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R. Frank Monroe, the former head of the Monroe Body Co.
of Pontiac, Michigan and the then-current president of the Mengel Body Company
of Louisville, Kentucky was
involved in a new Durant-backed firm, the Associated Bodies Corporation.
Associated Bodies was organized to build commercial car bodies for Durant
Motor’s new light commercial chassis which were sold under the Star, Durant,
Mason and Rugby monikers between 1923 and 1933.
The June 1924 issue of The Motor Truck; the National
Authority of Power Haulage (pp 36-37) announced the formation of the $1
million firm.
R. Frank Monroe, former president of the Monroe Body
Company of Ludington, Michigan and the president of the Mengel Body Company
of Louisville, Kentucky was elected president of Associated Bodies while D.
Claude Harris, Mengel’s secretary-treasurer became its vice-president and
treasurer. John W. Sliger, another Mengel executive, was appointed general
manager of the new firm.
Other investors included F.A. Ames of the Ames Buggy
Co., Walter L. Rowe, Vice President and Assistant General Manager of Durant
Motors, Winifred W. Murphy, secretary and treasurer of Durant Motors, J.S.
Hunt, vice-president and general manager of the Hayes-Hunt Company and Syd
D. Camper, vice president of the Bankers Mortgage Company of Louisville. All
of Associated Bodies directors were either former directors of Chevrolet,
Durant Motors or the Mengel Body Co.
The article stated that the new firm had arranged to
take over an existing factory located reasonably near Louisville that had a
capacity to produce 100 commercial and 25 bus bodies per day. Very little
information can be found after the 1924 announcement other than
advertisements for the sale Associated Bodies stock, so it’s likely that the
firm was just another one of Durant’s paper holding companies or perhaps
just a temporary reorganization of the Mengel Body Co.
© 2004 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com
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