Earlier this month, Hispano-Suiza Cars of Barcelona, Spain, teased an all-electric “hyperlux” GT called the Carmen. Now, Hispano-Suiza Automobile Manufaktur AG of Zug, Germany, has revealed a twin-turbo V10 supercar called the Maguari HS1 GTC. Both companies claim ownership of the historic carmaker’s name, and it appears each wants to bolster its case by getting a car to market first. The German concern might have made its job easier by using what is likely the Lamborghini Huracán‘s 5.2-liter V10, boosted to the tune of 1,070 horsepower.
We’re not clear how many helpers provide all the boost. The press release mentions twin turbos with electric compressors, as well as “the supercharger of the 100-year-old ancestor.” Nine years ago, the same German Hispano-Suiza showed the Maguari’s ancestor at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, the name back then simply V10 Supercharged. That first effort used an Audi R8 engine with two superchargers to make 739 hp and 516 pound-feet of torque. Regardless, the latest engine looks to have been upgraded in the process, getting “special cylinder liners” and sodium-filled valves.
The mid-mounted engine sends all that power through a seven-speed sequential automatic gearbox to the rear wheels only. Thanks in part to a lightweight carbon fiber body, the run from standstill to 62 miles per hour takes 2.8 seconds. Top speed gets electronically capped at 236 miles per hour.
Designer Oliver Boulay‘s styling is even more captivating than the specs. Look closely at the grille that redefines the word “gaping,” and you’ll spy a stork peeking from between two vertical strakes. That would be a shout-out to the original Hispano-Suiza, which decorated its cars with a gorgeous flying stork hood ornament. The name doubles down on the long-billed imagery, a maguari being a South American stork. The rear has plenty of attitude about it, but we can’t help the feeling that it looks like a Chrysler Crossfire joined The Avengers. We don’t mean that in a bad way. And someone put the climate vents where the exhaust pipes go.
Since the original Hispano-Suiza closed shop in 1968, none of the reborn concepts have made it to production. The company says the Maguari HS1 GTC “is in the last testing phase,” and promised a springtime launch at a price of 2.2 million euros, or $2.5 million U.S. That leaves us with two storks simultaneously vying to deliver two babies, but the chimney’s probably only large enough for one. We’ll get a better take on the odds come Geneva.
