1954 Police Car

[darrell]

if it was built in canada it was flathead.all 54 fords used the 239 but i would think police were 255.top line 54 meteors used the 255.the 223 came out in april 56 befort that no 6s were built in canada.this should be an american 54 as their are a lot of them up here.

 

[RalphG]

Here is an ad for the Canadian 1954 Ford. No mention of the new ohv Y block engine so I would assume it is still the flathead under the hood.

 

[scicala]

Here is an ad for the Canadian 1954 Ford. No mention of the new ohv Y block engine so I would assume it is still the flathead under the hood.

The problem is that there is probably a separate brochure for Canadian Police '54 fords. There is one for the USA built '54 Fords and there is a slightly different engine line-up showing the Mercury 256 Y-Block as the Police Interceptor engine. So still not positive if it was possible to get this engine in Canadian police cars. I'm thiking they came with 255 Merc flatheads since it still had the old (1953) Ford frame w/o ball joints.
Just my opinion.

As I mentioned before, there is a 1954 Ford (USA) Police car brochure on the "Old Car Manual Project" on-line to look at.

 

[RalphG]

The problem is that there is probably a separate brochure for Canadian Police '54 fords. There is one for the USA built '54 Fords and there is a slightly different engine line-up showing the Mercury 256 Y-Block as the Police Interceptor engine. So still not positive if it was possible to get this engine in Canadian police cars. I'm thiking they came with 255 Merc flatheads since it still had the old (1953) Ford frame w/o ball joints.
Just my opinion.

As I mentioned before, there is a 1954 Ford (USA) Police car brochure on the "Old Car Manual Project" on-line to look at.

There is so much to see at "TOCMP" that I could not find the U.S. Ford police car brochure. I guess another thing to remember is that not all police cars got the "interceptor " engine.

 

[scicala]

Here is the page I was looking at with the USA 1954 Ford Police car brochure.
Just scroll down the page and you will see it. Lots of interesting info. Even the seat material was sturdier for the cop cars. Engines were from the 223 6 cyl., through the 256 Merc Y-Block Interceptor.

http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/

 

[RalphG]

That worked well. very interesting . Now somebody needs to come up with a Canadian version of the brochure.

 

[56 Fairlane]

I heard that all 54 Canadian Fords had the 255 Merc. Is that correct?''

The Monarch, which is similar to a Mercury with different trim, had the OHV engine in 1954.

 

[scicala]

The Monarch, which is similar to a Mercury with different trim, had the OHV engine in 1954.

So it sounds like Canadian Ford/Meteor/Monarch production was all over the place some used flathead V8's and the Monarch's used the Y-Block V8's.

 

[RalphG]

So it sounds like Canadian Ford/Meteor/Monarch production was all over the place some used flathead V8's and the Monarch's used the Y-Block V8's.

From what I can read the Canadian Fords still had flathead power in 54 but Mercury and Monarch had the new 161 hp OHV engine. But 54 Meteor is advertised as having the new 125 hp V8. Maybe the smaller 239 OHV engine?

 

[scicala]

From what I can read the Canadian Fords still had flathead power in 54 but Mercury and Monarch had the new 161 hp OHV engine. But 54 Meteor is advertised as having the new 125 hp V8. Maybe the smaller 239 OHV engine?

The Mercury 255 flathead was rated at 125 HP, so that's what must have been in 1954 Monarchs as the top engine option. So wonder if the flathead V8's in 1954 Canadian built fords were 239 flatheads or 255 flatheads ?
Seems like every answer just brings up more questions. Fun for me though.

 

[RalphG]

To add even more confusion, Meteor offered two sizes V8s in their Canadian station wagons in 54. The Meteor Nigara Ranch Wagons had the 125 hp V8 while the base Ranch Wagon had only 110 hp, as seen in this ad I have from 1954.

 

[54vicky]

the Meteor was meant to give Mercury a lower priced vehicle to widen their market.it is possible that lower Ranch used ford interior,dash and Ford flathead 239 not using the one feature that set meteor apart.that being the dash thus only needed grill change.would be interesting to see interior shot of the Ranch showing dash

 

[darrell]

what a mixup.all 54 fords and meteors used the flathead period 239 in fords and cheap meteors.top line meteors used 255 merc engine 125 h p.all 54 mercs and monarchs used 256 same as us models.