Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609050593

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609050611

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609050616

The 1946-1948 Canadian Mercury 114. You will notice that the Canadian Mercury 114 is built on same 114" wheelbase as the regular Ford Deluxe and Super Deluxe models. The "true" Mercury (and the only one offered in the USA) was built on an extended 118" wheelbase. As a result, when you look closely, you can see that the Grille on the Canadian Mercury 114 is much flatter than the regular Mercury (118"). Compare these two closeup pictures of the Grilles. The Canadian Mercury 114 uses the same bumper bar front and rear, while the front bumper on the regular Mercury comes to a definite point in the centre. The regular Mercury on the 118" wheelbase was also sold in Canada, so buyers got a choice of two different Mercurys in various body styles.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609050616

Sharp eyed Ford Barners will notice that this Australian 1946 Mercury is fitted with the same year Ford Bumper Guards, (modified to fit the bottom bulge of the Mercury Bumper) not the correct Mercury Bumper Guards, as fitted to the USA Mercurys. Sad to say, but these were the only ones fitted to all Australian assembled 1946-1948 Mercurys.
Another anomaly, is that all Australian assembled 1946-1948 Mercurys were fitted with the standard 1946 Ford Deluxe/Super Deluxe rear Bumpers. After offering a more deluxe Ford, it is disappointing that Ford Australia chose to short-cut and fit these regular Ford items.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Interesting

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609051832

Nice colour advertisement for the new Canadian 1946 Mercury 114. A new, beautiful car, in the low price field!

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Thanks Trev. for pointing out the not so subtle differences between the two Mercs. It has been referred to (don't ask me where) that the hood ornament on the CDN model has art deco influence as well as the face of Mercury on the grille. Comments? Anyone ever meet Art Deco?Also for "47 on the glove box door there is "Mercury 114X" on the stainless trim. Useless trivia for sure! Good for 10 more HP.
s a Canadian don't know if I'm biased but I prefer the shorter sheet metal on the front clip as it makes the car look less heavy. JMHO. Bill

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609276693
Here is a "close-up" of that Mercury Head that appears on the Grilles of the Canadian Mercury 114 models. Is this what people are calling Art-Deco?

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609284155
Here is a picture of an Australian 1947 Mercury showing the 1946 Ford Rear Bumper and Bumper Guards that were Factory fitted to all Australia assembled 1946 - 1948 Mercurys. It is unknown why Ford Australia decided to cheapen the car by doing this?

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

I should clarify myself in the above comment about about all Australian Assembled 1946 - 1948 Mercurys having 1946 Ford Bumpers and Bumper Guards.
There was one difference, in that the "Ford Script" that was stamped in the middle of the 1946 Ford Bumpers was not on the Rear Bumpers used on the Australian 1946 Mercury. Also, the "Ford Script" disappeared on the Ford Deluxe and Ford Super Deluxe rear Bumpers in 1947.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Some might consider the Canadian 114 to be the predecessor to the Meteor introduced in 1949. Basically a Ford with a Mercury grille.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609298026
Ralph, I believe that you are 100% correct, however, the Meteor was never ever called a Mercury Meteor by Ford. it was just Meteor. The same can be said about the Monarch. While they were sold in Ford Dealerships, they were never called a Ford Monarch. Thanks for the 1950 Meteor Advertisement. All good for learning about these Canadian specific cars from Ford and Mercury.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

You are right and I've had to correct a lot of people on those points too. This ad just happened to feature both the Mercury and the Meteor in it since you could buy either one from the same dealership. If you wanted a Monarch you had to go the Ford dealerships. We had a Ford/Monarch dealership here in town. I still have some of their bill/letter heads with the name of the dealer on them.
Here is a 49 Ford + Monarch two page ad I have.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609301167
Hi Ralph, I have enlarged this 1949 Advertisement for the Monarch and Ford. Thanks for confirming what I said about the Meteor and Monarch, in that they were never called a Mercury Meteor or Ford Monarch by the Ford Motor Company of Canada.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

I really like those Formercs" in the brochures. It reminds me of when I was on a high school band trip to Winnipeg in 1957; the streets were full of "Plodges".:D

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609302494
Centre pages of the Sales Brochure for the Canadian 1949 Meteor. This is the car that replaced the Mercury 114. Notice that there is no mention of Mercury anywhere. These new for 1949 Meteors were just called Meteor.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

That club coupe in the lower "left" hand corner of your post really "trips my trigger".

