as a counterpart to Ford's new Galaxie models. Meteor was discontinued as a brand name after 1961 for a number of reasons. The Meteor name was selected for a new vehicle introduced in the Mercury line, the intermediate sized Mercury Meteor, beginning in 1962, and the entire Mercury line had already been dropped down in price (moving closer to the niche previously served by the Meteor brand in Canada) due to slow Mercury sales and the discontinuation of the Edsel brand. Model names 378,463 were built in model years 1949 through 1961, using the following model names: De Luxe / Deluxe (1949-1950) Custom (1949) Custom Deluxe (1950-1951) Custom Deluxe Victoria (pillarless hardtop coupe; 1951) Mainline (1952-1953) Customline (1952-1953) Customline Victoria (pillarless hardtop coupe; 1952) Crestline Victoria (pillarless hardtop coupe; 1953) Meteor (1954-1961) Niagara/Niagara 300 (1954-1959) Rideau/Rideau 500 (1954-1961) Rideau Skyliner (pillarless hardtop with plexiglass roof; 1954) Rideau Victoria (pillarless hardtop coupe; 1954) Rideau Crown Victoria (1955) Ranchero (1957-1959) Montcalm (1958-1961) Country Sedan Ranch Wagon The Meteor name was not its own brand in model years 1962 and 1963, replaced by the Mercury Meteor, based on the Ford Fairlane. When the brand returned for 1964 they were based on the full-size Mercury rather than Fords as earlier. About 255,000 Meteors were built between 1964 and 1976, in six different series: Meteor (1964) Custom (1964) Rideau/Rideau 500 (1965-1976) Montcalm (1965-1976) Montego (1967) LeMoyne (1968-1970) 1964 Due to dealer pressure, however, Ford released a lower-priced "Mercury 400" in 1963 that stood in the price bracket formerly occupied by the Meteor. When the intermediate Mercury Meteor was dropped after 1963, Ford of Canada relaunched Meteor as a standalone make in 1964, and dropped Mercury's Monterey series in Canada. The 1964 Meteor looked nearly identical to the 1964 Mercury, save for its Ford dashboard and interior, and was available in a base and Custom series. Sedans, hardtops, and a convertible were offered. It appears that most, if not all, 1964 Meteor closed models were of the "Breezeway" style, featuring a blocky C-pillar with retractable rear window, while Mercurys offered sleeker "Marauder" models. 1965-1968 For 1965, the full range of model names that had existed in 1961 returned: Rideau, Rideau 500, and Montcalm. The cars used Ford Galaxie bodies but had Mercury-styled front and rear styling. The Montego was added as a top-range model for 1967, but when that name was selected for use by Mercury