Monarch (Ford of Canada marque)

Monarch was an automobile marque of Ford of Canada, built from 1946 through 1957 and again from 1959 to 1961 and marketed as its own brand rather than as a Ford, with its own model names that included Richelieu, Lucerne and Sceptre. It was introduced on 23 March 1946 and was based on the contemporary Mercury, with Canadian market trim and unique grilles and taillights to differ slightly from its Mercury relatives. The Richelieu, Lucerne and Sceptre were variations of the Mercury Eight, later the Monterey, the Montclair and the Park Lane. The Monarch gave Canadian Ford dealerships a medium-price car to sell above their Ford-badged models, mirroring the Meteor that Lincoln-Mercury dealers sold below the Mercury, which was usual in a Canadian market where smaller towns might have only one dealer expected to offer a full range. The line was dropped for 1958 when the Edsel arrived, returned for 1959 after the Edsel's poor reception, and was dropped again after 1961 as medium-price sales fell and the similarly priced Ford Galaxie arrived; about 95,450 cars were built in fifteen years.