Hispano-Suiza Alfonso XIII History

The Hispano-Suiza Type 15T was born from a voiturette racer that won France's prestigious Coupe de l'Auto in 1910. Engineer Marc Birkigt had designed a long-stroke four-cylinder engine for the rapidly growing voiturette racing class, and the road-going version was a revelation: a lightweight, high-performance two-seater built purely to go fast, at a time when most 'sporting' cars were simply big touring cars stripped of their coachwork.

In 1912, Queen Ena of Spain presented one to her husband King Alfonso XIII as a birthday gift, and the delighted king — whose personal fleet already ran to more than 30 Hispano-Suizas — gave the car his name. The 15T's four-cylinder engine displaced 3,620 cc and produced around 64 hp; by 1911 the bore had been enlarged and a four-bearing crankshaft added, and by 1913 a four-speed gearbox was adopted. An estimated 500 examples were built before production ended in 1914, leaving a legacy so influential that motoring historians consistently call the Alfonso XIII the world's first true sports car.