James C. Mays

An Old Autos Pictorial Roll Call

Ford of Canada 1904-2004

Ford of Canada 1904-2004An Old Autos Pictorial Roll Call

James C. Mays

Syam PublishingWindsor, Ontario

N9C 1B4

Copyright Ó 2003 by James C. Mays

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electron-ic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission inwriting from the publisher.

The Ford, Frontenac, Meteor, Mercury, Monarch, Lincoln and Fordson names and their trademarked symbols are theproperty of the Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. They are used in this book for identification purposes only.

All images are courtesy of the Ford Motor Company of Canada,Limited.

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Mays, James, 1953-

Ford of Canada, 1904-2004: an Old Autos Pictorial Roll Call / James C. Mays.

ISBN 0-9697958-6-6

1. Ford Motor Company of Canada--History. 2. Automobile industry and trade--Canada--History. I. Title.

HD9710.C24F673 2004 338.7'6292'0971 C2003-905713-5

Layout by Old Autos Publications Inc.Bothwell, Ontario NOP 1C0

Made in Canada

First Edtion

ABCDE

Dedication

To every one of us from St. John¹s to Victoria and from Tuktoyaktuk to Pelee Islandwho has ever had a Ford in our garage or in our hearts.

Introduction

It began in 1904 at Gordon McGregor¹s wagon works in Walkerville, Ontario. The market was ripe; two other Canadian firms were alreadybuilding horseless carriages. McGregor and Henry Ford teamed up to supply Canada and virtually all of the British Empire with auto-mobiles.

The company grew. The brilliantly designed Model T shaped our nation as mightily as did the St. Lawrence River and the CanadianPacific Railway. Automobile manufacturing was seasonal because most cars were built and sold in warm weather. By serving Empiremarkets in the Southern Hemisphere, Ford became the first automobile manufacturer to employ workers year round.

Mass production and the Model T were a winning combination for the company and the country. Within fifteen years the Ford MotorCompany of Canada, Limited was the largest single manufacturer and taxpayer in the Dominion.

The company served King and Empire in World War One. Its engineers are credited with the invention of the motorized ambulance.Those engineers also created a school truck in 1918. Children in Edmonton were the first in the world to ever ride a bus to school.

There was no profit from 1931 to 1934. As the economically disastrous Dirty Thirties ground on, millions desperately sought work, foodand shelter. While Canadians suffered, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan prepared to dominate the world.

Sacrificing mightily in World War Two, Ford collaborated fully with archrival GM Canada to build more than half a million Canadian MilitaryPattern trucks. Ford dedicated 82 percent of its vast facilities to building war machines and the other 18 percent for the manufacture ofessential home front vehicles throughout the Dominion and the Empire.

The world changed rapidly after 1945. There were strikes, including the infamous 99-day work stoppage at Ford, as workers demandeda collective voice at the bargaining table. Ford¹s lucrative export markets dried up as the Empire and its colonies gave way to a newBritish Commonwealth of completely independent nations. Here at home, new post-war products included Monarch, Mercury trucks andMeteor.

After the war, Ottawa tinkered with taxes in a bid to balance the budget. In doing so, the federal Ministry of Revenue nearly destroyedthe entire domestic automobile industry. Ford, GM and Chrysler lobbied hard for change and finally got it in 1948.

In 1949, Britain¹s oldest colony was welcomed into Confederation. The country was complete, a mari usque ad mari from sea tosea. In Windsor, clerks at Ford moved the onetime Dominion of Newfoundland from the Export column to Domestic Sales.

The conflict in Korea disrupted manufacture from 1950 to 1953. Ford marked its 50th anniversary in 1954. As domestic automobilesgrew longer, lower and wider, Canadians by the thousands turned to small thrifty European cars. Many of them were Fords, sourced fromDagenham and Cologne. The Cold War, the atomic bomb and the space race between the USA and the USSR frightened the world.

AutoPact changed the face of manufacturing and the nation in 1965. Canadian factories were the first to experience the global villageas they were plugged into a duty-free continental system. Our distinct heritage was diminished as such glorious names as Monarch,Meteor, Frontenac and Mercury trucks quietly disappeared. They were replaced with hip, groovy cars like the youth-oriented Mustangand Cougar. While the snappy models were built in the United States, their drive trains were sourced in this country.

Throughout the Seventies and the Eighties, Ford built and sold an increasingly larger number of smaller cars. We bought chubby-cheeked sub-compact Pintos and Canada-only Bobcats. Mavericks and Comets were as common as snow in January.

Technology advanced. The company diversified, selling its tractor division in 1986 while taking on Volvo, Aston-Martin, Land Rover andJaguar. All outstanding shares of the Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited were purchased by the parent company in 1996, yetanother watershed.

Today, the Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited stands on the threshold of its second century. This mighty powerhouse has enor-mous potential yet to be unleashed, a leader and an innovator for many years to come.

As you enjoy this pictorial celebration of a great automaker and its offerings, keep this in mind‹had there been no Gordon McGregor,no Henry Ford, no Model T, our nation would not what it is today.

