As seen in the Catalina vs Strato Chief thread cdngmfan correctly identified the green wagon in the background. Anybody else wonder how he knew it was a Meteor and not a Ford?
This would be a very rare and interesting car to save. I saw this when I visited Cheviac last summer and it caught my eye, along with the 57 Pontiac sedan delivery he had. What's there looks pretty solid too. Maybe with a good 4 door parts car it could be done. All the rare 2 door trim is there.
long stroke said
Feb 27, 2020
If that car was ever done, i have no doubt that it would be the only one in existence. You have got to love these super rare and special models, so beyond the norm and the boring.
MC said
Feb 27, 2020
Greaser wrote:
Canadian Poncho wrote:
That would be a cool car to restore. Parts would be a bugger to find though.
A bit pricey for a donor car...most of the parts are there..........end result would be a great (rare) wagon when done.
The initial 1949 Meteor was introduced on June 25, 1948, at the same time the Ford Deluxe and Custom series were introduced across North America, and shared the new postwar full-sized Ford bodies, chassis, and powertrains but with unique trim. It used a Mercury grille and was powered by a 100 bhp (75 kW), 239 CID flathead V8 similar to that used in 19461953 U.S. Ford passenger cars. Meteor, as well as the Canadian Ford, kept the flathead V8 engine through 1954. The new OHV V8 which US Fords offered beginning in 1954 was not introduced in Canada until the 1955 model year. The following year, Ford of Canada introduced a six-cylinder engine for Canadian Ford and Meteor cars. Meteor models continued to use the Ford body with unique items such as grilles, taillights, and moldings. The 19521954 Meteors used Mercury instrument panels and dashboards. In mid-1954, some Niagara and Rideau models began using Ford instrument panels and dashes. These cars were named Niagara Special and Rideau Special and were priced around C$67 less than regular Niagaras or Rideaus.
In 1954, Meteor changed to its own series names. The entry-level car was called just Meteor, replacing Ford's Mainline series. The mid-level Ford Customline became the Meteor Niagara, while the top trim level Ford Crestline became the Meteor Rideau. A rebadged, Canadian-built version of the Ford Ranchero was added in 1957, and continued to be produced until 1959 as the "Meteor Ranchero."[1] The Montcalm series was added in mid-1959 as a counterpart to Ford's new Galaxie models.
Meteor was discontinued as a brand name after 1961 for a number of reasons. The Meteor name was selected for a new vehicle introduced in the Mercury line, the intermediate sized Mercury Meteor, beginning in 1962, and the entire Mercury line had already been dropped down in price (moving closer to the niche previously served by the Meteor brand in Canada) due to slow Mercury sales and the discontinuation of the Edsel brand.
Interesting note from Wikipedia article:
Meteor was a marque of automobiles offered by Ford in Canada from 1949 to 1976. The make was retired for the 1962 and 1963 model years, when the name was used for the Mercury Meteor sold in the United States. It succeeded the Mercury 114, a Canadian-market Mercury based on the Ford, the "114" name being taken from the car's wheelbase.
It complemented the Mercury, and gave Canadian Mercury-Lincoln dealers a car to sell in the low-price market, against the Canadian Pontiac. Similarly, Canadian Ford dealers offered the Monarch, a line of cars based on the Mercury models, to compete against the Oldsmobile. This was due to the dealer structure in Canada, where smaller communities might have only a single dealer that was expected to carry a full line of models in both the low- and mid-price classes. From 19491959, Meteor typically ran fourth in overall sales, behind Chevrolet, Ford, and Pontiac.
bigdreams said
Feb 28, 2020
There is a parts car about 15 minutes north of Gimli Manitoba
The initial 1949 Meteor was introduced on June 25, 1948, at the same time the Ford Deluxe and Custom series were introduced across North America, and shared the new postwar full-sized Ford bodies, chassis, and powertrains but with unique trim. It used a Mercury grille and was powered by a 100 bhp (75 kW), 239 CID flathead V8 similar to that used in 19461953 U.S. Ford passenger cars. Meteor, as well as the Canadian Ford, kept the flathead V8 engine through 1954. The new OHV V8 which US Fords offered beginning in 1954 was not introduced in Canada until the 1955 model year. The following year, Ford of Canada introduced a six-cylinder engine for Canadian Ford and Meteor cars. Meteor models continued to use the Ford body with unique items such as grilles, taillights, and moldings. The 19521954 Meteors used Mercury instrument panels and dashboards. In mid-1954, some Niagara and Rideau models began using Ford instrument panels and dashes. These cars were named Niagara Special and Rideau Special and were priced around C$67 less than regular Niagaras or Rideaus.
