Hispano-Suiza K6 History

By the early 1930s the J12's extraordinary price — already stratospheric — had become impossible for Depression-era buyers. Hispano-Suiza responded with the K6, launched at the 1934 Paris Auto Salon. Designed by Rodolphe Herrmann, it used a 5,184 cc straight-six with pushrod overhead valves and dual downdraft carburettors, producing 120 hp at launch and growing to 135 hp by 1937. The chassis shared dimensions with the shorter J12 wheelbase options — 134.6 or 146.5 inches — so the same elite coachbuilders could use familiar tooling.

The K6 was 'affordable' only by Hispano-Suiza standards: it was still an exclusive, coachbuilt grand tourer aimed at aristocratic buyers who found the J12 excessive. Exactly 202 examples were built from 1934 to 1937, after which the marque ended passenger-car production entirely. Today the K6 is overshadowed by the J12 in collector circles but represents the final chapter of the classic Hispano-Suiza road car.