James MaysWindsor, Ontario2007

Biography

Mays family's folklore includes the tale that James' first word was not mama or dada--it was Buick. His mouth was immediatelywashed out with soap, because he was born into the home of respectable Nash people. The kid grew up passionately loving four-wheeled vehicles, especially the Nash, Hudson, Rambler and American Motors nameplates.

A respected authority on collectable cars, trucks and tractors, his special area of knowledge is the Canadian automotive industry,its personalities and unique products. His book, Rambler Canada: The Little Company that Could was named Best Read by theOntario Librarians Association in 2003.

Mays is a graduate of Andrews University in Michigan and Concordia University in Montreal. As an educator, he taught in some ofthe last one-room schools in the Maritimes. A meticulous researcher, he writes with insight and humour. The award-winning authorhas 32 books to his credit, including eight automotive histories.

Mays is prolific; he writes more than 300 articles a year, contributing to periodicals in France, Canada, the UK and the USA. Hisfeatures are found in V-8, Toy Cars & Models, Reader's Digest, OEM Off-Highway and Automobile Quarterly. His columns appearregularly in Old Autos--Canada's newspaper for the enthusiast and Old Cars, the largest and oldest of the American hobby news-papers. He is a staff writer for Vintage Truck, Antique Power and Belt Pulley.

A member of the Society of Automobile Historians and the Historical Automobile Society of Canada, Mays lives with his cat Fluffy inOlde Sandwich Town, a heritage neighbourhood in Windsor, Ontario, Canada's Motor City.

An accomplished chef and the author of five books of recipes, Mays won the Millenium Food & Beverage Award from Vogue maga-zine for his cookbook trilogy, You Can't Get Mad Vegan Disease.

His historical commentary is heard regularly on The Morning Shift, broadcast on CBC Radio One in Windsor. On the home front,he pens the monthly history column for Scoop. A permanent collection of his automotive works is housed at the University ofWindsor's Leddy Library in the James Mays Collection.

1

1905

After inking a dealto build Fords inthe Dominion ofCanada on August17, 1904, the firstModel C was com-pleted in October.It was largely anassembled car;parts were ferriedto Walkerville fromacross the DetroitRiver. Recordsshow that 25 ofthe two-cylinderautomobiles werebuilt by the end ofthe year, all ofthem 1905 mod-els. Another 98were completedduring 1905,seven of them thelarger Model B.

2

1906

The new and improved Model N debuted for 1906. It boasted a zippy four-cylinder engine that was capable of hit-ting speeds of 45 miles an hour. A total of 101 Fords were built that year: 76 were exported and 25 retaileddomestically.

3

1907

A Model Rjoined theFord familyin 1907. Itfeaturedrunningboards andothermechanicalimprove-ments. The com-pany built327 vehicles during theyear, mostof them the highly popular, $500 Model N.

4

1908

The 1908 Model S rode on a 120-inch wheelbase. A new sales campaign, “Watch the Fords go by!” was launched.It became one of the most famous advertising slogans in history and used by the company for nearly forty years.Production was off ever so slightly to 324 units, though 112 Fords were exported. None were shipped to PrinceEdward Island after March 26 because the legislature in Charlottetown banned all automobiles.

5

1909The first 1909 Model T rolled out the factory doors in October of 1908. It was an astonishingly simple vehiclewith its 100-inch wheelbase and nearly foot-high ground clearance. A Model T could go just about anywhere.Ford of Canada opened a wholly owned subsidiary in Australia during the year. Folks throughout the Empirerecognized the new Ford’s ruggedness immediately, snapping up 367 of the 486 Ts built here during the year.

9

1910

Model T production reached 1,280 units in 1910. The company boasted 118 employees at the end of 1910, up from17 in 1904. The 797 Fords sold domestically had four doors instead of three like the American versions and werebuilt with left-hand or right-hand drive because Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and British Columbia laws all requireddriving to the left.

10

1911TheCommercialRoadster wasoffered in both1911 and1912. HisMajesty¹sRoyalCanadian PostOffice pur-chased threeModel Ts todeliver mail inToronto. Thecompany wasreorganizedunder aFederal char-ter and recapi-talized at $1million. A totalof 2,805 Fordswere built in1911 and1,806 wereexported.

11

1912

While Dearborn did not build trucks until 1917, Ford of Canada did. These 1912 Royal Mail trucks made letter deliv-ery faster than ever. The payroll department issued cheques to 565 employees that year. Records also show that 60percent of all Fords were exported in 1912.

12

1913Fords were strate-gically packedinside of boxcarsfor shipment. Atotal of 6,556Model Ts were soldthroughout theDominion in 1913.Freight rates toCalgary orVancouver added$75; Hamilton,Ontario $15;Montreal $25 andSaint John, NewBrunswick $32.50.No longer import-ed, the companybegan building itsown engines onMay 20, 1913. Fordowners in theYukon wereadvised to add 60percent wood alco-hol to their rads forwinter driving.

13

1914The most elegant and most expen-sive Ford in the 1914 lineup wasthe Town Car. Production reached14,401 units in total and Canadiansbought 9,973 of them. Of the 5,627automobiles registered in Manitoba,2,057 were Fords. As a colony ofGreat Britain, our country wasplunged into World War One inAugust.

