The postwar product strategies of the American automakers in Canada can look awfully strange—until we recognize that the country has slightly more geographical area than the United States, but barely one-tenth the population. As a result, the dealer networks were spread thin. There weren’t enough retail locations to go around, especially in rural areas. Ford and General Motors, to name two, invented some novel product lines to compensate for the geographical gaps. At Ford, the solutions included two uniquely Canadian products: the Meteor and Monarch.
There was one more Canadian oddball that was offered for only one year, the Frontenac (below). Technically, the Frontenac was not a Ford or a Mercury but a standalone brand that allowed Mercury dealers to sell a rebadged version of the Motor Company’s new entry in the compact class for 1960, the Falcon. When Mercury introduced its own version of the Falcon, the 1961 Comet, the Frontenac was discontinued. Fewer than 10,000 Frontenacs were produced at Ford’s Oakville, Ontario plant.