Meteor (car) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Meteor was a brand of automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

s offered by Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

from 1949 to 1976. The brand was retired for the 1962 and 1963 model years, when the name was used for the Mercury Meteor

Mercury Meteor

The Mercury Meteor was an automobile model produced by the Lincoln Mercury division of the Ford Motor Company from 1961 to 1963. For 1961, the name was applied to low-end full-sized vehicles; for 1962 and 1963, the name was applied to Mercury's mid-sized sedans, in a marketing attempt to appeal to...

sold in the United States. It succeeded the Mercury

Mercury (automobile)

Mercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand...

114, a Canadian-market Mercury based on the Ford

Ford Motor Company

, 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 Ford

Ford Motor Company

, Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

, and Plymouth

Plymouth (automobile)

Plymouth was a marque of automobile based in the United States, produced by the Chrysler Corporation and its successor DaimlerChrysler.-Origins:...

. Similarly, Canadian Ford

Ford Motor Company

dealers offered the Monarch

Mercury Monarch

The Mercury Monarch is a compact sedan manufactured by the Ford Motor Company; it was sold by the Lincoln-Mercury division from 1975 to 1980....

, a car based on the Mercury

Mercury (automobile)

. This was due to the dealer structure in Canada, where smaller communities might have only a single dealer who was expected to carry a full line of models in both the low and mid price classes. From 1949-59, Meteor typically ran fourth in overall sales, behind Chevrolet, Pontiac and Ford.

The initial 1949 Meteor was introduced on June 25, 1948. It used a Ford body with a Mercury grille and was powered by a 100 bhp, 239 CID V8. Meteor, as well as the Canadian Ford, kept the flathead V8 engine through 1954. The new 239 CID OHV V8 was not introduced in Canada until the 1955 model year. The following year Ford of Canada introduced a 6-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 1952-54 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 $67CDN 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 "Customline" became the "Niagara" while the top trim level changed from "Crestline" to "Rideau." For 1955 Ford's premier series was renamed "Fairlane." Meteor continued to use the "Rideau" name for its' top series through the end of the marque in 1961.

Due to dealer pressure, Ford released a low-priced "Mercury 400" in 1963 that stood in the price bracket formerly occupied by the Meteor. When the intermediate Mercury Meteor was dropped after 1963, Ford of Canada relaunched Meteor as a standalone make in 1964, and dropped Mercury's Monterey series in Canada. The 1964 Meteor looked nearly identical to the 1964 Mercury, save for its Ford dashboard and interior, and was available in a base and Custom series. For 1965, the full range of model names that had existed in 1961 returned: Rideau

Meteor Rideau

The Meteor Rideau was a full-size automobile from the Canada-only Meteor brand of the Ford Motor Company sold from 1954-61 and 1965-76. From 1957, the line included both the Rideau series and the higher-trim Rideau 500. The Rideau began as the top-trim level of the Meteor line, but beginning with...

, Rideau 500 and Montcalm. The Montego was added as a top range model for 1967, but when that name was selected for use by Mercury in the U.S. beginning in 1968, it was renamed LeMoyne, and continued through 1970. A sport themed Montcalm S-33 model was available from 1966-70.

Although Meteor was still considered as a separate marque through 1976, after 1968 the cars also carried Mercury badging and were advertised as the "Mercury Meteor". After 1976, the Rideau 500 and Montcalm names as well as the unique trim items were dropped. The Meteor name was then used on a lower priced variant of the Mercury Marquis

Mercury Marquis

These were known as the "Continental Styling" years, as Mercury was trying to market itself as an affordable Lincoln, rather than a more expensive Ford...

, called the Mercury Marquis Meteor, built until 1981.

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