14

1915

Engineers at Ford of Canada are credited with having invented the motor-ized ambulance. Many conversion kits were shipped to France in 1915.Each Model T ambulance could whisk two wounded soldiers away fromthe front lines. Lifesavers that they were; the ride was unforgiving as noModel T ever had shock absorbers. One became so famous it was nick-named “Susan”. Most soldiers referred to them as “galloping bedsteads.”

15

1916

Folks in Sherbrooke, Quebec began buying Fords from the Sherbrooke Motor Mart in 1913. Here, the 1916 modelsare lined up in the snow. Canadians bought 24,441 Fords that year. Advertising boasted that if all the Fords sold todate were lined up bumper-to-bumper they would stretch from Toronto to Calgary. The company made moving pic-tures and distributed them to movie houses throughout the Dominion at its own expense to back the federal govern-ment’s War Bond effort.

16

1917The 1917 Coupelet was improved, charmingly finished and refined so much thatadvertising noted that “In the background above is a prominent Toronto residence.”Sales for the year reached 49,947 units. Ottawa instituted a temporary Income Taxto pay for the war. With an assessment of $1,782,094 Ford of Canada promptlybecame the nation’s largest single taxpayer.

17

1918Never built or sold in the US, Ford intro-duced an $850 One-Ton truck in 1918.Targeted to farmers who faced severelabour shortages because more than600,000 men were at war, the new trucksaved Ottawa from instituting foodrationing. Gordon McGregor offered toshut down the factories and send workersto reap the harvest that lay rotting in thefields. Newly recruited soldiers were sentinstead. On November 11, the war ended.A total of 61,661 Canadian soldiers gavetheir lives for King and Empire.

18

1919Hearses were an all too familiar sight throughout the land as The Spanish Fluswept the nation in 1918 and 1919 and claimed more than 60,000 lives. Thecarefully crafted coachwork on this 1919 Ford TT was built by the CanadianCommercial Body Company, Limited of Windsor, Ontario. The chassis cost $625.

19

1920This 1920 Special Body Open Buswas photographed in front ofWilliam Van Horne’s mansion inMontreal. The starter was a $100option on open cars that year andstandard equipment on closedmodels. A total of 31,805 Fordswas sold domestically in 1920.

20

1921

A 1921 Model T Tow Truck was a common sight throughout the Dominion. The sturdy vehicle could pull its own weight.

21

1922Another engineer-ing coup for Fordof Canada was theinvention of the“School Truck.”Children inEdmonton were thefirst in the world toever ride in such aconveyance, backin 1918. By 1922,school buses werean integral part ofCanadian life.Gordon McGregor,founder of the FordMotor Company ofCanada, Limiteddied in surgery inMontreal. He was49 years old.Lincoln joined theFord family in 1922and 23 of the luxu-rious cars wereimported.

22

1923The 1923 Model T Runabout carried a price tag of $405. The com-pany built 80,864 passenger cars during the year, of which 38,479were exported.

23

1924

The 1924 Ford Coupe listed for$665, including a $24.99 luxury tax for Ottawa. Total production for the year was 72,176 units. Domestic sales were 37,812 units, downsubstantially from the 42,385 units sold the previous year.

24

1925

As practical as a Model T, the inexpensive Fordson tractor revolutionized farming. This photo was taken in Januaryof 1925 at the factory. A total of 2,298 Fordson tractors were sold throughout the country that year. Since 1918, sixFordson tractors had been imported into the Dominion of Newfoundland.

25

1926One of 61,150 Touring cars sold in 1926, this Ford made history when Edward Flickenger,Ford of Canada¹s chief photographer and Dr. Perry Doolittle trekked across the countryafter backing into the Atlantic Ocean in Halifax on September 8, 1925. Twenty-two dayslater in Vancouver, they symbolically poured a vial of Atlantic water into the Pacific. It wasthe first time a car had driven across the country without leaving Canadian soil. Where noroads existed, the Ford travelled by rail, using special flanged wheels.

26

1927Henry’s Ladybowed for the verylast time in 1927.The final version ofthe Model Tweighed in at ahefty 1,961 pounds,761 pounds morethan its 1909 pred-ecessor. Recordsshow that 22,701Fords were soldbefore productionof the car that putCanada on wheelswas forever halted.A total of 39 Fordswere imported intothe Dominion ofNewfoundland thatyear. Records alsoshow that 45Lincolns wereimported intoCanada and soldthat year.

27

1928W.C.Campbell,president ofthe compa-ny, had thehonour ofdriving thefirst of thenew ModelA Fords offthe line. Thestylish newcar was fol-lowed outthe door by32,959 moreFords in1928. Anadditional230 ModelAs wereimportedfrom the USas were 50luxuriousLincolns.

28

1929This Model A was one of 41,399 Ford automobiles sold throughout the Dominion in 1929. Phaetons were still popularwith Canadians but would disappear from the market within ten years. Not a single new Fordson tractor was soldanywhere in the country during the year.