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Wow! Excellent guys.
I am one of many guys in the U.S. that never could make sense out of all the different Ford, Mercury, Monarch and Meteor models.
Now I understand it.
The reason for it all will never make sense.
Thanks to everybody that posted on this thread.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Back to 114Xs, took me 20 yrs to find my long door '48 cpe. Production numbers for this body/yr are supposed to be under 500. Newc

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609305102
Love your 1948 Mercury 114 Sedan Coupe. It is a real beauty. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

The reason was that Lincoln Mercury dealerships were separate from Ford. LM needed a car for the buyer that couldn't afford a Mercury or a Lincoln so the Meteor was introduced. The same dealership could sell you a Mercury truck.
Ford dealerships wanted something a little more classy to offer customers who had a little more money to spend without sending them down the road to the Lincoln Mercury dealerships. So the Monarch filled that gap. Just a re-badged Mercury really.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Not sure that is totally correct on the Meteor. Had to do more with trade relations with Canada at the time and Canada developing cars. Kind of consistent for decades of ford.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Ralph, You summed up the situation perfectly, when you wrote:-

"The reason was that Lincoln Mercury dealerships were separate from Ford. LM needed a car for the buyer that couldn't afford a Mercury or a Lincoln so the Meteor was introduced. The same dealership could sell you a Mercury truck.
Ford dealerships wanted something a little more classy to offer customers who had a little more money to spend without sending them down the road to the Lincoln Mercury dealerships. So the Monarch filled that gap. Just a re-badged Mercury really."

Thanks for your clarification about these misunderstood Canadian cars. Regards Mercman <><

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

That's not true though. Even in America the Lincoln/Merc dealerships where separate. They did cross over here. But It had to do with trade. It had nothing to do about what you could afford. Ford is a big company that had many brands under them. Volvo was a ford car also. Just for patents. The general ford line was not used in Canada due to trade.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Maybe you Canadians guys can help out and can name at least a dozen Canadian car builders from 1920-1950 that have gone under. Probably a forum for it.


I love the Meteor and Monarch. But the base of how it was created was trade laws. Less you guys could buy a 1953 ford customline off fords line, oh ya they are Meteor with badging changes. No more and no less.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609317454
This is the Cover of the 1950 Meteor Sales Brochure. Nice.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Yes, I've read there were trade issues over the border that were part of the reason the Meteor and Monarch came to be.

Ford kept it interesting. For 51 the Meteor got it's own grille, no longer able to fit the big Mercury grille in the Ford front end. By 52 the top line Meteors got the Mercury engine and dash.
We never had six cylinder engines offered until 1955 as far as I know. Also Fords kept the flathead through 1954. Meteor also.
This is a locally owned 53 Meteor, top of the line Customline with the Merc engine and dash. Shows up at the local car show every year.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Yes Ralph like you Canadians us kiwis and Aussies were luckier than our Yank brothers as we got to keep the Flatty v8 another year too. We also got the Canadian aluminum intakes on our C59A engines from the factory which the US did not get on their 59AB.

Another US poster here mentioned the "Plodges" he saw while north of the border, these were also assembled here in the NZ Chrysler plant (Todd Motors).

Another interesting fact is that in Australia the 55/56 ford body style was carried over into the later 50's with a model known locally (probably colloquially) as a Ford "Star" because it had a huge star in the grill which I believe was picked off the Canadian Meteor/ Monarch...... Mercman will know for sure and will be able chime in on this one

GB

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609339175
Here is a larger picture of that Canadian 1953 Meteor. Very nice car.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

This is correct. To make a long story short, post-war Canadian Protectionist laws prevented the import of American cars.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

That would explain the "Cheviacs" too. Pontiacs with Chevy sheet metal and Pontiac engines. A neighbour had a nice 52 Pontiac coupe that looked a lot like a Chevy until you looked under the hood and saw the flathead six.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Your "Star" was a Canadian Meteor from what I have seen. I've always liked the Aussie "Utes" as well because we never had them here although a few built their own out of a sedan.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Ralph you mentioned the "cheviacs" . We got the Pontiac Laurentian which had a Chevy dash and a 283 donk.

GB

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

I took my driver's test in my dad's 64 Laurentian. 230 six cylinder with powerglide.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

I saw a Bonneville with a 409 once. Strangely, it was in the Florida Keys!

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609378777
This is the Cover of the Australian Sales Brochure for the new 1958 Fords that Ralph referred to. They were based on the 1956 model, as Australia never got the "true" 1957 and 1958 model Fords. As they were a "carry-over" model, Ford Australia had to do something different so people would know that they were a new car. The Grille is from the 1955 Meteor while the side strips are from the 1956 Meteor. These days, people refer to this model as the "Star Model" Ford.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609407543

Canadian 1954 Meteor Niagara Sedan that now calls Australia home.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609327642

Another Canadian Mercury 114 Grille showing the Mercury Head that is unique to these Canadian Mercury 114 models. The larger Mercurys that were available in the USA, all on a 118 inch Wheelbase didn't have this Symbol. This symbol is unique to the Canadian only Mercury 114 model.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

A line of new Mercury 114s shown in this photo from the book, "Meteor Monarch" by R. Perry Zavitz.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609472999
Thanks for this picture from R Perry Zavitz excellent book on these unique Canadian Cars. Unfortunately, Perry passed away on the 24th May 2020 aged 92. He is now with his Lord and Saviour.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1609479893

This is the cover of the book that was recommended by Ralph. The Title is "Monarch Mercury" by R Perry Zavitz.
A great book on these Canadian FoMoCo Products. Well worth trying to track down a copy.

Re: Canadian 1946-1948 Mercury 114
 

Yes, that is the book. I had not heard the author had passed on. I got mine at https://oldautos.ca/promotions/ and it looks like they still have copies listed for sale. There is also a section on Mercury trucks in the book.