A 1933 Ispano Suiza J12 will bring V12 power to Jay Leno's garage

Hispano Suiza was one of the greatest prewar automakers, and this 1933 J12 embodies why. Now part of the Nethercutt Collection in California, it was recently featured on "Jay Leno's Garage," where Jay Leno and Cameron Richards, vice president of the Nethercutt Collection, discussed what made the car so special.

The name Hispano-Suiza means "Spanish-Swiss" in Spanish and represents the nationality of the company's two founders. Based in Spain, Hispano-Suiza began making cars in the early 20th century, but came into the limelight for its aero engines that powered World War I fighter planes. Jay actually has in his collection a 1915 Ispano-Suiza powered by that engine.

After the war, Ispano-Suiza returned to car manufacturing and developed a V-12 engine specifically for automobiles: a 250 hp, 9.4-liter V-12 engine housed under the long louvered hood of the J12 was quite sophisticated for its time. It had two spark plugs per cylinder, dual water pumps, and dual magnetos to ensure an adequate electrical supply without a distributor; it drove the rear wheels via a three-speed manual transmission; and it was equipped with a three-speed manual transmission with a three-speed manual gearbox.

Hydraulic brakes had been introduced by this time in Duesenberg, but J12 stuck to mechanical brakes with vacuum-actuated servos. Despite the more primitive technology, Jay says it feels like a modern power brake. Customers probably felt more secure with these brakes than with the new hydraulic brakes of the day.

Although Hispano Suiza was based in Spain, the car was built in France, where the company had opened a satellite factory. Sold locally was Suzanne Deutsch de la Moult, a wealthy Shell Oil heiress and one of France's first female pilots. of the 120 J12s built, this was one of nine coachworked by Henry Binder, with a 146-inch Richards notes that it is the only one with a "short" wheelbase chassis of 146 inches.

Ispano-Suiza gradually discontinued its automotive division to focus on its aviation business, which was later acquired by French aviation conglomerate Snecma (now part of the Safran Group). The dormant brand was revived in 2019 with the electric supercar Carmen. The following year, Ispano-Suiza introduced the track-focused Boulogne variant, which boasted 1,100 hp and a 0-62 mph time of less than 2.6 seconds. Ispano-Suiza will produce 14 Carmen and 5 Boulogne cars, with prices starting at about $1.6 million.

Check out the full video to see Jay drive the car and learn more about one of the greatest luxury brands in the early days of the automobile.