29

1930

This Model A Ford tow truck was one of 8,766 domestically built trucks sold in 1930. The HD 1 1/2-ton sold for $761.Another 52 Step-N-Drive trucks were imported from the US. Newfoundlanders bought 179 Ford cars and trucks dur-ing the year.

30

1931

It was a momentous occasion when the millionth Ford rolled out the doors on March 24, 1931. The most expensiveFord in the lineup that year, the maroon-coloured Town Sedan listed for $750. The effects of the stock market crashwere evident as only 16,565 Fords were built in 1931. A mere 16 Lincolns were sold that year and only 115 Fordswere imported into the Dominion of Newfoundland.

31

1932

Only 2,239 Ford trucks were built in 1932, the lowest production run in 15 years. This Grain & Stock modelcould carry 70 bushels of wheat. With a 8-inch stock racks in place, it could transport animals. Ford trucks werepowered with the trusty four-cylinder power plant, now tweaked to 50 horsepower. The assembly plant inMontreal was closed during the year. A mere sixteen Ford cars and three Ford trucks were exported to theDominion of Newfoundland this year.

32

1933

Pretty to look at,the Ford TudorSedan drew fewbuyers in 1933 asthe Dirty Thirtiesground on relent-lessly. Domesticsales dropped to9,177 units. Therewere 19 sales inNewfoundlandbut only three ofthe cars had V-8engines. SevenCanadiansbought Lincolnsand records showthat for the firsttime, ten BritishFords wereimported toCanada fromDagenham.

33

1934The Standard Tudor boosted sales in 1934.While the company was still in the red,domestic sales jumped to 14,442 Fords.Lincoln sales held steady at seven units forthe year. Of the 116,890 automobiles pro-duced by the entire Canadian industry, 41.57percent of them were Fords.

34

1935

This is one of the 405 stylish Sedan Delivery trucksbuilt in 1935. A total of 6,955 Ford trucks weremanufactured and sold in the Dominion that year.The Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limiteddeclared its first profit since 1931 on domestic andexport sales of $46.3 million. Ford owned 46.4 per-cent of the domestic market in 1935.

35

1936

Among the 21,014 Fords sold here at home during 1936 was this V8 Deluxe Tudor Touring Sedan. Records showthat 180 of the beautiful new Lincoln Zephyrs were built in Windsor and another 98 were imported from the US.Sourced from the UK, 60 British Fords found favour with Canadian purchasers. Exactly 80 Ford passenger carsand 40 Ford trucks were sold in Newfoundland during the calendar year.

36

1937The 1937 Lincoln Zephyr offered luxury at the relatively low price of $1,561.23 in the Dirty Thirties. Sales of theteardrop-shaped V12 luxury car totalled 353 units, of which 17 were built in Windsor. Only five of the largerLincolns were sold in 1937.

37

1938

A total of 7,692 Canadian-made Fords wereshipped to the Union of South Africa in 1938.Exactly 37,300 units were exported fromWindsor throughout the Empire that year,adding $19.7 million in sales.

The 1938 Deluxe Fordor Sedan sported such optional niceties as a second windshield wiper andtwo armrests. The Depression came back for a second bite and the final tally for domestic Fordsales was down to 21,631 units. Still in the black, sales for the year were $27.7 million.

38

1939The mid-sized and mid-priced Mercurydebuted for the 1939 model year with a retailprice of $1,140.19 including taxes. It filled theenormous gap between the bargain base-ment priced Ford and the ultra-luxuriousLincoln. With its 116-inch wheelbase,Mercury offered a very comfortable ride.Canadians snapped up 873 of them duringcalendar year 1938.

King George VI and Queen Elizabethdocked in Quebec City on May 17, 1939where they were greeted by the cheers ofhalf a million loyal subjects. Ford ofCanada commissioned a pair of speciallybuilt Lincolns for the month-long RoyalTour. Sales records indicate that only twoLincolns were imported in 1939, no doubtthey were the very same grand pair provid-ed for Their Majesties’ visit.

39

1940

Parliament declaredwar on Nazi Germanyon September 10,1939. Domestic salesdwindled as Fordimmediately began pro-ducing war vehicles forCanadian and Empirearmies. Final domesticsales totals for 1939were 15,700 for Ford,3,590 for Mercury, twoLincolns, 248 LincolnZephyrs and 13 BritishFords. This photo wastaken on the grounds ofthe 45-acre Windsorplant in 1940.

40

1941This Super Deluxe Convertible Club Coupe cost $1,423 and was one of 16,074 Fords sold in 1941.Automobile rationing had been in effect since April of 1940. Only civilians who could prove an “essentialhome front need” to the national Motor Vehicle Controller in Ottawa could purchase a new car.

41

1942The 1,724th Mercury was produced in Windsor on March 31, 1942 “at just minutes to midnight.” The list price forthe car shown below was $1,294, minus the spare tire and inner tube. For King and Empire, folks would makedo, there would not be another new car for civilians until January 15, 1946. Three Panel Delivery sedans andtwo station wagons were exported to Newfoundland under the Emergency Civilian Defense Programme duringthe year.

