Monica is a brand of luxury cars created in the seventies by Jean Tastevin.
Monica was the last attempt (after Facel Vega) to create a luxury brand in France. Its only French competitor was the Citroën SM Opéra, the sedan which was built by Chapron.
Although intended to be built in France, design, development and prototype building was entrusted to Chris Lawrence at C.J. Lawrence Consultants of Hammersmith, London, England. The 4-door, 4-seat saloon featured a De Dion rear suspension. Final styling and trimming was by David Coward, -ex James Young (coachbuilders) & Motor magazine.
The earliest prototype Monicas were powered by a Ted Martin designed 3.4l V8 engine but later prototypes and the production model were equipped with a Chrysler 5.6 l (340 in³) V8 engine.
The car was presented at the Salon de Paris 1972 and production began in 1973 at a facility located in Balbigny, Loire. Only 8 production cars (as well as 22 prototypes) were completed before the factory closed in 1974, a victim of the 1973 oil crisis. A plan by Panther Westwinds to resume production in England was not completed.[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Monica (car) ]
Some related entries: Plymouth Arrow | Toyota Tercel | Lancia Stratos | Citroën AX | Zündapp Janus | Delage | International Harvester Scout | Citroën C6 | Renault Alliance | Daihatsu Fellow Max | H. Nelson Jackson This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Monica (car); it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL. | 
