March 27, 2023
WELLAND, ON. – As kids growing up in a border town we called these Canadian Fords, but these days I know better. This 1957 Meteor Rideau 500 was photographed by Gary Swiatowy at the 2007 Last Chance Car Show (you can see more of Gary’s work on flickr @ swi66). Now, it’s pretty obvious that the Canadian-built and marketed Meteor is largely (almost entirely) based on the Ford so, why not call it a Canadian Ford? Because Ford-badged cars were also sold (and built) in Canada, so by that measure those would be the actual Canadian Fords. According to R. Perry Zavitz’s 1993 book “Monarch Meteor,” Ford sold 3,602 Rideau 500 four-door sedans like today’s RealRide. Contrast that with Ford’s total North American production of the Meteor’s equivalent Ford Fairlane 500 town sedan, which totaled 193,162 (total Meteor production of all models & body styles for 1957 was 34,164). They weren’t all as fancy as today’s RealRide, as you can see in the brochure illustration below of the base model Niagara.
Jim Corbran, RRofWNY
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