42

1943

Ford employ-ees turned outScout Carsaround theclock. Recordsshow that twonew Fordtrucks werereleased tocivilians in theDominion ofNewfoundland.Nine Fordswere manufac-tured in 1943and sold tocivilians inCanada underthe “essentialhome frontneeds” pro-gramme.

43

1944

Ford and GM co-operated to build more than half a millionCanadian Military Trucks. Eighteen Ford passenger cars andeleven trucks were sold to civilians in Newfoundland in 1944.The Motor Vehicle Controller in Ottawa released a total of 5,980cars, trucks and tractors of all brands to desperate Canadiansthat year.

44

1945

As victorydrew nearer,the lastWindsorCarrier wasproduced onApril 26, 1945.Exactly twentyFord passen-ger cars andone Mercurywere built dur-ing 1945 fordomestic civil-ian needs.Newfoundland-ers were grant-ed permissionto purchaseeight Ford pas-senger carsand 46 trucks.

45

1946

After a bitter 99-day strike, the firstpost-war Ford rolled out the doors onJanuary 15, 1946. It was followed by8,252 more during the year. The 2-millionth Canadian Ford wasproduced in August. Records showthat 49 Lincolns were sold, too. It wasthe first time that any of the presti-gious marque had passed throughCanada Customs since 1941.

Lincoln and Mercury were spun offinto a new dealer body in 1946, dou-bling Ford’s presence throughout theDominion. Ford dealers were giventhe upscale Monarch to sell.Salesmen promptly wrote contractsfor 3,760 of them.

46

1947

Lincoln-Mercury dealers began to sell Mercury trucks after the war. Matching Ford trucks modelfor model, above is one of 8,099 Mercury trucks built in 1947. A total of 19 Mercury school buschassis were shipped from Windsor. Records show that 57 Mercury trucks were exported thatyear. Newfoundlanders imported a total of 314 Ford cars and trucks.

47

1948

Workers pro-duced 9,936light-dutyFord trucks in1948. Another5,089 medi-um-dutyFords werebuilt duringthe calendaryear. Heavy-duty truckswere returnedto the produc-tion lines in1949. TheVancouverplant, in oper-ation since1935, wasclosed in1948.

48

1949

The Meteor took a bow in April of 1948 as a 1949 model. It sold 23,027 units in its first year on the mar-ket, making it the fourth most popular car in the country. Meteor’s introduction gave Ford of Canada fivedistinct brands. Advertising bragged that all of Ford products was so new that “there was nothing thesame but the air in the tires.” A total of 42 Fords was exported to Newfoundland before March 31, whenBritain’s oldest colony joined Confederation as Canada’s tenth province.

49

1950A total of 6,056 Monarchs was built in 1950. Thetwo-door “woodie” wagon was the most expensivein the stable at $3,523. It was also the last of thebreed as Monarch never again offered a stationwagon. There were 665 Ford-Monarch dealers and338 Mercury-Lincoln-Meteor dealers stretched outacross the land from St. Johns to Victoria.

50

1951

Meteor continued in popularity as 23,138 of Ford’s shining stars were built in 1951. The Custom Deluxe Convertiblecost a cool $3,024 before the Ministry of Revenue took its share in taxes. The Ford Motor Company of Canada,Limited paid $55,885,657 in taxes this year.

51

1952

Despite the conflict in Korea and serious steel shortages at home, 37,771 Fords were built in 1952. Ofthat number, 503 were exported. Pictured here is a Fordor Sedan. Ford began building a new factoryin Oakville, Ontario on May 2nd.

52

1953

This Consul wasone of 5,237 Fordsimported from theUnited Kingdom in1953. Domesticsales of all BlueOvals reached$287.4 million.Exports to otherCommonwealthcountries added$21.9 million to thefinal total. The payroll depart-ment issued $58.9million worth ofcheques to 15,604employees thatyear.

53

1954The 1954

Monarch Lucernefour-door sedancost $3,245 atintroduction timebut the price wasreduced by $373in January of1954. Monarchwas just one ofthe fiftiethanniversary mod-els unveiledbefore Ford’s1,003 dealers atthe GoldenJubilee NationalConference inToronto. Ford hada lot to be proudof at the half-cen-tury mark: it hadproduced 41 per-cent of all thecars made in thiscountry.

54

1955

On November 10, 1954, consumers got their first peek at the 1955 Ford lineup. The Customline Fordor sedan wasone of sixteen models offered. Fords ranged in price from $1,766 to a whopping $3,655 for the importedThunderbird. The company had its best year ever as dealers put 137,644 sets of new taillights on the nations high-ways and byways.

55

1956The 1957 Monarch (left) was dramatically lower, longer and wider than the 1956 Monarch. Sales weredropping for “the King of the Canadian Road,” as new car purchasers showed a strong preference forcompacts and even smaller European imports. Monarch production was 10,156 units in 1956 and 8,468units in 1957.

56

1957

The 1957 Meteor Rideau four-door sedan cost $2,947. It was one of 34,164 Meteors built during the model year.Domestic passenger car sales dropped sharply to 123,407 units at Ford because of a deep business recession.

