20 replies to this topic

[Mischa Bijenhof]

When I noticed Frank Dochnals name in Richies thread, I couldn't resist doing a quick search on him. In one of the older threads featuring his name, one certain Thomas Monarch appears. According to Jimmy Piget (see 'Mystery entries & drivers in F1') this fellow was entered for the same Grand Prix as mr. Dochnal. No new info has been on him has been added since, googling doesn't give a clue. Now that F1rejects seem to have found Frank Dochnal (although probably all of us are eagerly waiting for his profile ;) ), and previously even Tom Jones has been discovered, this Monarch guy must be the ultimate F1 mystery entrant, his myth growing to Toutou proportions (any info on them would be welcome as well )
So, anybody?

[Stefan Ornerdal]

Sorry, don't know anything about Thomas Monarch, but at least we have his first name. How about T. Weber?
Mr T. Weber was entered by a Mr. Pennington in an Tec-Mec Maserati for a race at Brands Hatch, august 7 1961. It was for the Intercontinental Formula, which for me is as close to Formula 1 as one can get. T. Weber did not arrive to the race.

Stefan

[Kerb Bouncer]

Tom Jones? I just saw him on an ad for T-Mobile cellular !!

[Jimmy Piget]

Originally posted by Stefan Ornerdal Sorry, don't know anything about Thomas Monarch, but at least we have his first name. How about T. Weber?
Mr T. Weber was entered by a Mr. Pennington in an Tec-Mec Maserati for a race at Brands Hatch, august 7 1961. It was for the Intercontinental Formula, which for me is as close to Formula 1 as one can get. T. Weber did not arrive to the race. Stefan

Tommy Weber, I think

[Mischa Bijenhof]

So Jimmy, where did you find Thomas Monarchs name? I'm curious, as he's not listed as DNA in my files.

[Richard Jenkins]

Heh, I know more about Frank Dochnal than I do of some much more famous drivers!!

I have seen the "famous" profile & as I am sworn to secrecy or death ;), I'm not going to give too much away but I wll just summarise how FJD got an entry

Mexican GP Organisers "Hola! Would you like to drive at our grand preex?"
FJD: "okay then, what do I have to bring with me"
MGPO: "just a car, we will give you money"
FJD "let me check with the wife"
FJD's wife "Yeah, I fancy a holiday in Mexico"
FJD: "alright then, I'll be there"

FJD worked within the industry (Can't tell you any more I hear the guns being cocked) when he got this call.

So, if there was a Thomas Monarch in the US racing industry c. 1963, he may well have got a call. Seeing how FJD got a drive, nothing would surprise me about any other entries, but I am not aware of this fellow ever entering myself...






I would also add that Robert O'Brien is probably the ultimate mystery man as far as I'm concerned.....

[David McKinney]

Without wishing to bring down anyone's wrath....you didn't find out what car FJD drove did you?

[Mischa Bijenhof]

O'Brien is on top of my mystery list too, but at least he got to drive a Grand Prix, whatever his true identity may be. I'm still hoping to solve this Monarch question, though... Does anyone have acces to (provisional) entrylists of the 1963 US and/or Mexican Grands Prix? His name surely must be somewhere, right?

[Richard Jenkins]

Mischa, this is going on a lot of presuming but...

Presuming Monarch was American, mainly for the reasons Dochnal got in - then there is only one fellow I can find in the records that fits the bill-

a W. Thomas G Monarch b. Owensboro, Kentucky 29 May 1912 d. 1 April 1964, Daviess, Kentucky

another search using key words like "Mexico/an" "grand Prix" brings up nothing relevant... The above fellow lived in Kentucky all his life & there isn't much mention of any other racing results (normally a newspaper search might bring up something ) so I don't know because I don't think this man (ie the bloke above) was a racing driver (I think he's a farmer, actually)... but like I said, that's a lot of presuming ...

Edited by Richie Jenkins, 06 April 2010 - 12:31.

[Ray Bell]

As a monarch is a king, one might assume just as readily that his real name was King... Thomas might have been a second (or unused first...) name?

[ReWind]

Originally posted by Richie Jenkins
Presuming Monarch was American - then there is only one fellow I can find in the records that fits the bill- a W. Thomas G Monarch b. Owensboro, Kentucky 29 May 1912 d. 1 April 1964, Daviess, Kentucky. (...) The above fellow lived in Kentucky all his life & there isn't much mention of any other racing results. (...) I don't think this man was a racing driver (I think he's a farmer, actually)...

Not everyone who hails from Owensboro, KY, must be a farmer. Think of Darrell & Michael Waltrip, Jeff & David Green and Jeremy Mayfield.

If the person you found was the mystery entrant then his death in 1964 would explain why there were no more entries after the 1963 Mexican GP. But I have to admit at 51 years he would have been rather old for a Grand Prix debutant and at least one would expect him appearing in one motor racing category or the other in former times.

