Believing that if it worked once, it should work again, Luke rallied the design teams to create an up-market station wagon. After all, the success of the Senator meant that the company’s teams were, as a collective group, quite pleased with themselves for what they’d accomplished three years ago, and even now, they just about couldn’t keep pace with the demand. As the economy improved slowly, demand for the “Budget Luxury Sedan” skyrocketed, and Sinistra Motors was forced to expand their factory for the first time in company history. Plant 2, as it would come to be known, was four-times the size of the original factory, now labeled as Plant 1, and was nearly dedicated to the production needs of the Senator. As a result, the stockpile of “Missing Cylinders” as a result of turning 5.2 liter V8’s into 3.9 liter V6’s ended up filling the first on-site warehouse. The solution? Build another warehouse.
By sharing 100% of the driveline components, even down to suspension arms and half-shafts, the Monarch was a light gamble on whether station wagons would be popular enough among those who were looking for a new car, or whether they needed to make a step in a different direction.
Meanwhile, the Engine Design Team was busy working on one of Luke’s secret projects, taking the V8 engine from a ‘mere’ 5.2 liters and making two new concept engines out of it, but that’s a story for a different year.