57

1958Introduced on September 11, 1957 at the 618 Ford-Edsel dealerships, the1958 Edsel was available infour series and 17 models. The lower-priced Rangerand Pacer models were built in Oakville, the moreexpensive Corsairs and Citations were importedfrom the US. Two milestones were reached duringthe year when the 250,000th Meteor was built onJuly 10 and the 1,000,000th Ford was exported onJuly 15.

58

1959

Sales of British Fords rose 73.1 percent during 1959. The Anglia is just one of 11,230 Fords imported fromDagenham. European imports hit an all time high, taking 23.8 percent of all domestic sales for the model year.Total sales of all Ford products were only 91,545 units, a drop of 11.3 percent from 1958. A troubled economyand a crippling steel strike were blamed for the poor showing.

59

1960

Ford dealers got the new Falcon and Mercury-Lincoln-Meteor dealers were given the1960 Frontenac. TheCanada-only compact was an immediate hit, selling 9,536 units, or 20.4 percent, in its one and only year on themarket. A 1961 model was readied for production but it was nixed at the last minute in favour of the largerMercury Comet.

60

1961

The compact Econoline was one of more than 100 different Ford, Mercuryand Thames truck models sold by dealers in 1961. A total of 11,690 Ford and4,940 Mercury haulers was produced domestically in 1961.

61

1962

Designed to fill the size gap between compact and full-sized cars, Ford introduced a “senior compact” on a 115-inch wheelbase for the 1962 season. The Fairlane four-door sedan was one of the 22,332 mid-sized Fords builtin Oakville.

62

1963

The Canada-only Mercury 400 was an attempt to steal some of Pontiac’s sales.Unusual for the time, Mercury advertising mentioned its competition, the PontiacLaurentian, by name. The inexpensive Big M retailed for $2,764 plus $227.37 intaxes.

63

1964In 1964, Mercury Comet was offered in eleven models spread over three series,the 202, the 404 and the Caliente. The best selling Comet was the low-bucks 202four-door sedan seen here, of which 5,045 were built-accounting for one out ofevery four Comets rolling off the line. A total of 20,400 Comets were produced inOakville during the model year.

64

1965The1965 Ford Mustang was introduced at the World’s Fair on April 17, 1964. The very first one was sold toan Air Canada pilot in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Mustang was a sales phenomenon. Though it was not builtin this country, president Karl Scott told the press that thanks to AutoPact, Mustang’s engines, drivetrains andother components were sourced from Windsor. Base price for the pony car was $2,872.

65

1966

Seldom has there ever been an automobile with the elegance and class of the 1966Lincoln Continental. The graceful two-door hardtop listed for $7,282, taxes included.The Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited boasted 805 dealers across the coun-try at the end of the calendar year.

66

1967

Ford entered the4x4 pleasuremarket in 1966with the 92-inchwheelbasedBronco. In itssecond year itwas given seatbelts and apadded dash asstandard equip-ment. TheRoadster listedfor $2,886, thepickup for $2,973and the wagonfor $3,184. Salesof Bronco addedto the 97,149trucks built duringthe calendaryear.

67

1968Meteor celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1968 with a special Anniversary Edition.Only 514 of the Lemoyne four-door hardtops were built, each with a sticker price of$4,001.

68

1969The imported Ford Cortina was a popular seller, finding 11,376 buyers in 1969. Thetwo-door sedan cost $1,899 FOB when delivered in Halifax and $1,945 when deliv-ered in Vancouver.

69

1970

Built in St. Thomas, Ontario, the company’s second go at the compact market was the Maverick, introducedfor the 1970 season. Production of the Maverick reached 184,474 units in 1969, capturing 17.7 percent of thenational manufacturing pie, outstripping production of all other models in the country.

70

1971

1971 Ford Torino Squire retailed for $4,055. Theeight-passenger Econoline Club Wagon listed for$3,915 and the posh LTD Country Squire Wagonsold for $5,212. All three were popular sellers.The intermediate Torino returned to production inOakville in 1971 after a year’s absence.

71

1972

1972 Ford Ranchero Squire carried a sticker price of $3,702. It could pull loads of up to 6,000pounds. A sporty GT version of the “man-sized pickup car” was also available at both Ford andMercury dealers.

72

1973

In its last year onthe domestic mar-ket, Ford’s Cortinamade its strongestshowing ever. Theimported Fordracked up 12,135sales in calendar1973. Internal pro-jections for 1974predicted 15,000sales but the sud-den rise of theBritish PoundSterling, coupledwith new, domesticfederal safety regu-lations, endedCortina’s long and successfulCanadian run.

73

1974

Mercury-Lincoln-Meteor deal-ers were givenits smallestMercury everwhen the sub-compactBobcat arrivedon showroomfloors for the1974 seasonwearing abase stickerprice of$2,930.Advertised as“a lot of car fora littlescratch,” folkssnapped up11,561 of theCanada-onlycuties.

74

1975The “precision-sized” Granada was introduced for the 1975 season. The handsome car drewfavourable comparisons to Mercedes-Benz. Of the 302,650 units built in the Wayne, Michiganplant, 61,353 were exported, many of them to Canada.

