was coming to auction at Pebble this summer?
Maybe one of the top 50 most iconic cars of all time?
Yes, with an auction estimate of $8-10M. Last year in a phone call they were asking much more, pie in the sky money. Saw it at Hershey in ‘89 - amazing!
Jun 26, 2022Seems as if the good Prince of Monaco was influenced by recent Harley Earl-lead styling...
My quest now is to find an actual photo of the car. The rendering certainly got around…
TG
Jun 26, 2022Yes, with an auction estimate of $8-10M. Last year in a phone call they were asking much more, pie in the sky money. Saw it at Hershey in ‘89 - amazing!
I could see that car bringing crazy money.
Jun 26, 2022I could see that car bringing crazy money.
I think you can count the collections/collectors on one hand who will end up with it. I have two in particular in mind. I can’t believe it was 1989 when I saw it at Hershey. When was it last at Pebble?
Another gem from the Emilio Polo Archive, an H6C Cabriolet de Ville from a 1930 issue of La Hispano Suiza Revista.
Paris - IX Automobile Elegance Contest in the Parc des Princes, June 1930. Here is the splendid Hispano-Suiza 46 CV car, bodywork R. Duvivier, which after having obtained the first prize in the “cabriolets and landaulets” category, was awarded the Grand Prix for the “Transformables” series.
TG
Two different Hispano-Suiza coachbuilt “Transformable” ads…
From the July 1922 issue of Englebert Magazine, a Belgian tire and rubber products company magazine, published in Liège.
From the December 1925 issue of Omnia, a popular French automotive and lifestyle magazine.
We have just begun to mine the Emilio Polo Archive, and I must say it’s like being a kid in a candy store.
TG
Walt, it’s so good the hear that you know of and have Omnia, L’Illustration and others (I would expect no less!), and I’ve just scratched the surface of Polo’s holdings. I’ll go back to Limassol in the fall and dive deeper into his archive, which eventually will be available for researchers once it’s organized. He collected and wrote much as you do, and I found many obscure publications covering salons and shows all over Europe. We’ll talk more about it soon.
La Vanguardia was a large tabloid newspaper that was short on pages but long on auto coverage - I’m sure you’ll enjoy these pages. Not the best paper quality, but quite legible and informative.
Look forward to chatting soon!
TG
It’s a little known fact. If the Hispano factory didn’t approve of your chauffeur, you would not get a warranty. They did offer to supply every car sold with a factory trained “man” at your expense to look after the car. Also, on special order bodies, you could rent one for your chassis while yours was being built. As long as you kept it insured, and the factory dealership in New York did all the work.
Both are Pinnafarina Coupe de Ville.
I saw the car when Tom Perkins owned it. J12.
Jun 27, 2022Both are Pinnafarina Coupe de Ville.
That car could have Pebble Beach winner circle potential.