QOTD: A Massacre of Marques?

On the way to meet a longtime friend for dinner last night, your author stopped off to gawk at old cars at a local cruise night event — a common occurrence when the snow isn’t flying.

Thank God for retirees with plenty of resources and lots of free time. I fear what will happen to these rides after the old guys lose their license. And, because this is TTAC and not one of those other sites, you’re not about to hear a bitter, angsty screed about Boomers and their undeserved money and opportunity, etc, etc.

Anyhow, one beauty beckoned to me from across the lot. A 1955 sedan with a badge that should prove unfamiliar to American readers urged me to take a closer look, prompting a bit of rumination about modern-day choices.

It was a Monarch. Specifically, a Monarch Lucerne — a mid-range trim of a mid-priced marque, positioned above the Custom but below the tony Richelieu. Monarch, to those unfamiliar with the brand, was a Canadian marque created just after World War 2 by Ford of Canada. Tempting buyers until 1957, and then again from 1959 to 1961 (following the Edsel disaster) the Monarch brand used Mercury as its basis, with Ford’s Canadian arm putting a special stamp on what were essentially Montereys and Montclairs.

This non-Buick Lucerne, the proud owner told me, was built in Windsor, Ontario and carried Ford’s two-speed Ford-O-Matic tranny, plus the automaker’s 292 V8.

The Meteor brand followed the same recipe north of the border, only with Ford cars — eventually moving to Mercurys after Monarch bit the dust. At the time, Canadians could buy Fords and Mercurys as well as Monarchs and Meteors. The Frontenac marque, comprised of a single vehicle (a rebadged Ford Falcon) existed for one year: 1960. Canuck General Motors fans in the 1960s could hop into an Acadian-badged model that was actually a Chevy but looked like a Pontiac.

Wild times.

We currently find ourselves in a time of contraction. The last couple of decades has seen the elimination of the Oldsmobile, Plymouth, Saturn, Hummer, Pontiac, Mercury, and Scion divisions of their respective parent automakers. Before that, it was Geo and Asuna, Imperial and DeSoto. Consolidation and reduced build configurations are the name of the game these days. Reduced choice, as prescribed by OEM beancounters. Sub-brands, on the other hands, are proliferating, with Mercedes-Benz’s EQ, Hyundai’s N, and Buick’s Avenir being just the latest examples of the trend.

While new automakers will inevitable join the landscape, adding new marques to shopping lists, it seems the head count of bonafide brands under existing automakers has long since reached its high-water mark.

Do you see any established automaker, domestic or foreign, adding a new marque under their corporate umbrella in the near future? Keep in mind we’re talking about brands offered here.

[Images: Steph Willems/TTAC]