Heritage
Pre-War Fords - Monarch
Mercury 114 | Meteor (Phase 1) | Monarch | Edsel | Frontenac | Meteor (Phase 2) | More Unique Mercurys
When the Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited developed the Mercury 114, Mercury dealers had an advantage over Ford dealers. They could sell cars in both low- and mid-priced fields. So that the Canadian Ford dealers could compete on a level playing field, Ford of Canada established a new make in the Mercury 118 class. Based on Mercury, it was called Monarch, and made its debut in 1946.
It used a chromed Mercury grille frame, and replaced Mercury's many thin vertical bars with three horizontal bars. Below the main grille, Mercury had two long oval openings. Monarch had these also, but placed just one bar across each instead of two as Mercury had. The general effect was a front looking more like a Ford than a Mercury, so that helped relate Monarch to Ford.
Fenders had fairly wide chrome strips running full-length above the wheels. Rear fenders added a lower second strip behind the wheel.
Monarch used Ford's oval tail-lights, and another strip of chrome crossed the trunk door between them. Above the license plate was a chrome Monarch nameplate.
Mercury's 239 cid V-8 was used, but rated at 95 to 97 hp instead of 100.
Like Mercury, Monarch offered just a single series. It included Tudor Sedan, Fordor Town Sedan, Sedan Coupe, convertible and station wagon. However, in the short 1948 model run only the Fordor and Sedan Coupe were built.
Prices ranged from $1462 to $1775, which was just $10 more than comparable Mercury tabs. In its initial year on the market, Monarch took ninth place in sales, coming just below Hudson but above Studebaker. It kept the same place in 1947, but climbed to 7th in 1948. But for much of 1948, Monarch was redesigned.
The radically new 1949 Ford products saw Monarch emerge in splendid fashion in the spring of 1948. Mercury's new body was a beauty, and now Monarch's grille took on an independent appearance. Bearing no resemblance to Mercury nor Ford, it had three thick horizontal and five vertical bars. Above the grille was a wide chrome piece upon which was the Monarch name and logo.
Monarch adopted the lion as one of its symbols. A leaping lion formed the hood ornament. It looked a lot like Jaguar's more recent symbol.
The Monarch name and logo appeared on the front door below the vent window. The rub strips were like Mercury's except at the front where it stuck out from the fender. This chrome piece had a forward mounted amber cat's eye reflector in the front end.
A regal looking chrome handle opened the trunk. Above it was a chrome piece like the one over the grille, but not as long.
