THIS 1956 METEOR RIDEAU FLASHED BRIGHTLY TO HELP FORD GROW ACROSS CANADA

Introduced in 1939, the Mercury brand wasn’t on the road very long before civilian production was halted for the duration of World War II. A month after V-J Day—August 15, 1945—though, Ford merged Mercury with Lincoln to form a separate marketing division, with a distinct dealer network. Ford of Canada followed suit and even added a Mercury truck line that wasn’t offered in the United States.  

With Canada’s vastly lower population density, the move was a boon to the nation’s dealers and customers, as it spread Ford’s reach farther across the often-wide distances between towns, particularly in the sparsely populated Western region. In fact, that’s one of the reasons Mercury Trucks were introduced, as many rural communities didn’t, or  couldn’t, support separate Ford and Mercury dealerships. For those with only a Lincoln-Mercury store, it was also the only dealership to get a truck, so the Mercury Trucks line filled the gap.  

The newly minted Mercury dealers, however, were faced with another challenge: Satisfying customers in the low-price market. Mercury cars were larger and more expensive than Fords and there wasn’t a model at the entry level. It was an especially acute predicament because unlike the United States, where two-thirds of car buyers had been financing their cars since at least 1930, auto loans in Canada were less common—and often harder to obtain.  

In the more rural communities, Canadian dealers depended on a low-priced model to get customers onto the showroom floor and they got it in the 1946-’48 Mercury 114, which was based on the Ford passenger car platform and its shorter, 114-inch wheelbase. In fact, it was all-Ford, apart from Mercury trim and badging—and while it fit the bill for a low-priced car, it also diluted Mercury’s mid-range branding.  

So, in June 1948, Ford announced “a brand-new automobile in the low-priced field, to be known as the Meteor,” with the press release also stating, “it will be exclusive to the Canadian market and will be distributed by the Mercury and Lincoln dealers across the Dominion.”  

The first Meteor models were produced for the 1949 model year, and like the Mercury 114, they were based on the low-priced Fords, but with unique cues. They were also initially offered in DeLuxe and Custom trims, just like the Fords, while priced about $65 more than the base Ford models—and with the option of two-tone paint, which wasn’t available with Ford models in the U.S.  

Meteor was an instant hit and quickly streaked to fourth place in national sales. Convertible and wagon models joined the lineup, along with Customline and Crestline trims. The brand’s design cues continued to evolve throughout the Fifties, growing more distinctive, but still maintaining Ford architecture and drivelines beneath the chrome.  

By the mid-Fifties, the cars were even offered with tri-tone paint, while the trim names changed to reflect Canadian themes. Customline and Crestline became Niagara and Rideau, while the cars were offered in Victoria and Crown Victoria models similar to the Ford models.  

In Ontario, Jordy Bester’s father was always enamored with Meteors and owned a number of them over the years, including the tri-color 1956 Crown Victoria Rideau seen here. It’s one of only 206 produced for the year and Bester’s father bought it in the mid-Seventies. The car had reportedly sat for more than a little while on a used car lot in the small town of St. Jacobs, before an acquaintance of Bester’s father finally bought it and performed an amateur restoration. Bester’s father purchased the car from him.  

“It wasn’t a 100-percent correct car, but Dad didn’t mind,” Jordy says. “It was a driver that looked good enough and he drove it for years. He didn’t do a thing to it.”  

By the time Jordy’s father had passed on, he had amassed a good-sized car collection and when the estate was settled, the vehicles were split up among the family. Jordy got the keys to the Meteor, and while the car may have looked good enough at a glance, it was decidedly less so under the skin, ultimately prompting a full, body-off restoration. 

“The frame was in really bad shape,” Jordy says. “It had also been hit very hard in the rear. It needed a lot of work.” 

A replacement frame was sourced and fortunately, it was the same as standard 1955-’56 Ford models. Replacement front fenders were also found and, again, the body parts were the same as Ford models. They differed only with the trim and while Jordy had all those unique parts, he was missing a few emblems, which were tracked down eventually. A few are even reproduced.  

The rear bumper proved to be the most difficult component to land during the restoration. Although it looked just like a Ford bumper, it was embossed with “METEOR.” Not surprisingly, most had rusted away decades ago. Through a parts connection, Jordy found a gentleman with a horde of Meteor parts, including a correct bumper. It took some dogged persuasion and more than a little begging, but he got the bumper.  