In 1954, Meteor changed to its own series names. The entry-level car was called just Meteor, replacing Ford's Mainline series. The mid-level Ford Customline became the Meteor Niagara, while the top trim level Ford Crestline became the Meteor Rideau. A rebadged, Canadian-built version of the Ford Ranchero was added in 1957, and continued to be produced until 1959 as the "Meteor Ranchero."[1] The Montcalm series was added in mid-1959 as a counterpart to Ford's new Galaxie models.
Meteor was discontinued as a brand name after 1961 for a number of reasons. The Meteor name was selected for a new vehicle introduced in the Mercury line, the intermediate sized Mercury Meteor, beginning in 1962, and the entire Mercury line had already been dropped down in price (moving closer to the niche previously served by the Meteor brand in Canada) due to slow Mercury sales and the discontinuation of the Edsel brand.
Interesting note from Wikipedia article:
Meteor was a marque of automobiles offered by Ford in Canada from 1949 to 1976. The make was retired for the 1962 and 1963 model years, when the name was used for the Mercury Meteor sold in the United States. It succeeded the Mercury 114, a Canadian-market Mercury based on the Ford, the "114" name being taken from the car's wheelbase.
It complemented the Mercury, and gave Canadian Mercury-Lincoln dealers a car to sell in the low-price market, against the Canadian Pontiac. Similarly, Canadian Ford dealers offered the Monarch, a line of cars based on the Mercury models, to compete against the Oldsmobile. This was due to the dealer structure in Canada, where smaller communities might have only a single dealer that was expected to carry a full line of models in both the low- and mid-price classes. From 19491959, Meteor typically ran fourth in overall sales, behind Chevrolet, Ford, and Pontiac.
My above comment was wrong, I just discovered that there was a Mercury Meteor sub-model offered in the US for 1961, but it was very different from the Canadian Meteor.
It's a little confusing, as the name was shuffled around somewhat during the 1960s. AFAIK, here is a rough summary of what happened (just doing this from memory, so feel free to correct anything I have wrong):
- Up until the end of the 1961 model year, Meteor in Canada was a unique brand of vehicle that utilized Ford bodies with unique styling cues, such as the one I posted the brochure pic of. It was intended to give Mercury dealers a lower-priced brand sell. The reasoning was along similar lines for the creation of unique Canadian Pontiacs using Chevrolet chassis and running gear to give Pontiac/Buick dealers a broader range of pricepoints, similar to Chevrolet/Oldsmobile - Ford had a slightly different philosophy but similar intent to cover a broader market range with its dealers.
- From the ad you posted for a 1961 Mercury Meteor, it appears that Mercury in US added it as a sub-model for 1961 only (?). I did not know about it until I looked it up today (brochure page below). It is definitely a Mercury body, and is decidedly different from the Ford-bodied Canadian car.
- To add to the confusion, in Canada, Ford dealers also had the Monarch to sell, which was used a full-size Mercury body with unique trim - to give Ford dealers a more upscale offering to help them compete in the mid-price segment.
- For '62-'63, the name was placed on a US mid-size Mercury branded vehicle, which was replaced by the mid-size Comet for '64 (which was a compact before '64).
- In Canada the Meteor nameplate reappeared for 1964 on a lower-priced version of the full size Mercury, which continued until sometime in the early '70s?
Man am I glad you posted that picture! When I was a teenager pumping gas I used to fuel up a dark blue S33, a 1966 in navy blue. There is NO doubt in my mind it was an S33 but everywhere I look online all I can find is an S55.... I suppose the S33 is a unique Canadian model?
If I remember right the engine was odd too, I think it was a 410?
MC said
Feb 28, 2020
Hey Carl, yes I believe the S33 was a Canadian only model (not a Ford expert, though - maybe Pritch can chime in here?).
I wasn't going to wade into this because I would expose myself as knowing something about Fords. On a GM enthusiast site that is akin to pouring honey on yourself and standing on an ant hill.
