At first glance, you’d think this triple-colored beauty from 1957 is a Ford Fairlane 500. But you’d be wrong, as it’s a Meteor Rideau 500 built by Ford Motor Co. of Canada. Looking closer, you’d find that the grille and trim are different, yet not by a lot. This machine was restored in 1990 but received a refresh in 2014. If you’re searching for something a little out of the ordinary in Ford circles, check this one out in Chilliwack, British Columbia, and here on craigslist, where it’s available for $48,500 (CDN or USD?). Thanks for the cool tip, Scott.”
The Meteor Rideau was produced in Oakville, Ontario, from 1954 to 1961, and again in 1965 through 1976. The Rideau name was borrowed from a local river that ran in the area. In 1957, two trim levels were offered, the Rideau and Rideau 500 (like the Fairlane and Fairlane 500 in the U.S.). But to drive either the Rideau or Fairlane, you probably wouldn’t notice many differences.
We gather this car was in the same collection for at least 22 years (’90 to ’12). At that time, the odometer read just 53,000 miles. The “Ford’s” 312 cubic-inch V8 and automatic were redone in 2014, and few miles have been added since. The seller says the engine puts out 212 horsepower thanks to fuel injection (was that offered by Ford in 1957?), and the transmission is now a 4-speed from the 1990s.
The body, paint, and passenger compartment appear to be flawless. And power steering and brakes are there to improve the driving experience. 1957 was one of the few times Ford outsold Chevrolet, and we wonder if Ford of Canada’s output contributed to that enormous feat.
The Rideau River is in Ottawa, in the same province as Oakville, but about 5 hours apart.
Ah Chilliwack my hometown. Best thing I ever did was leave their lol. To be fair though, there was and is some very talented street rod builders there and in the rest of the Fraser Valley.
RKS- Chilliwack was a pretty good band back in the day.
Fly by Night 🌙 🎶 Franko 👍
Introduction: The 312 Y-block V8 debuted in 1956 for the 1956 model year.
Bore and Stroke: The engine had a bore and stroke of 3.80 x 3.44 inches (96.5 mm × 87.4 mm).
Performance: The standard 312 offered 225 horsepower at 4600 RPM.
Variations: A high-performance version with two 4-barrel carburetors was available, producing 270 horsepower.
Q: Were any Supercharged 312’s built in Canada? I kind of doubt it but anything’s possible.
Being from Ottawa i can say the Rideau river is not anywhere near where thos car was produced.
Living in a northern state close to Canada, hey, every once in a great while, a Canadian car would drift south to Wisconsin. We gawked at it like it was from some bizarro world. They looked like our renditions, but with unusual add-ons. Mostly Pontiacs, but a few Mercurys, and the names weren’t Fair-a-lanes or Bonneyvilles either. Some Frenchy mumbo jumbo, for some reason, the old man wouldn’t let me take French class in HS, but they were nice(r) looking cars.
“Some Frenchy mumbo jumbo” You are a real diplomat, pal. Please remember that Canadians are our friends.
Forgiveness, please,, I meant no disgrace. To me anything but good old English is mumbo jumbo, don’t take it so personal. If that offends you, you certainly wouldn’t have done well in the world I grew up in. I don’t actually have any “friends” in Canada, but I would never humiliate them, neighbors really, and while they may speak French, I never hear it spoken on the “Highway to Hell” fabricated series. Peace, eh? :)
Howard- You frequently use the “I meant no disrespect” line after you totally disrespect something or someone. I’m in my 70’s and I think we are pretty close in age but really far apart on opinions. Some of your comments make you sound like you grew up during the height of the Depression in a Poor House in your city.
I hope this reply doesn’t bother you or anyone else- I meant no disrespect.
They WERE!!!
Well, I don’t think I “totally disrespected” the Canadians by saying that, and while I didn’t go through the depression in the poor house, I lived a challenging life growing up because of my religion. In my family, it was natural to condemn another race to save their own face, I never got over that. If I may say so, you sir, are as bad as your comment seems to suggest. You condemn me for what I may have said, yet you got your message out, and finish by saying, you hope it doesn’t bother me. Well it does. With todays internet, there’s no consequence like a punch in the mouth for what we say.
Immediately before even seeing the “Canadian” tagline, I knew that this was not a garden variety Fairlane! :-)
That’s a gorgeous car, I don’t care what side of the border it comes from!
Will make a great cruiser and nobody else at the cars and coffee will have one.