The Meteor also received a black, white, and red paint scheme that matched the original color combination. It’s complemented inside with an oh-so-Fifties black-and-white cabin that was restored with correct material. Again, some of the trim was a bit different, but the basic look and materials were the same as other Ford models. The fresh upholstery was stitched by a shop in Pennsylvania that Jordy says helped save the project, after a previous shop contracted for the work folded.  

“I’d already placed my order when they shut down,” Jordy says. “I ended up getting my money back, but I was initially at a loss about what to do for the interior. Vinny’s Interiors really saved the day. They needed a good rear seat to use as a pattern and I was able to send them mine, which helped speed up the process. The results were bang-on perfect.”  

The powertrain included a 312-cu.in. Y-block V-8 and Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission. Jordy had both rebuilt and the engine itself was expertly detailed. But it was after all the work on the V-8 was completed that someone pointed out that while the block’s “VV” code was correct for a Meteor, it was for a 1957 engine. A ’56 engine would have been stamped “TV.” The rebuild and detailing had been performed on an incorrect engine.  

Jordy was undaunted. He found a correct TV-code block through one of his contacts and the build process started again. The second time was the charm and the powertrain slipped into the chassis to help close out the restoration. It was finished in the summer of 2023, only a few hours, it seemed, before the car debuted at the Cobble Beach Concours, about three hours northwest of Toronto. It earned a third-place trophy, but more than the accolades, Jordy says displaying the car was an homage to his father.  

“I think he’d have been very proud of how the car turned out,” he says. “And I’m very proud I was able to have the restoration done—and done correctly. We were able to keep it original-looking and that’s what Dad always appreciated with these cars.”  

Aside from its stunning restoration, this 1956 Meteor also represents the pinnacle of the brand’s design and marketing distinction. Meteor’s history got murkier in the years that followed, particularly in the Sixties. It was canceled after the 1961 model year, but was resurrected in 1964, with models that looked more like Mercurys with Ford underpinnings. From 1969-76, Meteor was still a separate brand, but the cars also wore Mercury badges—and after that, the Meteor name was relegated to a trim on the Mercury Marquis until 1981, when it finally burned up in the marketing atmosphere.  

For the Canadian market, Meteor came along at the right time to help Ford expand its footprint across the country, flashing like a shooting star into the growing postwar market. The distinctive trim and unique tri-color paint scheme on Jordy’s beautifully restored example illustrates why the cars garnered a strong following with customers.  

OWNER’S VIEW 

“Every time I get in this car, I think of my dad—along with every stop along the way during its restoration. I’m sure I get my appreciation for Meteors from him, and even with spending all the time and money to make this one as perfect as possible, I knew I was also going to drive it. That’s where Dad got his enjoyment with these cars and that’s what makes my connection to them even stronger.” –Jordy Bester 

Monarch: Ford’s Other Royal Idea for Canada

Just as Canada’s Mercury dealers needed the Meteor to offer customers a product in the low-price segment, Ford dealers were looking for a showroom replacement for the larger and more profitable Mercury, which was slotted in the mid-priced field. The solution came in the Monarch, an all-new brand launched in 1946 and offered exclusively through Ford dealers. Using the same playbook as Meteor, which was based on re-trimmed Ford models, the new Monarch was essentially a rebadged Mercury, with a different grille insert, Ford taillamps, and a few other trim differences.  

The new brand grew and evolved for more than a decade, with models including the Lucerne, Richelieu, and, later, the Sceptre. It carved out a small yet strong niche in the Canadian market, but hit the skids and was canceled in 1958, when Ford introduced the Edsel. The cars were aimed at the same price segment and the Monarch got dethroned. Ford’s new king of the mid-priced field, however, famously flopped and after only a year’s absence, the Monarch returned in 1959. Called the Monarch II or Mark II by some, the revamped nameplate wore more subdued styling and followed Mercury’s overall downsizing by 1961. It was offered only in the Richelieu by that time, which proved to be brand’s final year of production.  

Mercury revived the Monarch name in the U.S. and Canada in 1975 for its badge-engineered version of the Ford Granada, but it had nothing to do with the stand-alone brand marketed from 1946-61.  

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