The Meteor in Canada was a Ford, sold as a value car at Mercury dealers. There was a corresponding car, the Monarch, that was a Mercury sold as an upscale line at Ford dealers. Then for a year or 2 the Meteor was a U.S. car based on the new unibody Fairlane. That silliness stopped for '64 when the Meteor was once again what it had originally been.
Ford has been playing footsie with names for eons. Now even there is a new EV SUV called E-Mustang. Years ago they had a fox-based LTD. Cougars went from being a ponycar to a luxury car to a boring intermediate line during the fox platform era. Oldsmobile also wore out the Cutlass name since it adorned the most popular car line, so they threw it on slow-sellers hoping people would only read Cutlass then buy.
That '61 Meteor wagon would have an equivalent Ford in a 2-door Ranch wagon. Thinking out loud about parts donors. BTW the door chrome was the first thing I saw in i.d'ing the wagon as a Meteor.
Pontiacanada said
Feb 28, 2020
4SPEED427 wrote:
Man am I glad you posted that picture! When I was a teenager pumping gas I used to fuel up a dark blue S33, a 1966 in navy blue. There is NO doubt in my mind it was an S33 but everywhere I look online all I can find is an S55.... I suppose the S33 is a unique Canadian model? If I remember right the engine was odd too, I think it was a 410?
I test drove a Canadian Meteor Rideau with 352 engine in it, at ripe old age of 15. I remember the engine cubes, because the seller was telling me it was an experimental F**d engine, with commonly known F**d engine being a 351.
MC said
Feb 28, 2020
CdnGMfan wrote:
I wasn't going to wade into this because I would expose myself as knowing something about Fords. On a GM enthusiast site that is akin to pouring honey on yourself and standing on an ant hill.
LOL... I've never let that stop me...
4SPEED427 said
Feb 28, 2020
MC wrote:
CdnGMfan wrote:
I wasn't going to wade into this because I would expose myself as knowing something about Fords. On a GM enthusiast site that is akin to pouring honey on yourself and standing on an ant hill.
LOL... I've never let that stop me...
I wish Johnnee had said that. I'd gladly pour honey on him while he stands on an ant hill...
CdnGMfan said
Feb 28, 2020
4SPEED427 wrote:
MC wrote:
CdnGMfan wrote:
I wasn't going to wade into this because I would expose myself as knowing something about Fords. On a GM enthusiast site that is akin to pouring honey on yourself and standing on an ant hill.
LOL... I've never let that stop me...
I wish Johnnee had said that. I'd gladly pour honey on him while he stands on an ant hill...
I was thinking of you and your diabolical hatred towards "Johnnee D". I thought to myself, "yes, I can throw my support behind a good cause..."
In actuality, there is nothing wrong with Johnnee D except for the weird European sentiments. Next time I see him I will actually buy him breakfast or lunch (if I just said "breakfast" then some of you weirdos would get the wrong idea). Sick-o's.
4SPEED427 said
Feb 28, 2020
CdnGMfan wrote:
In actuality, there is nothing wrong with Johnnee D except for the weird European sentiments.
Oh, if you only knew him...................
Pritch said
Feb 28, 2020
Thanks for the reference, Mark. Cameron has pretty much summed up the Ford and Meteor story. And, very accurately I must add.
bigdreams said
Feb 29, 2020
Not to keep this topic going longer than it should there are a couple of other points of interest around 61 meteors
A member of this site ( Kevin Jackson ) actually owns a very rare 61 meteor convertible
I remember seeing this car about 15 years ago at the Garden city car show
I have a vague memory that Kevin mentioned to me that only 4 of these cars were known to exist in driving shape
Interestingly enough this car has a twin in Swan River, mb
Secondly from the history of Canadian drag racing there was 61 meteor drag car in eastern canada
This car was mentioned in a Hemmings article on Tasca ford
As seen in the Catalina vs Strato Chief thread cdngmfan correctly identified the green wagon in the background. Anybody else wonder how he knew it was a Meteor and not a Ford?
1) Ford didn't offer one?
2) The chrome moulding down the side?
-Is the colour unique to Meteor?
The unique piece of curved trim on the front door.
There it is, mystery solved, the curved chrome. It was crusher bound so I towed it home for the ford guys I know....no takers yet though.
