In 1961, Mercury introduced the Meteor as an entry-level full-size counterpart to the Ford Fairlane. One year later, the Meteor joined the newly created midsize car market. The vehicle was discontinued in 1963 after only three years on the market, and it's one of Mercury's lesser-known nameplates. But did you know Ford Motor Company used the Meteor name in Canada for decades?
It wasn't just a car that shared components with US vehicles. Meteor was a fully-fledged marque. It was set up by Ford Motor Company in 1949 to give Candian Mercury-Lincoln dealers a car in the lower-priced market. More specifically, it was aimed at Canadian-made Pontiacs.
The Meteor was Ford's second Canadian brand. In 1946, the company set up Monarch. Available at Ford dealerships only, the Monarchs were based on Mercury products and provided the brand with a competitor against Oldsmobile.
Meteor soldiered on through 1961 when it was discontinued due to the introduction of the Mercury model bearing the same name. The brand returned in 1964 and remained on the market for 12 more years. Meteor sold about 633,500 automobiles from 1949 to 1976, but the brand remains relatively unknown outside Canada. Some models are actually super rare. This 1960 Ranch Wagon is one of those rigs.
While Ford produced more than a million vehicles in 1960, Meteor rolled out just 19,356 cars. This Meteor Ranch Wagon, obviously based on the two-door Ford wagon made in the US that year, found only 491 customers. For reference, Ford sold more than 170,000 grocery-getters in the US in 1960, including 27,136 two-door rigs.
Now, 491 units may not be low enough to be considered "super rare" by classic car standards, but the extremely low survival rate of these vehicles makes the 1960 Ranch Wagon impossible to find. The owner claims he "scoured the internet" but couldn't find any other cars. If more survived, they're probably rotting away in junkyards or locked up in barns.
Manufactured in Ontario, the Ranch Wagon found its way into the US years ago. It changed many homes before it ended up with the current owner. The wagon got a sympathetic restoration but hasn't been returned to factory specs drivetrain-wise. Originally fitted with a 223-cubic-inch (3.7-liter) inline-six, the wagon was later equipped with a 360-cubic-inch (5.9-liter) V8 of the FE variety.
The current owner couldn't bring himself to put a six-cylinder back under the hood and opted to swap the 360 for a larger, 406-cubic-inch (6.7-liter) V8 with a 2x3-carburetor setup. He also sourced a four-speed top-loader from a 1964 Galaxie. All told, this Ranch Wagon is now an unassuming sleeper. And that's a great position for this rare gem to be in since it wouldn't be worth much in factory-stock condition. Check it out in the video below.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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