Hispano Alemán Vizcaya

I could talk about the Porsche 914 all day. Though I love how it looks right out of the box, I can certainly understand why some don't.

What if, from the start, the guts of the 914 were clothed in styling not rooted in an appliances manufacturer, but from an Italian carrozzeria?

Canadian Verne (Werner) Bernhard (Ben) Heiderich found himself, by the late 1960s, as Porsche's importer to Spain. After nearly a decade of importing prestigious vehicles he had decided to create his own, under the name Hispano Alemán.

In 1968, this meant re-bodied Volkswagen Beetle buggies. But by 1970 and the introduction of the Porsche 914, Heiderich saw an opportunity to give the car the styling that many felt it deserved.

Enter Italian Pietro Frua, who was given a contract to re-style a 914/6 for the 1971 Geneva Motor Show: the Hispano Alemán Vizcaya was born.

Sort of.

I'll gloss over the mechanicals of the car for good reason (see below), except to say that the engine was hand-assembled in Spain with racing parts and larger displacement of 2.4 liters, for a total of 225 horsepower — certainly more than a standard 914/6, and undoubtedly a match for most sporting cars of the time.

At that time, Frua was best known for his work with Glas, a small German carmaker who was eventually bought by BMW in the late-1960s. After producing the Goggomobil microcar, Glas struggled to shake the image as only a microcar manufacturer, and hired Frua to produce new designs for their range.

Heiderich was likely aware of this success and (though some say Frua was his second choice of stylist) saw an opportunity to show the world what his idea of a sports car should look like.

Several sources say that Heiderich and Frua worked very closely together over several months, producing this stunning shape. The press loved it. Some say that Porsche loved it, and had an agreement to produce a limited run.

My favourite Hispano Alemán detail? Some Hispano Alemán models featured a mash-up of the Porsche crest, featuring a Spanish flag, Madrid coat of arms, and Canadian maple leaves! (Oddly, in light of this story, the Vizcaya's badge omits the maple leaves.)

Whether the result of the close collaboration or the unexpected popularity of the prototype design, then, there was a legal dispute between Heiderich and Frua. The car was seized by Swiss authorities after its debut in the Geneva Motor Show.

Heiderich won the court case in 1976, the same year the Porsche 914 was taken out of production.

This special car wouldn't be Hispano Alemán's last, as the company produced a few unique sports cars based around European mechanicals. Heiderich himself was courted by some of the brands he represented, including Lamborghini.

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