1959 Meteor Rideau 500 Montcalm (Canadian), Wyoming County, NY

So you’re looking at these photos of a 1959 Ford and you’re thinking, something looks different. And right you are. This is actually a 1959 Meteor Rideau 500 Montcalm — or as I used to call them as a young lad who spent many happy summer days in Crystal Beach, Ontario — a Canadian Ford.

Back in the late 1940s, Ford of Canada decided they needed products which would better compete in the medium-price range with Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and others of that type. The main problem with selling American cars in Canada was prices were generally higher north of the border while the average salary was lower. So Ford created two new lines to sell exclusively in Canada. One was the Meteor, which was a gussied-up Ford with trim changes and sold in Mercury dealers, and the other was the Monarch, a gussied-down Mercury sold at Ford dealers.

The car pictured here was spotted down in Wyoming County, and was the top-of-the-line model which was introduced halfway through the 1959 model year, coinciding with Ford’s new Fairlane 500 Galaxie series. The gentleman who owns the car told me only about 1,500 were made, so not only is it rare to see one 50 years later, but to find it in the U.S. is a real coup.

...from the brochure

Product placement 1950s' style: the Ricardos and Mertzes head to Hollywood in Ricky's 1955 Pontiac

Now that General Motors has taken my advice and decided to discontinue the Pontiac brand (”The Pontiac Niche” Artvoice, vol. 8, no. 12) let’s turn our attention to Ford. I know, they so far haven’t taken any bailout bucks, but that’s only due to the line of credit that CEO Alan Mulally had the foresight to obtain before this whole “auto industry-on-the-rocks” debacle began some months ago.

Okay Mr. Mulally (and you too Bill Ford, if you want the family name to still stand for something in the coming years), start up the company hacksaw and and make quick work of the Mercury division. Think about it: anyone who wants a Milan can buy a Fusion; Mariner? let me show you an Escape; Mountaineer shoppers won’t know the difference when they climb into an Explorer; Sable seekers who are far-sighted might just as easily step into a Taurus; anyone who simply must have a Navigator probably could either buy a pimped-out Expedition or — what the hell, a Cadillac Escalade, as Navigator sales figures can’t be large enough to make a difference losing a few sales to Cadillac.

I’m not so sure the answer is so easy at Chrysler. There’s a new Chrysler 300 coming down the pike soon. Rental car companies seem to love the Sebring and Dodge Avenger. The Dodge Caliber is a capable compact; and minivans are still holding their own (for now). Although everyone in the automotive press seems to think that Jeep is a huge asset to the company, if gas prices climb again to last summer’s levels Jeep dealers will be holding BOGO sales (”…and if you act in the next 15 minutes we’ll throw in a Ram pickup absolutely free!!”). The Fiat 500 will help if that deal ever goes through. Fiat also has a few more interesting small cars, but they better hope that anyone who remembers Fiat’s dreadful record of service and reliability from their last North American venture is either dead or too old to drive.

Should be an interesting few months for the auto industry.

Here's a picture of the sort of thing that got CWM in trouble

This week Chemical Waste Management was fined $175,000 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for violating its permits and the state’s hazardous waste laws. I don’t have much to say about that, except it doesn’t seem to me like too much money.

Last year, AV associate editor Buck Quigley and his band played a gig up at CWM’s annual open house. It rained.

For the especially interested, the press release from DEC follows after the jump.

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