Industry Automotive Founded 1913 Defunct 1916 | Genre Runabouts Founder Joseph Bloom | |
Former type Automobile Manufacturing | ||
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. 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. 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 weighed 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" 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. 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," 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.