1st Concours d'élégance Paleis Het Loo 1999

Hispano Suiza was a Spanish luxury car marque which had also a factory in France. This French branch became famous for building opulent, powerful and extremely expensive cars.
A fine example of that was the model H6(B). It appeared in 1919 and featured lots of innovations derived from aircraft engines, another of the company's specialties. The car had an excellent 6-cylinder in-line engine with a capacity of 6597 cc and an overhead camshaft. It produced about 100 hp, enough for a top speed close to 140 kph. To make it stop as well as it drove a servo operated four wheel braking system was fitted, quite a novelty in those days. This design was so good that it remained in production until 1934 without much changes.
The picture shows a 1921 Hispano Suiza H6B with "all weather convertible" bodywork by Saoutchik of France.

Operating in the same class as Hispano Suiza was Isotta Fraschini from Italy. Also a make well known for building big, powerful and expensive luxury cars of high quality.
Between 1919 and 1940 Isotta Fraschini concentrated on producing the Type 8, the only car in the production range of the company, next to building engines for a wide range of vehicles. This Type 8 was continuously further developed and could be had in a number of configurations. The factory only produced rolling chassis with engines; the bodywork had to be custom built.
Due to a number of racing victories in the US, Isotta Fraschini became rather popular in America. In the late 1920s the Ford Motor Company even tried to buy Isotta Fraschini, which ultimately was prevented by intervention of Fiat.
The Tipo 8A was a revision introduced in 1924 of engineer Giustino Cattaneo's masterpiece. It had an enlarged version of the world's first "mass" produced 8-cylinder engine with overhead valves, probably Isotta's main claim to fame. It now boosted 7372 cc instead of 5898 cc, an power went up from 95 hp to around 120 hp. Top speed is claimed to exceed 150 kph, and it was notorious for its heavy steering and dubious brakes.
The beautiful 1925 Tipo 8A on the picture has an elegant and sporty cabriolet style bodywork by coach builder Corsica.

Isotta Fraschini's Tipo 8AS was the sports version of the impressive Tipo 8A. It came on the market in 1926 and offered as much as 150 hp to the daring customer. Here you see it with really nice "Commodore roadster" bodywork by Castagna. It has a bit of an American look to it; not surprising when considering that the US was one of Isotta's main markets.
Isottas were considered equal to the likes of Rolls Royce and Mercedes, but in the 1930s the company's fortunes as a car manufacturer faded. Isotta Fraschini went bankrupt in 1933 as a result of the high investments in the development of aircraft engines, and was taken over by aircraft manufacturer Caproni. Cars continued to be built on a limited scale until the second World War. After that an attempt was made to restart car production in 1948 with the remarkable mid-engined Tipo 8C Monterosa, which unfortunately lead to nothing. The company remained in business as an engine manufacturer for boats and trains.

A lot more nimble and affordable than Hispano Suizas and Isotta Fraschinis was Swallow Sidecar's SS1 model. It was introduced in 1931 and the first complete car that left the Swallow Sidecar factory in Blackpool, England. Before that the company concentrated on building motorcycle sidecars and making custom bodywork for Austin Sevens and Morris Cowleys etcetera.
Nowadays we know the marque as Jaguar, but that name started out as a model name in 1936 for the SS 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 litre cars. Until then the cars were simply known as "SS", a designation now completely blemished by history.
The SS1 16 HP model was at first only available as a saloon car. For model year 1934 also a drophead coupé and sports tourer version were introduced. Here you see one of the first produced SS1 cars with tourer bodywork.
In the 1934 SS1 16 HP operated a 2143 cc 6-cylinder side valve engine built by the Standard Motor Company. It was good for 53 break hp @ 3600 rpm (16 HP stood for the amount of taxed horsepower, which was calculated by a special formula that had little to do with the real amount of power of the vehicle's engine) and a top speed of 114 kph.
Currently these cars, especially in open top form, are rare and extremely valuable.

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