Mending the Monarch

March-April 2025

Sixty-eight Years ago in the spring of 1956, the McIntosh family of south Vancouver got something very special, a beautiful Boulevard Cruiser in the form of a brand new 1956 Monarch Richelieu convertible.

Barry McIntosh was a teenager when his uncle travelled to the Ford plant in Oakville, Ontario to drive the stunning convertible back to Vancouver just in time for Spring cruising. Barry was determined to own this car from the first time he saw it.

Some years later the car was acquired by Barry’s father and was finally passed down to him.

Please note: the above was taken from an article written by Alyn Edwards for an Old Autos Newspaper in Ontario Canada.

Twenty-eight years ago I was on the way to the Cloverdale swap meet in British Columbia and received a call from a friend urging me to get there as soon as I possibly could. As you know, most of us heading to a swap meet are not really sure what lies ahead and may or may not find anything we really have to have. This changed that mind-set instantly! I fell in love with this well-worn Monarch and purchased it from the swap meet vendor / classic car collector Alyn Edwards. Lucky for me Alyn was parting with some of his cars and I was actually able to drive the convertible from the swap meet grounds back to my home on Vancouver Island. After some minor repairs and maintenance I drove it occasionally as a driver, albeit a bit of a beater for eight years.

After collecting many NOS parts and pieces including the super-rare clear piping with the weaved gold and red insert from our late friend John Riorden, in 2006 it was now time to get serious with this car and take it down to its bare bones and restore it back to show room condition. As most of us know, these cars start to tell some stories during restoration. In the course of disassembly I noticed a front fender that was wearing a service part number on the inside along with the driver’s door. Then, when the body shell was stripped, the driver’s side quarter looked as if it had been opened end-to-end with a giant can opener then stitched back together again. It had been a serviceable repair for many years as the brass brazing, lead, and some other fillers did their job. Fortunately I was able to source a super-nice replacement quarter from John Fowley in California (yes a road trip, yeah).

It took about four years with a few pauses here and there to get to what Elaine and I have now. We love it!

In Canada,  Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealers were essentially competitors.The Monarch was produced to give Ford dealers an upscale product to compete with the flashy Mercury sold at the Lincoln Mercury dealer.

It was quite likely you could pull up to the stop light and look over to see your cousin’s car looking the same,  only with different trim and badging. What a sight that must have been! 8

Monarch was very successful in Canada with 330 of these beautiful convertibles produced compared with 230 Oakville-built Mercurys.

Today, approximately fourteen 1956 Monarch Convertibles remain, most restorations needing extensive repairs due to harsher northern climates, especially in the Eastern areas.

I was very fortunate with this being a western car only having to replace a right front fender due to typical rot under the head light and the collision damaged left quarter.