75

1976

The Olympic Edition of the Mercury Bobcat debuted on November 11, 1975. Oneadded $118 to the base price of $$3,358 for the special model or $278 for anOlympic Edition with a smartly upgraded vinyl interior.

76

1977The 1977 Mercury Marquis was imported. The swanky four-door, pillared hardtopcarried a list price of $6,267. Like all other Ford products, the warranty was honoured for twelve months or 20,000 kilometres at any of the 761 Ford andLincoln-Mercury dealers throughout the country.

77

1978

Ford enjoyed its fourth best year in history with sales of 212,342 passenger cars in1978. The all-new Lincoln Mark III was shown off in fine company alongside theclassic 1940 Mark I and the 1956 Mark II.

78

1979

Ford celebrated its 75th year as a Canadian automaker in 1979. TheCruising Wagon package added $654.70 to the $5,203 sticker price onthe Pinto wagon. The mod car reflected the decade and the “Me Too”generation perfectly. Pinto production returned to Canada in Septemberas a 1980 model and 22,312 were built by year’s end.

79

1980

The handsome1980 Granada was passed up by consumers; many who opted for imports andsmall cars. Honda was the best selling of the lot, followed by Toyota. Assembled in Dartmouth,Nova Scotia, even Lada sold 9,300 passenger cars. Ford finished the year $50 million in the red.The company closed the foundry in Windsor and laid off the second shift at the Oakville plant.

80

1981With a base price of $6,233, the new Escort wasn’t enough to pull the companyout of the red in 1981. Losses for the year were $98.9 million.

81

1982

The 1982 FordBronco was littlechanged fromlast year. Trucksales dropped to54,892 units forthe model yearand the compa-ny finished$107.8 million inthe red, for thesecond year in arow. On thebright side,Escort took thehonour of beingthe best sellingcar in the coun-try in 1982.

82

1983The downsized 1983 Mercury Marquis used Ford’s 2.3-litre engine as standard equipment but offeredthe snappy 3.8-litre V6 for an extra $369.80. Air conditioning added $1,064 to the sticker price and ablock heater cost $24.90. The company spent $66.4 million to upgrade plants during the year.

83

1984

The first Ford 1984 Tempo rolled out the doors of the St. Thomas, Ontario plant in May of1983. With a starting price of $7,782, it promptly rocketed to the top of the list as the mostpopular vehicle on the road. The Tempo GXL Diesel Sports Coupe cost a cool $9,988.

84

1985The St. Thomas plant became the sole source worldwide for the Crown Victoria in 1985. The full-sized Ford carried a base price of $13,581. It turned out to be Ford’s best year in a long time astotal domestic car and truck sales reached 308,503 units.

85

1986

The Ford XT Lariat Super Cab was just one of the 125,260 trucks sold in1986. The F-Series took top honours as the best selling trucks in the countryand Tempo was the most popular selling car in the country, again.

86

1987The 1987MerkurSkorpio wasan upscalecaptiveimport. A totalof 834 of theposh unitssold duringthe calendaryear. Tempowas the mostpopular pas-senger carand the F-seriestrucks thebest sellingvehicle.Dealers sold193,834 newcars duringthe year, anincrease ofthree percent.

87

1988

Built in St. Thomas, the Crown Victoria was purchased by 8,332 Canadians during the 1988 calendar year. It was one of a record-setting 335,875 units retailed domestically. Profits soared to $270 million on sales of $15.9 billion in 1988. Part of that profit came from the saleof the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary in the Republic of South Africa.

88

1989Introduced inJanuary of 1989,the tiny Festivafound 5,946 ownersduring the calendaryear. The micro-Ford was sold byboth Ford andMercury dealers inthe “Basic-Small”segment of themarket. The F-Series pickupwas the top sellingvehicle with 60,120sales and Tempowas once again theNumber One sellingcar in the nationwith 48,975 unitsdelivered. When thebooks closed at theend of the year, itwas the secondbest in Ford’seighty-five year his-tory.

89

1990

Registrations ofthe1990 Ford Probedropped to 4,406units compared8,810 in 1989. Thesporty model waspowered by a 3.0-litre, electronicallyfuel-injected V6engine. When somecomponent sub-assembly jobs wereshifted to Mexico,140 workers in St.Thomas foundthemselves out ofwork. Substantiallosses by theAustralian and NewZealand subsidiariesplunged Ford ofCanada into the redby $57 million.

90

1991

The 1991 Mercury Grand Marquis Colony Park Wagon was finished with urethane clearcoatpaint. New car registrations were up to 7,708 units from 6,400 in 1990 and 7,820 units in the1989 calendar years. The controversial federal Goods & Services Tax took effect on January 1.Introduction of the GST dampened sales throughout the industry. Ford posted a staggering lossof $209 million on sales of $4.4 billion.

91

1992

Folks purchased 7,457 new Sables in 1992. Total domestic Mercury sales were 36,384 units forthe calendar year. While the company lost $413 million on sales of $5 billion, it was noted that thefinal figure was a $76 million improvement over the previous year’s finish.

