Monopole (company)


Établissements Monopole was a French manufacturing company that produced parts for automobile engines. The company also built and raced a series of small displacement endurance racing cars. After a series of mergers and acquisitions the Monopole name was retired in Europe, but survives in Africa in the name of a former licensee.

History

"Établissements SIM SA was a company based in Morge, Switzerland that operated a foundry and machine shops. In 1920 they used American investment capital to start another company called Établissements Monopole in Poissy on the outskirts of Paris, France. The new company specialised in producing pistons, piston-rings, valves, and other parts for automobile engines, and was managed by a Mr. Guerne. The company's name is abbreviated Ets. Monopole, but "Monopole-Poissy" was used in the company's own literature.
In 1937–38, majority ownership of Monopole was acquired by André Hémard, son of Guy-Aristide Hémard of the Hémard distilling concern that merged his Pernod Fils company with Les Établissements Pernod Père et Fils to form Les Établissements Pernod — Maisons Pernod Fils.
In 1944 Hémard installed his son-in-law Jean de Montrémy, until then working for aeronautical parts manufacturer Bronze-Avia, as Chief Executive Officer of Monopole, whose clients by then included Peugeot and Citroën. Hémard's son Jean served as production director. His other son also worked for the company.
A merger with the Floquet sparkplug company resulted in a name change to Floquet Monopole. Several other companies were later absorbed, including valve maker Jeudy, gudgeon pin maker Marty, and piston maker Nova.
On 1 July 1963, the Perfect Circle Corporation of Hagerstown, Indiana, a maker of piston rings, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dana Incorporated of Toledo, Ohio. In 1978 Dana completed the acquisition of Floquet Monopole.
As late as the end of October 1995 the Floquet Monopole name remained in use in Europe, but by the beginning of 1998 it had been phased out, and the division was known as Perfect Circle. A former Floquet Monopole licensee purchased the rights to the name from Dana, incorporating as Floquet Monopole Industrie de Précision in Fes, Morocco. Dana announced completion of the sale of the balance of its European parts divisions to Mahle on 9 March 2007.

Monopole in racing

While a student at Reims, de Montrémy spent time at Circuit Reims-Gueux, where he developed a taste for racing. As CEO of Monopole, he recognised the value of competition as a way to both test Monopole's products and promote the company. Efforts were focused on the small-displacement classes in endurance racing as conditions closest to what the parts would experience in normal road use. Écurie Monopole was established to take the company racing.
de Montrémy designed the first racing Monopole himself. This car used the chassis and engine of a Simca 8, but clothed them in lightweight aluminium bodywork. Its debut race was at the Formula Libre Voiturette 2.0+1.1s at Reims on 6 July 1947, where the car finished seventh. In 1948 two more Simca-Monopoles were built that used the Simca 8's engine, but these successors substituted custom-built lightweight chassis for the Simca original. These cars were raced throughout 1948 and 1949, including the first appearance of a Monopole at Le Mans, where the car driven by de Montrémy and finished twelfth overall and first in the S 1.1 class.
Racing the Monopoles was to some extent a family affair, with de Montrémy and his brothers-in-law Jean and Pierre Hémard making many appearances in the cars, including at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1950, 1951, and 1953. Other Monopole racing drivers included brothers and,, Yvonne Simon, and Jean Vinatier.
In 1950 Panhard increased their involvement in racing, but indirectly, by offering parts and technical support to different racing teams. Monopole availed themselves of this to design a new racing car that used Panhard's air-cooled flat twin engine designed by Louis Delagarde. The car also used the front-wheel drive chassis of the Panhard Dyna X, suitably modified. The car was designed by Monopole's Pierre Bourdereau, who produced a very compact barquette, although due to its full-width ponton-style bodywork the car is often referred to as a tank, as are some other Monopoles. The naming convention for Monopole's Panhard-based racing cars followed that used for the various Dyna X models.
In 1952 Monopole won both the Index of Performance and the eighteenth Biennial Cup for the third year in a row, making them the only manufacturer to achieve three such consecutive victories.
In 1953 Panhard decided to become directly involved in racing. Paul Panhard established a racing team under director Etienne de Valance. With the help of designer Marcel Riffard and later Pierre Durand, Panhard produced three models for their own racing efforts; the X88, X89 and VM5. As there were no corresponding Dyna X series X88 or X89, these designations were specific to the racing cars built by Panhard.
In 1956, following the accident at Le Mans in 1955, Panhard withdrew from direct racing involvement. Écurie Monopole became Panhard's officially supported racing team. Staff as well as Panhard's racing cars were transferred to Écurie Monopole at their location at Achères. Personnel for the team numbered just eight. Some entrant lists record the team as Société Monopole Course rather than Écurie Monopole.
The team increasingly tried to pursue GT events due to the shortage of sportscar events being run. At the end of the 1958 season the decision was made to close Écurie Monopole.

Racing cars

List of Monopole racing models:
Monopole Sport
Duval Monopole
Monopole X84
Monopole X85
Monopole X86
Monopole X87
Panhard-Monopole X88
Panhard-Monopole X89
Panhard-Monopole VM5
Monopole-Oliveira Formula Junior
Reims Formula Libre
12 Hours of Paris
24 Hours of Le Mans
Grand Prix
12 Hours of Reims
Coupes du Salon
Coupe de Paris
Coupe d'Automne
4 Hours of Forez
Bol d'Or
Coupes de Vitesse
Caen
Tour de France
3 Hours of Pau
Trophée d'Auvergne