A Canadian Ford

[Spex84]

Awesome! Excellent conversion, it looks very convincing to me.
Some of the Canadian versions are wild...'59 Monarch Sceptre comes to mind.

 

[unclescott58]

Very nice model Eric. When I was in college I wrote a paper on Canadian variants. There are a few books over the years that covered these cars. But, not enough. I love them. 

[unclescott58]

Someone in an earlier posting here, said that they heard that these variations were offered into the mid to late 50's. The Canadian Meteors were offered from 1949 - 1961. And again from 1965 - 1981. '49 through '61 were basically modified Fords. Different grilles, trim and nameplates. In '62 and '63 there were Meteors, but they were the same as their American counterparts, south of the boarder. '65 through '81 Meteors were Mercurys with slightly different trim. Mainly Ford interiors. And some years different grilles.

There was also basically a Meteor without the Meteor name in 1964. Like the '65 - '81 Meteors, this was basically a Mercury with Ford interior trim.

[feretzrus]

Fantastic!  I always liked the Above-the-Border Fords.  Always creative variations on the US Fords and great to

See one modelled!

[64Comet404]

Nice work - love the conversion and the personal story behind it. Some times as a builder, the personal connection helps deliver better results.

There were a few interesting products released by Ford Canada in that erra. I remember my father in-law told me that Ford Canada was its own company back then, producing models under liscense from FoMoCo until '55-'57 (I think). Models like the Meteor allowed Ford Canada to use the same parts bin and tooling, while reducing the licensing fees in needed to pay back FoMoCo.

Never research this myself to see how much of this is accurate, but it does seem plausible.

Again-nice work!

The story of Ford Canada is close, but not exact to your father-in-law's description.

Ford of Canada is controlled by Ford Motor Company, but the control is not 100%. Ford of Canada had its own stock offerings on the Canadian exchanges, and when Henry Ford bought back all the stock in FoMoCo after World War One, he didn't buy the Canadian stock. Ford Canada, therefore, had a level of autonomy which didn't exist with GM and Chrysler Canada. Even today, IIRC, there is 3 or 4 percent of Ford Canada stock which is not controlled by Ford Corporate. Because of this situation, Ford controlled Ford England, Ford Werke (Germany), and others, while Ford Canada controlled Ford Australia and some of the other territories. The Canadian models were used to give Lincoln-Mercury dealers a less expensive line to sell (Meteor), a distinct truck line for Mercury, and give Ford dealers a more upscale line for extra profit (Monarch). End of history lesson... ;D

 

[Fanof69]

A real beauty for sure!!

[Smitty]

Thanks everyone for your valued and informative comments. I've been learning a great deal from all the members here for a while now! Robert, thanks for taking the time to post those great Meteor photos. Jesse, in answer to your questions, the scripts were made with an old defunct color mock-up system called 'Color Tag' made by Letraset that I used as a graphic designer back in the late eighties before we had desktop color printing. This sounds a little weird, but it basically allows you to use a small iron to apply a variety of colors (including shiny silver) from thin film to black laser toner. It worked well on this Meteor project because when I was done with the ironing I colored the back of the sheet with a black magic marker. Then it was a simple matter of cutting out the little square letters and gluing them on. Sort of a poor man's photo etch! 

As for the chrome piece above the front bumper, that's the grill from an AMT '50 Ford convertible with the center bar and bullet cut out. I had to change the shape of the signal light area on both sides with putty. Bare metal foil was used to finish it off.

[Phildaupho]

Missed this until now and glad I took a look as i am very impressed with your model of perhaps the best looking uniquely Canadian car. I am also very fond of the Canadian Pontiac bodied Chevrolets of the 50's and 60's and the the second generation Canadian Valiants that were Valiants in front and Darts in the rear.

[RAMBENNA]

very nice, looks great

[misterNNL]

Excellent model,and quite unique.Thanks for sharing !

[Bob Ellis]

Used to se them in New England all the time back in the 60s.

[Spex84]

That color-tag device is so cool! What a great use for outdated art/design supplies.

 

[GTJUNIOR]

Nice.

[bbowser]

What everyone else has said, great conversion!  Well done.

[Richard Bartrop]

Very nice!  As I recall, they were sold through Mercury dealers so they could have their own low priced model.

[unclescott58]

Very nice!  As I recall, they were sold through Mercury dealers so they could have their own low priced model.

You are correct. Meteors were sold through your Mercury dealers in Canada. And for the reasons you mentioned. Canadian Monarchs (1946 - 1961) were sold through your Ford dealer so he could have a higher priced model on his show floor.

Now the confusion comes in with the one year only Frontenac. In 1960 you could walk into your Mercury/Meteor dealer and buy a Falcon with a different grille and taillights, called the Frontenac. And for 1960 only there were no Comets sold in Canada. Why? Because when Comet was under development it was to be an Edsel companion. Not a Mercury. This would have created a problem for your Mercury/Meteor dealers. On the US side of the boarder, when Edsel was paired with another Ford brand, it was paired with Mercury. North of the boarder, Ford of Canada's plan was to replace Monarch with Edsel. There are no '58 Monarchs for this reason. Under that setup your Ford/Edsel dealer would get both the Falcon and the Comet. Leaving your Mercury/Meteor dealer with no equivalent model to sell. Hence the Frontenac. But, since Edsel flopped on both sides of the boarder, the Monarch was hastily brought back for '59. And the decision to pair up Comet with Mercury came too late to cancel the Frontenac. Which worked out okay since Comet wasn't ready to hit the show floors until March of 1960, about 6 months after Falcon and Frontenac were ready to go.

I love those Canadian only variants. Can you tell?

[Lovefordgalaxie]

Loved it!! Can't beat a black Ford!!

Very well done.

[ChrisBcritter]

That Color Tag system is very interesting; Letraset also made a unit called Color Wand that seems to do the same thing:

Reminds me of when, years ago, I used an iron and some heat transfer foil to re-chrome a plastic car emblem for a '79 Chrysler LeBaron - I recall it worked OK.

Edited June 18, 2016 by ChrisBcritter

[mk11]

An auto historian friend of mine wrote a great book on these cars...