A bit pricey for a donor car...most of the parts are there..........end result would be a great (rare) wagon when done.
https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1121574/1961-mercury-meteor-for-sale-in-cadillac-michigan-49601
This would be a very rare and interesting car to save. I saw this when I visited Cheviac last summer and it caught my eye, along with the 57 Pontiac sedan delivery he had. What's there looks pretty solid too. Maybe with a good 4 door parts car it could be done. All the rare 2 door trim is there.
If that car was ever done, i have no doubt that it would be the only one in existence. You have got to love these super rare and special models, so beyond the norm and the boring.
Actually the ad is mislabelled, it's not a Meteor.
Meteor was based on the Ford body, not Mercury, which I think was bigger, and had different body panels.
Here is what the '61 Meteor would look like:
It may be the year that is mislabled in the ad.....according to Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_(automobile)
The initial 1949 Meteor was introduced on June 25, 1948, at the same time the Ford Deluxe and Custom series were introduced across North America, and shared the new postwar full-sized Ford bodies, chassis, and powertrains but with unique trim. It used a Mercury grille and was powered by a 100 bhp (75 kW), 239 CID flathead V8 similar to that used in 19461953 U.S. Ford passenger cars. Meteor, as well as the Canadian Ford, kept the flathead V8 engine through 1954. The new OHV V8 which US Fords offered beginning in 1954 was not introduced in Canada until the 1955 model year. The following year, Ford of Canada introduced a six-cylinder engine for Canadian Ford and Meteor cars. Meteor models continued to use the Ford body with unique items such as grilles, taillights, and moldings. The 19521954 Meteors used Mercury instrument panels and dashboards. In mid-1954, some Niagara and Rideau models began using Ford instrument panels and dashes. These cars were named Niagara Special and Rideau Special and were priced around C$67 less than regular Niagaras or Rideaus.
In 1954, Meteor changed to its own series names. The entry-level car was called just Meteor, replacing Ford's Mainline series. The mid-level Ford Customline became the Meteor Niagara, while the top trim level Ford Crestline became the Meteor Rideau. A rebadged, Canadian-built version of the Ford Ranchero was added in 1957, and continued to be produced until 1959 as the "Meteor Ranchero."[1] The Montcalm series was added in mid-1959 as a counterpart to Ford's new Galaxie models.
Meteor was discontinued as a brand name after 1961 for a number of reasons. The Meteor name was selected for a new vehicle introduced in the Mercury line, the intermediate sized Mercury Meteor, beginning in 1962, and the entire Mercury line had already been dropped down in price (moving closer to the niche previously served by the Meteor brand in Canada) due to slow Mercury sales and the discontinuation of the Edsel brand.
Interesting note from Wikipedia article:
Meteor was a marque of automobiles offered by Ford in Canada from 1949 to 1976. The make was retired for the 1962 and 1963 model years, when the name was used for the Mercury Meteor sold in the United States. It succeeded the Mercury 114, a Canadian-market Mercury based on the Ford, the "114" name being taken from the car's wheelbase.
It complemented the Mercury, and gave Canadian Mercury-Lincoln dealers a car to sell in the low-price market, against the Canadian Pontiac. Similarly, Canadian Ford dealers offered the Monarch, a line of cars based on the Mercury models, to compete against the Oldsmobile. This was due to the dealer structure in Canada, where smaller communities might have only a single dealer that was expected to carry a full line of models in both the low- and mid-price classes. From 19491959, Meteor typically ran fourth in overall sales, behind Chevrolet, Ford, and Pontiac.
My above comment was wrong, I just discovered that there was a Mercury Meteor sub-model offered in the US for 1961, but it was very different from the Canadian Meteor.
It's a little confusing, as the name was shuffled around somewhat during the 1960s. AFAIK, here is a rough summary of what happened (just doing this from memory, so feel free to correct anything I have wrong):
- Up until the end of the 1961 model year, Meteor in Canada was a unique brand of vehicle that utilized Ford bodies with unique styling cues, such as the one I posted the brochure pic of. It was intended to give Mercury dealers a lower-priced brand sell. The reasoning was along similar lines for the creation of unique Canadian Pontiacs using Chevrolet chassis and running gear to give Pontiac/Buick dealers a broader range of pricepoints, similar to Chevrolet/Oldsmobile - Ford had a slightly different philosophy but similar intent to cover a broader market range with its dealers.
