Thursday, April 10, 2014

Mercury Econoline... because Canada had Mercury branded Fords for some unknown reason



Found on http://sketchy-vans-and-other-vehicles.tumblr.com/

And now we've all seen a Mercury Van... I bet no one ever made a song about one though

9 comments:

  1. Jesse, I have seen many Mercury pickups but that's the first van I can remember. Now, concerning a completely different truck, I think you should see this Youtube video - I stumbled across it on the 'Truque' tumblr page - it's the wildest Corvair I'd never seen...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CeCkCrcso98

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  2. The reason that Canada had unique Mercury models including trucks, was that smaller communities would have a Ford dealer or a Lincoln-Mercury dealer, but not both. So, for farming communities, a L-M dealer would not have a truck line, or a lower priced car line. Hence the creation of Mercury trucks, and the Meteor and Monarch car lines. It was primarily for dealers to have a wider selection of models.

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    1. So... Americas smaller communities? The same problem wasn't in the US as in Canada? Your explanation doens't make sense to me... the rest of the world has the same situation with small farming communities, but never the Mercury trucks and vans, nor the Meteor and Monarch. Do you have a better explanation? Isn't it as simple as Ford and GM corporate decided to put more names on their products to distinguish between Canada, America, and Australian models?

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  3. No, because of the smaller population in Canada, and the difference in the dollar, and the price of Canadian vehicles were higher proportionately than in the US. It wasn't just a money grab. It was a smaller dealer network here, and if a town had only an L-M dealer, if you remember, Mercs were always higher priced than Fords. Also Pontiacs higher priced were higher priced than Chev's. It was to give those dealers and customers more of a full range of models and also cheaper models for those "one dealership" towns. The Monarch was for Ford dealers to attract the "mid range" customers (ie Mercury) to their dealerships. The Meteor was for L-M to attract "lower priced" customers to their showrooms, and to give them a "truck line". Plus our dealer system is different than in the US. And at that time Canada's population was probably about 15 million compared to 150 million in the US. So less population meant dealer's had to do more to survive than in the US, and so Ford and GM of Canada, and Chrysler to an extent, made distinctly Canadian models. I can't speak of a similar situation in the US or other countries, I just know what happened here.I'm sure smaller farming communities in the US might have had the same problem. But Chev had their truck line, Pontiac had the GMC line, L-M dealers didn't have a truck line, but L-M dealers might have been able to carry the Ford truck line in the US. In Canada they were not. I don't know why you have a problem understanding this, seems straight forward to me.

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    1. most of what you're saying is making sense... I'm asking a question beyond what you've covered, and asking questions you haven't addressed. Lets see... Ford made trucks, put the Ford name one them, but in Canada they put the Mercury name on it... why? The Ford name would sell in Canada just like every where else, and in Australia and England, they changed the name to Monaro, and Anglia. The Chevy stuff in Canada is a mix of Pontiac and Chev parts, but they also sold straight Chevy cars. My lack of understanding is why they would put the Merc name on a Ford, in Canada, but in the same demographic of small rural delaership situation in anywhere else on the planet, the truck was a Ford. And no Merc trucks anywhere else. See what I mean? Why only Merc trucks in Canada? Just take for granted there is a lot I don't understand, and a lot I do... it's just that way

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    2. also, who else do you know that has ever asked such a question, been curious, and wants to learn such things?

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  4. Ok, no worries. But as I said it was to give L-M dealers a truck line that they didn't have. Ford dealers in Canada only carried Ford, period. L-M dealers carried strictly Lincoln and Mercury.So Ford of Canada designed the Mercury truck line for L-M dealers, which were basically Fords with a few minor obvious changes.I can't explain why Ford of Canada made such stipulations, but regardless of why, they did. Ford of US was set up differently, and the dealership network is different. So, if a town in Canada just had an L-M dealer, a someone wanted a truck, the customer would go to the Chev or GMC dealer, or go to Dodge, or go to the next town. From what I understand and have read, Canadian dealers complained about this, and this was the result. The same thing happened with Pontiac dealerships here. When the Vega came out in the US and Canada, Pontiac dealers here wanted those small car sales that their Chev dealer counterparts were getting. At that time, Pontiac had no small car equivalent. So, GM Canada created the Pontiac Astre which we got in 1973. It came to the US in 1975. Same thing with our Acadian and Beaumont. It was so our Pontiac dealers would have a comparable lineup to Chevrolet dealers.

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  5. My father bought a brand new 1965 Mercury Econoline Van from Brown Brothers Ford in Burnaby, British Columbia. It was a camperized version with a side step that popped out when you opened the side doors and screen windows with glass slats on the rear side windows that could be opened and closed for ventilation. Because it was only a handful of econolines made for 1965, which I understand the Mercury label of these vehicles was no longer made, the insurance was always a hassle. No insurance vehicle description book showed the Mercury Econoline Van for anything beyond 1964. I believe Ford plan switched to Ford Econoline Vans for the main production run. My father was told fewer than 10 of the camper versions were made with Mercury labeling. He bought a red camper version, which was shipped from Quebec to BC via rail. To satisfy the insurance companies, my father had to insure the vehicle as a 1965 Mercury Station Wagon because my father's van had rear seats for passengers, this made the most sense as a compromise for insurance purposes. It was a very functional vehicle, which as my father always pointed out could hold several 4x8ft sheets of plywood. This made home renovations and repairs easier. It also made a good camper where two people could sleep comfortably without a need for a tent.

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    1. thank you for the story and the history of your dad's camper van!

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