Royal Canadian Motors (RCM) is a Canadian automotive company founded in Ottawa on April 6th,1942.Their current global headquarters is located at 3859 Carling Ave, Kanata, Ontario, Canada.
History
Beginnings
The Government of Canada founded the Dominion Vehicle Factory on April 6th, 1942 as a Crown Corporation to produce light vehicles for the Canadian Army fighting the Second World War in Europe at the time. Using a retrofitted warehouse in the Lebreton Flats neighbourhood in Ottawa, the first Light Multi Purpose Truck (LMPT) rolled off the assembly line on September 10th, 1942 and quickly followed by the Multi Purpose Truck (MPT) on October 4th, 1942. Through 1943 and 1944, the Dominion Vehicle Factory was expanded to several factories throughout Central and Eastern Canada to keep up with the demand for both vehicles.
Following the war, the retooled factories that produced the LMPT and MPT were returned to civilian use except for original warehouse in Lebreton Flats. The Government of Canada officially purchased the converted warehouse to continue production at a lower volume for the continuing demand of the Canadian Army.
Dominion Motor Company
On March 1st, 1946, the Government of Canada officially completed the sale of the Dominion Vehicle Factory to Argus Corporation, who subsequently renamed it Dominion Motor Company. As part of the sale, the company would be contractually obliged to keep producing the LMPT and MPT for the Canadian Army until March 1st, 1956.
Following the acquisition of the company, Argus Corporation combined its assets with their as-of-yet unnamed design studio and factory in Toronto. To facilitate the management of the new company, the headquarters were moved to downtown Toronto, near the Argus headquarters at the time.
In its first year, Dominion Motor Co. released two models: the compact Victory and the full-size Ensign. Both cars reached the market so quickly after the founding of the company from being in development in the design studio since 1945. The cars also used variations of existing engines; the Victory with the Dominion Four-Two from the LMPT and the Ensign with the Dominion Six from the MPT.