- From the ad you posted for a 1961 Mercury Meteor, it appears that Mercury in US added it as a sub-model for 1961 only (?). I did not know about it until I looked it up today (brochure page below). It is definitely a Mercury body, and is decidedly different from the Ford-bodied Canadian car.
- To add to the confusion, in Canada, Ford dealers also had the Monarch to sell, which was used a full-size Mercury body with unique trim - to give Ford dealers a more upscale offering to help them compete in the mid-price segment.
- For '62-'63, the name was placed on a US mid-size Mercury branded vehicle, which was replaced by the mid-size Comet for '64 (which was a compact before '64).
- In Canada the Meteor nameplate reappeared for 1964 on a lower-priced version of the full size Mercury, which continued until sometime in the early '70s?
'61 US Mercury Meteor:
The mid size US '62 Mercury Meteor:
'61 Canadian Meteor:
'61 Ford:
'61 Canadian Monarch:
'66 Meteor:
'68...
Man am I glad you posted that picture! When I was a teenager pumping gas I used to fuel up a dark blue S33, a 1966 in navy blue. There is NO doubt in my mind it was an S33 but everywhere I look online all I can find is an S55.... I suppose the S33 is a unique Canadian model?
If I remember right the engine was odd too, I think it was a 410?
Hey Carl, yes I believe the S33 was a Canadian only model (not a Ford expert, though - maybe Pritch can chime in here?).
Here's a link to the brochure:
http://www.oldcarbrochures.org/Canada/Ford-Canada/Meteor/1966%20Meteor%20Full%20Line%20-%20Canada/index.html
I wasn't going to wade into this because I would expose myself as knowing something about Fords. On a GM enthusiast site that is akin to pouring honey on yourself and standing on an ant hill.
The Meteor in Canada was a Ford, sold as a value car at Mercury dealers. There was a corresponding car, the Monarch, that was a Mercury sold as an upscale line at Ford dealers. Then for a year or 2 the Meteor was a U.S. car based on the new unibody Fairlane. That silliness stopped for '64 when the Meteor was once again what it had originally been.
Ford has been playing footsie with names for eons. Now even there is a new EV SUV called E-Mustang. Years ago they had a fox-based LTD. Cougars went from being a ponycar to a luxury car to a boring intermediate line during the fox platform era. Oldsmobile also wore out the Cutlass name since it adorned the most popular car line, so they threw it on slow-sellers hoping people would only read Cutlass then buy.
That '61 Meteor wagon would have an equivalent Ford in a 2-door Ranch wagon. Thinking out loud about parts donors. BTW the door chrome was the first thing I saw in i.d'ing the wagon as a Meteor.
4SPEED427 wrote:
Man am I glad you posted that picture! When I was a teenager pumping gas I used to fuel up a dark blue S33, a 1966 in navy blue. There is NO doubt in my mind it was an S33 but everywhere I look online all I can find is an S55.... I suppose the S33 is a unique Canadian model? If I remember right the engine was odd too, I think it was a 410?
I test drove a Canadian Meteor Rideau with 352 engine in it, at ripe old age of 15. I remember the engine cubes, because the seller was telling me it was an experimental F**d engine
, with commonly known F**d engine being a 351.
LOL... I've never let that stop me...
I wish Johnnee had said that. I'd gladly pour honey on him while he stands on an ant hill...
I was thinking of you and your diabolical hatred towards "Johnnee D". I thought to myself, "yes, I can throw my support behind a good cause..."
In actuality, there is nothing wrong with Johnnee D except for the weird European sentiments. Next time I see him I will actually buy him breakfast or lunch (if I just said "breakfast" then some of you weirdos would get the wrong idea). Sick-o's.
Oh, if you only knew him...................
Not to keep this topic going longer than it should there are a couple of other points of interest around 61 meteors
A member of this site ( Kevin Jackson ) actually owns a very rare 61 meteor convertible
I remember seeing this car about 15 years ago at the Garden city car show
I have a vague memory that Kevin mentioned to me that only 4 of these cars were known to exist in driving shape
Interestingly enough this car has a twin in Swan River, mb
Secondly from the history of Canadian drag racing there was 61 meteor drag car in eastern canada
This car was mentioned in a Hemmings article on Tasca ford
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2014/02/27/the-tasca-ford-of-vermont-the-brief-life-of-drag-racing-powerhouse-willis-ford/