The Empire was an American

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

manufactured from 1910 until 1919. Marketed as "the little aristocrat", the Empire 20 was a four-cylinder shaft-driven runabout built in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. The model "A" was a conventional runabout for three passengers with a

rumble seat A rumble seat (American English), dicky (dickie/dickey) seat (British English), also called a mother-in-law seat, is an upholstered exterior front-facing seat which is folded into the rear of a coach, carriage, or early motorcar. Depending on it ...

. The model "B" had two

bucket seat A bucket seat is a car seat contoured to hold one person, distinct from a flat bench seat designed to fit multiple people. In its simplest form, it contours somewhat to the human body, but may have a deep seat and exaggerated sides that partially ...

s, a longer

hood Hood may refer to: Covering Apparel * Hood (headgear), type of head covering ** Article of academic dress ** Bondage hood, sex toy * Hoodie, hooded sweatshirt Anatomy * Clitoral hood, a hood of skin surrounding the clitoris * Hood, a flap of ...

and was geared higher to attain faster speeds. More conventional bodywork was later offered; in April 1915 the marque announced production of a 35 hp for 1916. The company's final products were a four of 3865 cc and a six of 3670 cc. The business, Empire Motor Car Company, founded in 1909 was a project of Arthur Newby,

Carl Fisher Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

James Allison James Allison or Jim Allison may refer to: * James Allison (pirate) (fl. 1689–1691), pirate active near Cape Verde and the Bay of Campeche * James Allison Jr. (1772–1854), member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania * James Wh ...

and

shock absorber A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulics, hydraulic device designed to absorb and Damping ratio, damp shock (mechanics), shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typic ...

manufacturer Robert Hassler who built the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...

in 1909. Their first car was designed by Harry C. Stutz. From 1912 to 1919, the Greenville Metal Products Co. of Greenville, PA, also produced the Empire. After 1912, 4 different models were produced, a five-passenger

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. The ...

and four-passenger four-door roadster with 6-cylinder engines. In addition were 4-cylinder five-passenger touring cars and two-passenger roadsters. A Greenville-made Empire is in the Waugh House, the Greenville Area Historical Society Museum.

References

* Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana Defunct companies based in Indiana Cars introduced in 1910 {{brass-auto-stub