THE OLD CAR DETECTIVE RON PICKFORD’S 1957 METEOR RON PICKFORD OF TORONTO
remembers the 1957 Meteor Rideau 4-door hardtop he purchased in 1959: “I performed a mild customizing and repaint to enter it in the 1960 Speed Sport car show in Toronto. I did all the work outside on the cement pad in front of the garage at our house in South Etobicoke and I had my own gas welding equipment.
24 | THE ONTARIO DEALER
“My friend Hans Reiger helped as we removed the Meteor logos, installed a tube grille in the style of that time, added solenoid operated doors, had front and rear bumpers re-chromed, and repainted the car Ford Colonial White. “The car looked great, but after seeing what the lads in California were doing in my Rod and Custom magazines, Hans and I decided we could do just as well. “I loved the ‘60s Chrysler quad headlamps so we set to work to extend the front and rear fenders slightly to incorporate the quad set up. I bought the front chrome trim from the local Chrysler dealer and we fabricated everything else.
By Bill Sherk
“I fabricated the metal for the front and rear on the weekend in the metal shop at Air Canada where I worked. We also opened up the taillight lens area for the Batmobile look with custom lenses made by a plastic manufacturing firm right here in Etobicoke. “After six weeks or so, we were ready for paint. I had a friend who worked for a large paint manufacturer and said they were working on wild colours for various firms, including Chrysler, to be used in the future. “One Saturday afternoon, a couple of gallons of paint were dropped off at our place that later in the ‘60s and early ‘70s