I always loved the Canadian versions of American cars! The Dodges with Plymouth tail ends. The Pontiacs with Chevrolet tail-lights. The Meteors with more flamboyant trim than our Fords. Living where I do, we always saw a lot of them. And I miss them now. This is one superb example which I cannot afFORD (sorry — couldn’t resist!): 1957 was one of my Favourite Fords (though not so much the Custom and Custom 300). Ford got that “fin” thing exactly right (unlike Chrysler, whose “Forward Look” was about the ugliest thing on four wheels — at least, until the 1959 Chevy and Buick came along!). Too bad that Ford totally uglified their beautiful 1957 for 1958!!! I couldn’t BELIEVE it when their ’58 came out: what were they THINKING? When I went up to Montreal and Quebec City, they made a bit of good-natured fun over my “school-house French” — they reminded me that I was not in Paris — I was in Canada — and they did things far less formally. They taught me short-cuts I never heard in French class. It was fun. I’ll never forget one pretty blonde-haired 8-year-old, speaking French with her mother. They spoke with me, and I spoke back in French. Two American boys, about ages 11 or12, began insulting the girl in English, laughing because she would not know what they were saying (they probably thought she was cute, but were just at that age when boys won’t admit it, especially to each other). This went on for a little while — until finally this girl turned and said to them, “I also speak English, and I understand every word you’re saying”. It was amusing to see them shrink away, totally embarrassed. That was nearly 70 years ago, but I’ve never forgotten the incident.
34,770.124 US Dollars
What difficulty bringing it to the States?
It’s a Canadian car being sold on a Canadian website, why would you ask if its in Canadian or US dollars? Rule of thumb is, if it’s being sold in Canada, unless it specifies a USD price, you can assume it’s in Canadian dollars. I never understand that confusion…
It’s a gorgeous version of the Fairlane, and it’d be a great cruiser! I’d like to know what EFI they put on, but it’s sure to be better than the teapot Holley it came with. I love it when a street rodder just improves the bits that need to be improved (the trans and the carb), and leaves the best of the car alone… I kinda wish I had $35k USD available, because this one would have a new home tomorrow.
Wasn’t 1956 the last year for the teapot Holley? Seems like 1957 was when they introduced the modular Holleys (2300, 4150).
Wish I had the money for this one!
Wish I had the money for this one!
Wish I had the money for this one!
When I see one of these I’m always remind of the movie with Andrew Dice Clay…
Harrison really wishes he had the money for that one.
I would like that FORD also!!!! The Aussie’s also used that Metior Grill in the mid to late 50’s..The Aussie 58 looked a lot like the 55 – 56’s up here..
Cool! I haven’t seen the Aussie version. But, for some reason, I saw a great many Canadian Meteors from 1956 — always the Rideau 500, it seems.
Cancelled the member thing, hey? Can’t say I blame you, I’m keeping mine active because of the great writers. I always enjoy your comments, even in triplicate. :)
Howard, you handled that reply well! Better than you handled the cross-border incident!
Sir, I am a little younger than you, so I won’t tell you that you should have ignored him.
From your many other excellent comments, I am surprised that you even responded.
Happy motoring cobbers. And I wish you a great Easter. Don’t be a bunny.
Australia only had four door V8 Customlines. Went straight from them to Tank Fairlanes then to compact Fairlanes before the home-grown stretched Falcon tagged as a Fairlane in 6 or V8 configuration. It used a longer wheelbase platform which was also used for the Oz wagons.
Thank you, Howard A! If I might say so, it appears that some people are too sensitive to find fault or take offence. If English is one’s sole language, then other languages sound like so much gibberish because they are not understood. “Mumbo-jumbo”, as far as I ever knew, has been a perfectly legitimate term to refer to a non-understood verbiage. Where I am, we get lots of French-Canadian radio stations, and I just listen to them, if their content interests me (beats the “heavy metal” and “hip-hop” on THIS side of the border!). For my ears anyway, French and Korean are two of the more pleasant-sounding languages, even if I only limitedly understand and speak French, and I don’t know Korean at all. Certain other languages are annoying to my ears: that doesn’t indicate any bias against them or their speakers — I simply don’t like the sound. In Wisconsin, you were nowhere near the French part of Canada. It always interested me, too, since a minority of Canada is French, that they often gave their cars French names. I thought that added character (sort-of said, “In case you don’t know, I’m Canadian”). When you made your “mumbo-jumbo” remark, I saw no intended insult — but the one who responded-back appeared to want to insult you. Interesting. You mention conditioning by a religion, and I am curious as to WHICH religion might have sensitised to you racial-differences (you don’t have to say, if you’d prefer not to).
Nice ride…unique.
Be who you are, say what you want and don’t take any of the ” mumbo jumbo” on this site personally! Its all a bout the cars here! So use your filter!