While the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was being constructed, founders Carl Fisher, Jim Allison, Arthur Newby, along with Charles E. Test and Robert Hassler decided to start the Empire Motor Company. Test was the business partner of Newby at Indianapolis Chain and Stamping as well as at National Motor Vehicle Company. Hassler built his first car in 1898 and was one of the original organizers of the Marion Motor Car Company which was incorporated in Indianapolis in 1904. Hassler developed the shock absorber for Marion. By 1909, Hassler was a mechanical engineer with National Motor Vehicle Company. He would later go into business and produce shock absorbers (Robert H. Hassler, Inc.)
Empire Motor Company was capitalized with $100,000 was incorporated on April 22, 1909, to manufacture a “businessman’s runabout” priced at $800. The company was located in the former Mohawk Cycle Company building on West 29th Street at the Canal. The owners’ target market was buyers for a low-priced vehicle.
Harry Stutz, who designed the Empire car, designed his first automobile on the family farm. He built “Old Hickory” from discarded agricultural equipment. It had a two-horsepower engine and could go forward and backward under its own power. By 1906, Stutz had been hired by American Motors in Indianapolis where he designed a 30-40 horsepower touring car. The next year, he joined Marion Motors as chief engineer where he designed a rear axle-mounted transaxle. The car, of course, used a Prest-O-Lite lighting system.
Marketed as “The Little Aristocrat,” the Empire 20 was a four-cylinder shaft driven runabout with a 96-inch wheelbase. It was expected that the first car would be delivered by August 1909. The model “A” was a conventional runabout for three passengers. The Model B was sportier, had two bucket seats, a longer hood, and was geared to go faster.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was closed after a disastrous first weekend of racing in August 1909. After laying 3.2 million bricks, the Speedway was reopened on a bitterly cold day in December 1909. To celebrate, motorcycle and automobile races were held. Indianapolis automobile manufacturers National, Marmon, Marion, and Empire were all represented.
Newell Motingser, who had worked at Premier Motor in which Carl Fisher was an investor and Wheeler-Schebler Carburetor Company in which Frank Wheeler was the president, piloted the Empire racing car. Motingser expressed optimism that the racer would lower the speed record for its class even though it was the first time the Empire would be raced. Motingser piloted the car in the under 160 cubic inch category to a new world’s record—25 minutes, 50.23 seconds for a 20-mile run. The next day, Motsinger lowered his record for a mile from 1 minute 20.46 seconds to 1 minute 17.08 seconds.
When racing resumed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Memorial Day 1910, Motsinger again lowered the record for cars under 160 inches of displacement for one mile to 1 minute, 7.1 seconds. The Empire was the smallest car to race.
Empire introduced its Model C in 1911 for $850. It featured a shaft drive rather than a chain drive. The car’s standard colors were blue for the body and cream for the running gear. The Model C would be the only vehicle produced by Empire. This car was displayed at the New York Auto Show in January 1911. The designer of the Model C was Harry Stutz who was also the factory manager for Empire.
Stutz designed his first entry into the Indianapolis 500 while employed by Empire in five weeks. The Ideal Motor Car Company was incorporated in June 1911. It's entry finished 11th in the race and was known as the “car that made good in a day.” Without its designer and manager, the short-lived Empire Motor Car Company ceased operations in 1911.
In March 1912, a syndicate of Detroit and Indianapolis businessmen acquired the assets of the company and incorporated it as the Empire Automobile Company. The company continued to operate until 1919.
In 1927, the Studebaker Automobile Company introduced a low-priced car which they called “The Little Aristocrat.”