[Mischa Bijenhof]

I just couldn't leave it to rest, and while googling around I ran into this
There appears to have been a certain Thomas Monarch who has built a Formula Ford that carries his name. It is currently being restored. The site has an e-mail adress for those who can provide info about its origin, but it appears the current restorers know more (or equally nothing) about this man.

[Kerb Bouncer]

Mischa:

That page is interesting. Could T.Monarch have worked in the industry for Ford. The entry still seems unusual. Could he have been a placeholder for another driver, perhaps an American? Any mention of this in the comtemporary US motor sport press?

[Mischa Bijenhof]

That is what I was thinking too. Perhaps someone can dig up some contemporary reports?

[Mischa Bijenhof]

This is what I received from the e-mail I sent to the restorers of the Monarch FF-car.

-----------------

"Thank you for contacting us regarding the Monarch. The car has successfully completed two weekends of vintage racing and has performed quite well. I plan to run again during the first weekend in April
I have a lifelong friend who is a retired private investigator working at locating Thomas Monarch but he has not been able to find him. He may in fact be deceased by now but our Social Secruity system does not list him as such. We have located the person who purchased the car from Thomas Monarch in the area of Detroit Michigan and he tells me that Thomas was a very quiet fellow who was building the car for himself but ran out of money and sold it unfinished. I have also been in touch with several people who have owned and raced the car over the years.
We shall keep looking for this elusive person.
Thank you for your interest.
Don Greimel"

[Dan Axelsson]

Dear TNF members,

Your help needed!

A group of dear friends and I have recently been in contact with a cousin of Thomas Monarch, the FF1600 builder. Sadly there is no contact between Thomas and his remaining family anymore.

However, what have we learnt from this? Well:
Thomas Monarch is currently in his late 60s.
He had made racing tours including Mexico and Bahamas.
He built the FF1600 with help from his father Harry, (passed away recently) who assisted him in racing.
Thomas is now living in California, but we have no contact address.
He is (or was) linked to a dealing job for Toyota.

And what can we guess?:
His supposed entry in the 1963 Mexican GP (Sheldon’s book and a others) was linked to a Lotus 18. He never had been a Lotus 18 owner, but there was a few 18 in the US in these years and maybe he intended to rent one. The supposed age of him could comply with an entry for the 1963 Mexican GP.

What have we found?:
In public directories there are two T. Monarch listed in Los Angeles, but without any street address. Maybe one could be ”ours”?

Any possibility for someone here (maybe a US member?) to contact them to check this? And maybe begin a possible contact?

Many thanks!
Regards,

[Richard Jenkins]

Dan, as I don't want to give out addresses on a forum, please check your PM's shortly.

[scags]

While we're on the mystery men trail (and because I'm too lazy to re-open the O'brien thread), has any one come up with any new info on R. O'Brien? The posting on the NJ Alfa owner's board was read by 70 people, but no luck. Also, the story I pitched to the Bergen Record didn't work. Any other ideas?

[lorrainegathercole]

Dan, as I don't want to give out addresses on a forum, please check your PM's shortly.

I wonder if you had any joy tracing Tom Monarch.

I now own the Lotus 18 he had in the early 60's - it is in Formula Junior spec and I believed it always was so am rather surprised by this information.

As it was the 'works' Junior campaigned by Trevor Taylor, but also used by Jim Clark, it is a significant piece of history in its own right, but if Tom converted it to F1 spec, which would not be impossible, that puts a whole new light on it. Chassis no. is FJ702 if anyone is interested.

I would therefore really like to contact Tom and ask him directly.

[bretonbanquet]

I have been in touch with someone who worked with Tom Monarch in the early 1960s, and who had been an old school friend. He confirmed that Tom moved to Southern California, and is still there as far as he knows. Tom (or his father) did own the Lotus 18 now owned by Lorraine Gathercole - it wasn't rented. His full name for all the detectives here is Thomas Jerome Monarch, generally known as "TJ", and he was around 18-19 in 1963-64.

[Graham Clayton]

A search of the US Social Security Death Index comes up with the following:

Thomas J. Monarch
Born - September 3, 1945, Michigan
Died - March 16, 2009, Mount Dora, Florida

Thomas J Monarch lived in:

Mount Dora, FL
Cape Coral, FL
Costa Mesa, CA
Mission Viejo, CA
Fort Myers, FL
Tustin, CA
Irvine, CA
Santa Ana, CA
San Juan Capistrano, CA

This Thomas Monarch was 18 in 1963, so his age fits. Could this be him?

His wife is Carol Ann Monarch, who I believe is still living in Mount Dora. Maybe a Florida member of TNF could contact her to see if her late husband is the Mexican GP driver?