Meteor (car)
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Meteor was a brand of automobiles offered for sale by Ford in Canada from the 1949 to the 1976 model years. The name was retired for the 1962 and 1963 model years, when the mid-size Mercury Meteor was available. It succeeded the Mercury 114, a Canadian-market Mercury based on the Ford - thus the "114" for the wheelbase.
The word 'Meteor' usually appeared on the bonnet and was considered a marque, rather than a model, in Canada. It complemented Mercury and gave Canadian Mercury-Lincoln dealers a car to sell in the low-price market, against Ford, Chevrolet, and Plymouth. Similarly, Canadian Ford dealers had the Monarch, a car based on the Mercury. The Meteor generally ran 4th in overall sales, behind Chevrolet, Pontiac and Ford.
The Meteor was announced on June 25, 1948 as Ford's low-priced entrant. It used a Ford body with a Mercury grille. It was powered by a 100 bhp, 239 in³ V8. Meteor, as well as the Canadian Ford, kept the flathead V8 engine through 1954, and introduced the new ohv V8 for the 1955 model year. The following year Ford of Canada introduced a 6-cylinder engine for Canadian Ford and Meteor cars. There were numerous other model changes before the 'Phase I' Meteors ceased production in 1961.
Due to dealer pressures, Ford had released a low-priced "Mercury 400" in 1963 that stood in the price bracket formerly occupied by Meteor. Ford of Canada then relaunched the Meteor in 1964 as a lower priced product sold by Mercury, and dropped Mercury's Monterey series in Canada. However, Meteor was still a marque, rather than a model as in 1962 and 1963. The 1964 Meteor looked nearly identical to a 1964 US Mercury, save for its Ford dashboard and interior. In 1965, the full range of model names that had existed in 1961 returned: Rideau, 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.
The Mercury connection continued until 1976, the last model year for Meteor as a separate marque. Afterward, the Meteor name was used on a lower priced, detrimmed variant of the Mercury Marquis, called the Mercury Marquis Meteor, and built until 1981. Ironically, the final Marquis Meteors were built in the US and shipped north.
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