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greenie

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Great detective work. I am suprised to see the Fordson name on a truck. I am used to just seeing Thames . But very few Thames vehicles made it to North America other than the very smallest , Anglia based light delivery vans.

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"Thames Trader" 

 

The Thames Trader was a range of trucks manufactured by Ford UK built between 1957 and 1965.

The Thames Trader model range covered weights from 2 to 7 tons, powered by either petrol or diesel engines in four- or six-cylinder guises.

 

No actual picture of a Truck with D-6 on it has popped up. Just many D-4's.

 

1024px-1959_Thames_trader_dropside_lorry_%28PPM_927%29%2C_2009_HCVS_London_to_Brighton_run.jpg

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14 minutes ago, 1912Staver said:

Great detective work. I am suprised to see the Fordson name on a truck. I am used to just seeing Thames . But very few Thames vehicles made it to North America other than the very smallest , Anglia based light delivery vans.

I worked for Zephyr Mercury in Vancouver in the early 70's.  The dealership opened in 1952 and was originally known simply as Zephyr Motors because Ford only authorized  it to sell English Ford products.  They sold Anglia, Prefect, Consul, Zephyr, Zodiac and the prewar designed Fordson Thames van which stayed in production until 1956.  It was replaced in 1957 by a van which would serve as a blueprint for the first generation Econoline which ultimately replaced it.  Their basic layouts (forward control, engine between the seats, etc.) were identical.  The Thames used a Consul engine and 3 speed transmission.  By the time I started at (by then) Zephyr Mercury the only English Ford vehicle left was the Cortina but the dealership still. serviced all English Fords back to the late 50's including the Thames van.  

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That's interesting. I remember Zepher well, I worked at Pacific GMC from about 1974 - 1977 or so. { High School , weekend / Summer  job }. Saw a smattering of Thames van's on Vancouvers streets in the 1970's but never noticed the Fordson part of the emblem.

Edited by 1912Staver (see edit history)
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45 minutes ago, 1912Staver said:

That's interesting. I remember Zepher well, I worked at Pacific GMC from about 1974 - 1977 or so. { High School , weekend / Summer  job }. Saw a smattering of Thames van's on Vancouvers streets in the 1970's but never noticed the Fordson part of the emblem.

I think the "son" was dropped when the 1957 Thames was introduced.

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On 10/30/2021 at 12:52 PM, 1937hd45 said:

Good luck getting a D 9 right side up. 

 

Bob 

OIP (2).jpg

 

 

At least now I know from whence Bob's jest came!

 

It wasn't a D-9. However, about 25 years ago I had to slowly drive by an accident scene and see two rather distraught men looking at their Caterpillar that had been somehow vaulted off their trailer (badly twisted trailer!) and landed upside-down with the seat on one side of the guardrail, and the engine on the other! Now rolling a Caterpillar sideways to put it upright? Isn't difficult. Flipping one "end-over" on the other hand is a bit tougher!

 

I did enjoy reading about these English Ford lorries. Than you all.

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At one time { 1950's , 60's early 70's } English cars were big sellers in Canada. The English trucks not so much although small numbers came over here. 

The cars were smaller than domestic's and generally were seen as cheap to operate , good gas mileage etc. And of course all the Sports Cars { Triumph , MG, Lotus, Jaguar, Austin Healey etc } were extremely popular, almost non - existent domestic competition other than Corvette and even they really were a horse of a different colour. 

 The English truck's on the other hand had a uphill sales  task when matched against domestic trucks. Diesels were more common, but the trucks themselves just didn't offer the same value for money that domestic truck's offered. Plus the parts and service situation could at times be more difficult on the import trucks, rat poison to a commercial operator.

 

The Canadian market is big enough that there were quite a few Canadian only domestics. Even more populat than Fargo's were the Mercury Pickups. Slightly up market than Ford pickups, but both sold well in Canada. Also Ford Meteor. And Mercury Monarch. Canadian Pontiacs are mostly Chevy, except things like Firebird and LeMans / GTO which were the same as the U.S. versions.

Edited by 1912Staver (see edit history)
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I don't think so. If there was I don't remember ever seeing one. There was however a Canadian only version of the 1955 -56 Crown Vic. 

 

Quite rare, but a regular production car. The Fords were also sold in Canada and seemed to have survived in larger numbers.

 

1955 Meteor Rideau Crown Victoria 2 door / Canadian | Classic cars, Classic  car garage, Antique cars

 

 

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To add to what 1912 Staver said, English cars were available in Canada, usually in larger population centres, prior to WW2.  Austin, Morris, Hillman and Standard all had agencies in Vancouver from the early/middle 1930's.  Following the war English Ford, Vauxhall, Rover and even Jowett had arrived by 1950.

As for English trucks, the Thames was the most popular.  Austin. Morris, Vauxhall and Commer all sold vans here but none of them achieved the same popularity.  The Thames main competitor in the small van market was the Volkswagen Transporter.

Only two larger English trucks attempted the Canadian market, the Leyland Comet and the Austin Loadstar, both arriving about 1950.  The Austin was the more successful of the two, selling quite well in the Vancouver area to companies such as Loomis Armoured Car.  he Austin compares quite favourably with a Chev 2 ton of the same period.

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Actually I am wrong. There were as small number of Meteor Ranchero's built. But I can't remember ever seeing one. Google says there were less than 1000 57's built , Actually 800 odd so a very rare version. In 1958 that number shrank to just 38 units so I  wonder if there are any left at all .  I probably should start looking for one.

Edited by 1912Staver (see edit history)
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