Why Canadian Monarch, Meteor, Fargo, Canso, etc.

[Carnut]

Anyone got the real skinny on why the different makes of U.S. Autos in Canada?

Was it a govmt to govmt thing?

A tax/levie thing?

Just a busness thing?

When did it start and when did it stop?

Did appear that for a time most U.S. 'Export' models had different names than the continental models.

Have always wondered why? Don't think I've ever really found a good explanation.

[parklane]

Ya, and don't forget the Beaumont eh? Actually it's cuz the good lord knew that us Canucks deserved a little extra, us bein so nice, courteous, and all.        Also, in the 40's, we had the Fords, Mercs, Monarchs in 114 and 118" wheelbase. Back in the 60's, the car that never got imported into Canada that should have was the Plymouth Belvedere - the smaller one.

John

[phat46]

I have never really thought about it, but living in a border town we see a lot of Canadan vehicles here. It used to catch your eye when you'd see a Meteor (Canadian Mercury) or a Fargo (Dodge truck) on the road, then you'd realise what it was. Nowadays all you might see is a Pontiac Paresian (sp) which is just a chevy Caprice from the 80's with Pontiac badges on it. The reast of the vehicles are the same. Once in a while we might see an import that is sold in Canada, but not in the states, like the Smart car i saw about a week ago, tiny thing, i wouldn't want to hit by a  Meteor in that thing!!!  

[Carnut]

What got me to thinking about the Canadian vehicles was my posting of

Peter Hourie's car pics from B.C. Canada.

http://carnut.com/photo/contrib/hourie/_picsm7.html

Kinda got me to wondering why the differences in the makes and models of
virtually the same cars.

Thought this was a pretty cool pic of a Ford/Meteor Victoria Hardtop.



and a 51 Mercury/Monarch.

[sirstude]

A friend of mine in Calgary has a 66 Grand Prix.  The body is Pontiac, but the drive train is Chevy.  427 and 4 speed.  Interesting combo.

Doug

[parklane]

All the Canadian Pontiacs are built on a Chev Frame, where the US ones are built on the Olds frames, and so the Murican ones are wider, but don't know by how much. I had a 58 Pontiac 2 door wagon, which they apparently didn't make in the US, and had it parked out front for sale. A fellow from Mich. stopped and was really interested in it, but couldn't figure out why it looked different than the US ones.

John  

[mrloboy]

I have had a number of Canadian built cars such as the ones mentioned. From what I understand, in regards to the Canadian Pontiacs was that they where issued to Pontiac dealers to compete with their Chevrolet counterparts. They where built on Chevy chassis, but had the Pontiac styling, although most American Pontiac sheetmetal parts will not interchange. The Canadian built cars were narrower and shorter. When I order parts for Canadian built cars, mechanically, Chevy stuff from the same vintage will interchange, but sheetmetal, you're on your own. The last Pontiac that I drove (sold a couple years ago) was a '61 Parisienne convertible. It originally came equipped with a 235 Chevy six and a powerglide. I also have four Pontiac Wagons (58, 59, 61 and 65) The 58 is all original with a 348, 4 brrl, dual exhaust and a 3 spd manual on the tree. I have never seen another like it. Another neat Pontiac was the Beaumont SD396, a close cousin to the Chevelle SS396. Pontiac also offered a version of the Chevy II Nova as an Acadian.
I also had a 57 Meteor Ranchero that was basically a Ford with a different grille, side trim and badging. The Meteor line, as well as the Monarch was issued to give the Lincoln-Mercury dealers a budget line to offer their customers. With the smaller population base in Canada, they needed to broaden the product line for the higher end car dealers. There are numerous other unique differences in the car lines. Another example was the 54 Ford line was still powered by the flathead V-8. The Y-block wasn't commonplace until 55. Mercury also offered a full line of trucks from the mid 40's until 1968. GMC trucks were basically Chevrolet units with the GMC grilles and badging.
I could keep going, but this is getting long-winded enough! There have been a few books printed that are dedicated to these unique Canadian cars, but they are getting hard to find.