92

1993Sales were off slightly for Taurus in1993 as consumers purchased 25,734units. It was the fifth best selling car in the country, followed by Tempo in sixthplace and Topaz in seventh. Model year sales for passenger cars were259,649 units. Shown is the Ford Taurus LX wagon.

93

1994A captive import, the Ford Aspire sold 3,195 units in 1994. Great hope was pinnedon the new mid-sized Windstar van that began production in Oakville during theyear. Sales were in the red, but ever so slightly. The $35 million loss was much bet-ter than the $212 million deficit posted in 1993.

94

1995

Popular with theMounties and policedepartments rightacross the country,Taurus regained fifthspot in the nationalsales race in 1995as 26,619 units weresold domestically.Escort jumped fromeighth place to claimthe fourth position,racking up 26,940sales. Total sales forthe blue oval were127,565 units for thecalendar year.

95

1996Blue Oval truck sales rose to 188,479 units for the 1996 model year. The Ford Ranger XLT Super Cabis shown. Daytime Running Lights became the latest mandatory safety feature on all domestically soldautomobiles and trucks by decree of the federal Ministry of Transport.

96

1997Dealers delivered 4,372 Lincoln Mark VIIIs during the 1997 model year. The sug-gested retail price for Oakville’s corporate flagship was $53,695. The LSC sold for$55,295.

97

1998

The1998 FordEscort ZX2retailed for$15,595 in baseform. With bolt-on wheel covers,colour-keyedsteering wheeland body-sidemouldings, airconditioning,dual power mir-rors, front andrear carpet matsand remote driver’s doorentry with panicalarm and trunkrelease, theprice rose to$16,995.

98

1999

The1999 Mercury Cougar two-doorcoupe with the V6, 2.5-litre, 24-valve Duratec engine listed for$21,895. There were 568 dealersacross the country.

2000

99

The 2000Ford Focuswaslaunched onOctober 1st,1999.Canadianssnapped up2,179 of the“ExpectMore” carsin its firstthirty dayson the mar-ket. Focusearned theCar of theYear awardfrom theAutomobileJournalistsAssociationof Canada.

100

2001

With a suggested retail priceof $66,415, the 2001 LincolnNavigator was Oakville¹sentry into the ultra-luxurioussegment of the SUV market.

101

2002

The Mustang carried a base price of $27,795. Total domestic sales rose 2.8 percent over 2001. Records showed that 258,807 Ford and Lincoln units were delivered during the 2002 calendar year.

102

2003

Ford’s fabulous five Centennial Edition vehicles went on display at the Toronto International Auto Show on February 13, 2003.

103

2004

The FordMotorCompany ofCanada,Limitedentered itssecond cen-tury withstate-of-the-art productslike this 2004Freestar.

Acknowledgements

A huge debt of gratitude is owed to Sandy Notarianni, who was Historical Consultant and Archivist at the FordMotor Company of Canada, Limited for many years. Her vast knowledge and gracious assistance as I searchedFord’s archives for this book were invaluable. I would like to thank Jan and Murray McEwan at Old Autos for tak-ing a chance on a completely unknown writer ten years ago. I wish to thank automotive historian Patrick Foster,who challenged me to start writing in the first place. Then I must thank editors Pat Ertel at Vintage Truck, Chad andKatie Elmore at Belt Pulley, Merry Dudley at Toy Cars & Models and Keith Mathiowetz and Angelo Van Bogart at OldCars for constantly stretching my limits as an automotive historian.

There are friends and family to thank, the good folks who believe that my next book is even better than the last.Thanks to Peter Annan, Jay Banks and Shaun Gereghty, Howard Belsky and Glenn Burt, Dale Campbell, MaryAnn and Kathy Cuderman, Kevin Demars and Mel Caza and family, Reid and Margaret Coolen, Alice D’Odean,Lois Graham, Nicole Green, Randy Green, Lee and Michelle Hastings, Dave and Clare Ivany, Anne Jared, Donand Sara Kochersperger, Paul Lehman, Gerry and Mark Lehman, Myke and Penny Leonard, Nathalie Maillet,Margaret Marshall, Elizabeth Miller, Wayne and Becky Mays, Gordon Mays, Mike McMullin, Pearl Nolan andSelena Kersey and family, Dorothy Jean Perkins, the Plenderleith family, Beverly Reeves, Vince Ruffolo, AndrèsRunnels and family, Rob Saunders, Carole Shepard, Craig Shoemaker, Rob Tymec, Darryl Swaine and Jenny O,Dick and Lely Tucker, Bob Vock.

Finally a gros merci to François Pigeon who is a dear friend and the very best mechanic in the world and actedadmirably as a grief counsellor when I laid my cherished Rambler to rest!

James C. Mays2007

Ford of Canada 1904-2004An Old Autos Pictorial Roll Call

James C. Mays

Syam PublishingWindsor, Ontario N9C 1B4

Other automotive books by James C. Mays--

Rescued & Restored: Canadians and their Collectable Cars

Rambler Canada: The Little Company that Could

The American Motors Century

Ford and Canada: 100 Years Together

From Kenosha to the World: The Rambler, Jeffery and Nash Truck Story

The Savvy Guide to Buying Collector Cars at Auction