Hispano Suiza Cars is back after more than 70 years and it will bring its latest creation to the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. The Carmen has been described as the "next-generation electric hyperlux grand tourer” and was teased with a few pictures of its silhouette. This electric wunderkind will wear the interiors of a uber-luxurious car and pack the engine of a hypercar. For starters, it's offered with a thousand ponies under the hood!

This Company Is Actually Older Than Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, and Bugatti

Before we start talking about the car, let's get one thing out of the way.

Hispano Suiza Cars is part of a Spanish conglomerate called Grup Peralada that is primarily into the food and leisure business, much of which is explained below. The Carmen is this company's brain-child. The other company is called the Hispano Suiza Automobilmanufaktur AG, which recently launched the Maguari HS1 GTC. Interestingly, both these companies will be present at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show!

Although a lot of people are unfamiliar with this brand, let me brief you a little bit about it. The Hispano Suiza entered the automotive fray back in 1900. It was known to be one of the most luxurious marques in its time, giving stiff competition to Bugatti and Rolls-Royce. It created classics like the 1912 Alfonso XIII and the 1934 H6B Million-Guiet Dual-Cowl Phæton that were known to be the finest cars in the early 20th century. The company's fate tumbled and it ceased its operations in 1946. Now, 73 years after it went out of business, the Hispano Suiza brand is rising from the ashes to electrify the industry with its latest hyper-lux car christened the 'Carmen'.

The Reincarnated Company's First Car Is Offered With Over a Thousand Horses!

The Hispano Suiza Carmen will feature dual electric motors, one on each of the rear wheel, to produce a mammoth 1,005 horses. It can zip to 62 miles per hour from a standstill in less than three seconds before hitting its electronically limited top speed of 155 mph. The Carmen's electric powertrain incorporates a 503-horsepower permanent-magnet synchronous motor on each rear wheel arranged with a torque vectoring system. It is powered by an 80-kWh lithium-ion polymer battery pack placed in a T-shape in the center of the car and behind the seats. This way, the Carmen will be less prone to structural vibration and will increase stability at high speeds. The powetrain and battery are liquid-cooled by three radiators at the front of the car. The Carmen can be driven for 249 miles on a full charge.

Hispano Suiza Cars says that the two-seater will park itself in the 'hyperlux' segment. This combines the performance of a hypercar and luxury of, say, a Bentley. The newly-incepted automaker has already showcased the carbon fiber monocoque of the Carmen, and because of this, the car has managed to weigh just 3,726 pounds in total. This is including the 80-kWh lithium-ion battery pack that is placed in a carbon fiber battery housing. The company says that the housing has been made in such a way that it enables the possibility of upgrading the battery pack.

The Carmen boasts one of the most intense carbon-fiber bodies available on the market today. It weighs just 430 pounds and has a stiffness-to-mass ratio of 189 pound-feet per kilogram! Even the body panels and seats are made from the lightweight material. The Carmen has been designed by QEV Technologies, a Barcelona-based company that also manages the Mahindra team in Formula E.

That Is A Unique Setting Right There

From what we can deduce from the teaser images, the circular LED taillights have circle reversing lights in the shape of Hispano Suiza's logo. The face is said to wear a large, chrome-framed, deep-set trapezoidal grille, flanked by semi-circular headlights surrounded by an LED ring that serves as daytime running lights and indicators. Underneath the flat floor is a front splitter and rear diffuser to reduce lift.

Interior That Can Put Competition To Shame

The dash will feature wood veneers, aluminum, and toggle switchgear. An analog clock and a triangular gear selector make their way inside the cabin, reminscent of the dashboards in the Hispano Suiza models of the '30s. It will feature scissor doors that add extra pizzazz. To justify the luxurious interiors, Hispano Suiza has used leather and Alacantara on the seats, doors and the roof lining. The two carbon fiber-composite seats are heated and four-way electrically adjustable. Everything in here is handcrafted and all the Carmens will be offered with a "custom perfumed interior". The Carmen is also offered with a multifunction steering wheel and LED ambient lighting strips on the doors and in the footwells. There is a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system that supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Our Take

Instead of coming out with a mass-selling car, it targeted a niche market that does not entirely exist yet. But as they say, bigger risk, bigger reward. Mind you, this limited-production hyperlux car still has a long way to hit the road. The on-road testing is expected to begin this summer and will hit the production line later this year. The 19 examples of the Hispano Suiza will be up for sale in June 2020. It is priced at £1.3 million ($1.72 million) a pop before taxes.

Coming back to its same-name rival, Hispano Suiza Automobilmanufaktur AG's creation, the Maguari HS1 GTC, will feature a 5.2-liter V-10 gasoline engine that is boosted by two turbochargers, a supercharger, and electric compressors to produce a mammoth 1,071 horses! The hypecar can sprint from 0 to 62mph in merely 2.8 seconds and is electronically limted to a top speed of 236 miles per hour. It is priced at £1.9 million (2.52 million) and deliveries are expected from the end of 2019.

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