A shortened history of Merrick Automotive
The Foundations (1931-1940):
Merrick automotive was founded by a man who had dreamed of having his own car company. It was his life goal. He worked in a garage outside of Bismark. He soon decided that he was going to try to make a car. So he then started saving money to attempt to build a car. When he had a decent amount of money he started building the car. This was no easy task. He attempted to build a car by himself and failed miserably. After this failure it only drove him to attempt it again, so he did, but now with his friends help. The car was coming along nicely. This project took until 1936. It was complete they had done it! It worked and moved like any other car. Him and his friend decided to try to make an entire car company with there new found skills. They took out a loan and hired a few men. This was the foundations of a great company to come.
Hard Times (1941-1957):
With the company started and men hired they started designing there first car. It was based off the car He and his friend had designed. It now looked more flowing though. It came equipped with a 5.1 liter V8. This was a brilliant plan. But a very expensive one because V8s were still somewhat expensive and complicated. They had started work on the new design for the engine. They did not have much experience in building engines. Neither did any of the workers. They just had to start building the engine though because the would go into debt if they did not sell something soon. They frantically designed the engine. The engine proved unreliable but they had to sell it within the new sleek shell they had designed. The car had one more problem how the hell were they going to advertise it they had a very small amount of money so this would be difficult. They rang up a local newspaper and put and advert on the paper. The car sold about 1641 units. That made them some decent money to make a new design for the engine and advertise it. This improved the the engine greatly. They then got the car advertised on television and a national paper. The car sold 11132 units! Now they had good money to spend.
Improvement (1958-1972):
The company now had even more workmen and a bigger factory. The last car was great for business. The car was sold until 1965 when they got an new idea. They had seen what other manufacturers were doing, they wanted to design a muscle car. They would call it the Dominator. It would have a coupe and sedan variant. Its engines would range from a 3.9 liter i6 with 203 hp to a 6.7 liter v8 with 435 hp. The car was in development and it was going well. It was finished! They advertised it on television and Local news papers, National newspapers, and anywhere they could find. The car went from 0-60 in 4.8 seconds with the 6.7 liter. The public and reviewers like it. It sold massively well! It sold 221,041 units! They were rich now they were very happy along with the team. The car sold until 1973. They had also made a smaller muscle car in 1968 which produced 211 hp from a 4.3 liter v8. It sold 39,984 units. This also sold until 1973, they had hit a roadblock. The oil crisis.
Oil Crisis (1973-1984):
This was horrible. The company couldn’t make muscle cars that worked right anymore. There was simply to many regulations. They couldn’t do it. The company tried to make a small car in 1974 but failed. The company went dormant in 1976. The workers had to leave because the company was losing money to fast. This was not to say this was the end. The workers were promised rehiring the man and his friend came up with something.
Back In Business (1985-1992):
The man and his friend had made a model of a new engine and a few new ideas for cars. The man and his friend had retained most of the money after the company had gone dormant. The men who used to work for Merrick had quit there jobs to come back to Merrick. They start work on the new plans. These were very smart plans for the era. They had come up with the idea of a frugal little roadster. It would be designed after old British roadsters. The car came equipped with a little 2.5 liter i4 with 216 hp. They advertised it and it was an instant success. It was called the RL2500 it sold an amazing 554,134 units. It was just like old times. The workers were happy and so was the man and his friend. The car sold until 1992 when it was updated. They also had made a smmall hatchback in 1985 that was called the uno it had a wide variety of engines and models. It sold a very good 237,056 units. It was also updated in 1992.
Plans for the future (1993-Present):
Now that the uno and RL2500 were updated they could have some time to develop and new car. This would be a throwback to the past. It would be the new Dominator. Yes it was back in all its glory! It had designs referencing the old Dominator. It still came with a i6 or v8 but they were modern engines. It came as a coupe or sedan as it used to. This was a brilliant plan. And when production began and cars started being shipped out they realized they had struck gold. The car sold a Blistering 1,298,142 units! This was amazing to them! The workforce was now huge in Merrick and they had factorys in Bismark ND, and Durham NC. They were rich and happy. They sold the new dominator until 2004 when it was updated. We have many plans for the future here at Merrick. We will always make the best cars we can and try to please your every desire. This was a history of Merrick Automotive.
Pictures coming Soon*
