Monarch (automobile)

Monarch Automobile Company

Former type	Automobile Manufacturing
Industry	Automotive
Genre	Runabouts
Founded	1913
Founder(s)	Joseph Bloom
Defunct	1916
Headquarters	Aurora, Illinois, United States
Area served	United States
Products	Vehicles Automotive parts

Monarch

Manufacturer	Monarch Motor Car Company
Production	1913-1917
Assembly	Detroit, Michigan
Class	Full-size
Body style	4-door sedan 2-door coupe
Layout	FR layout
Engine	4.6L V8

The Monarch was an automobile built in Detroit, Michigan by the Monarch Motor Car Company from 1913 to 1917.

Joseph Bloom founded the company in the spring of 1913; by August, the company moved into the former Carhartt Motor Car Company factory. The car itself was designed by Bloom's brother-in-law Robert C. Hupp, of Hupmobile fame.^[1] The small 4-cylinder car sold in the US$1000 range. Production commenced later that year and 150 had been produced by spring of 1914.^[2] Later that same year, an even smaller 4-cylinder car was made, this one selling for US$675. The Monarch was called "The Car with the Silver Wheels" in company advertisements.

History

Hupp wanted to expand the lineup into larger vehicles, so he designed one with a 4.6L V8 engine. The five-passenger open model weighted 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) and was priced at $1,500. It was originally equipped with a Continental Six engine. This expansion of the lineup required a new cash infusion. Automobile Journal reported in May 1915 various Detroit backers had invested "new capital of large proportions"^[3] in the company. The new V8 Monarch entered production for a brief period, but production could not be sustained, as the new investment never materialized. This resulted in the company being declared bankrupt in the spring of 1916. At that time, assets were declared to be US$20,833 and liabilities US$5,753.^[3] By November, rights to the Monarch had been purchased by the Carter Brothers of Hyattsville, Maryland. In order to "conserve the value of the name,"^[4] the Monarch name would be kept. The V8 as well as a 12-cylinder model already developed in prototype form by Hupp would be continued, but when the cars actually went on sale in 1917, they were called C.B.s by the new owners.

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Monarch Automobile Company of Aurora, Illinois - 1905

Notes

1. ^ Kimes, Beverly Rae. Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1805-1942 (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1996), p.990.
2. ^ Kimes, p.990.
3. ^ ^{a b} Kimes, p.991.
4. ^ Kimes, p.265.

References

• Georgano, G.N. (1968). The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to Present. 
• Kimes, Beverley Rae & Clark, Henry Austin, Jr. (1996). Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942.