There were plenty of new machines on the Hill over the course of the opening day of the 2022 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, everything from the Czinger 21C to the BMW M3 Touring. Not to be missed, though, was this, the Hispano Suiza Carmen.
The Hispano Suiza Carmen marks the return of a legend at FOS
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If the name sounds familiar it’s because Hispano Suiza was founded in Barcelona in 1904, and up until its demise in 1946 it produced some seriously grand and for the time fast cars. This car, then, is the first new Hispano Suiza in more than seven decades, with the Carmen name inspired by Carmen Mateu, the granddaughter of Damián Mateu who originally founded the company.
On a technical level the Carmen is very different to those produced in the early 20th Century, an all-electric luxury performance car with 1,020PS (750kW) courtesy of two electric motors, one at each rear wheel. In some ways, though, the Carmen does a very similar job to the Hispano Suizas of old, blending both luxury and speed - the company describes the Carmen as ‘hyperlux’, a mash-up of ‘hypercar’ and ‘luxury’.
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Only 24 of these curious-looking silent beasts will be built, and whether the styling ticks the right boxes for you or not, that such a famous and historical name is making a return should be celebrated.
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