1936 Hispano Suiza J12 Fernandez & Darrin Berline

1936 Hispano Suiza J12 Fernandez & Darrin Berline

The Hispano-Suiza J12 is a luxury automobile that was made by Hispano-Suiza from 1931 to 1938. It was the largest and most expensive car ever built by Hispano-Suiza. It replaced the Hispano-Suiza H6.

The J12 was powered by a 60° V12 engine with pushrod-operated overhead valves and a seven-bearing crankshaft. The engine initially displaced 9.4 L (574 cu in) with bore and stroke both being 100 mm (3.9 in) and with a compression ratio of 5.0:1, delivered 220 hp at 3000 rpm.Two cars were fitted with long-stroke engines displacing 11.3 L (690 cu in) and delivering 250 hp, and several J12s were later upgraded to the larger engine. Each engine block was machined from a single 700 lb (318 kg) billet. To demonstrate the high quality engineering and reliability of the J12, one car was driven from Paris to Nice and back without needing oil or water. The J12 was only available as a chassis, buyers having to arrange with outside coachbuilders to build a body.

Hispano-Suiza suspended automobile production in 1938 to concentrate on the manufacture of aircraft engines.

The Barcelona based company was responsible for the building the chassis and drivetrain, seperate coachbuilders were responsible for the bodies. Today only 44 J12s are known to exist.

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