The acceptance of four headlamps over two was a provincial
decision in Canada. To quote from the 1957 Chrysler brochure :
"Optional on New Yorker models and Windsor Town & Country in
Provinces where law permits."
The 1957 DeSoto brochure states :
"The installation of dual headlights is governed by provincial
legislation".
By the by, all 1957 DeSotos and the Chrysler New Yorker and Chrysler
Windsor Town & Country models were imported. Which means
that all Canadian-built Mopars came with the two-beam system.
In 1957 the only Chrysler models built in Canada were the Windsor
sedans and hardtops (model LC2-M - basically a Saratoga with
Windsor nameplates).
I, too, have never seen a Monarch with the 4-headlamp system,
and the only Mercurys I have seen were American. Mind you,
that did not stop customizers. When I was a youngster in Winnipeg
I can recall a 1957 Meteor with 4 headlamps. Not sure how he
did it, but it looked pretty good. It looked similar to the Mercury
setup, but without all the chrome.
As for the 1957 Imperial with duals, I have a clipping from either
Popular Mechanics or Popular Science, showing photos of the
new 1958 models and a brief description of the changes from
1957. The 1958 Imperial in the photo has SINGLE headlamps!
Bill W
>
> I'd be interested to hear from our Canadian FLers on
> this. All the pictures I've ever seen of Monarch
> Turnpike Cruisers show them with duals, this despite
> the Mercury version having quads as standard (at least
> in the US) and coming out after legalization in all
> states. I'm interested as to whether this was due to
> provincial or Canadian law, and how MoPars may have
> been affected.
>
> I'm also curious about whether there were any
> production 300s or Adventurers with duals. I've seen a
> shot of a 300-C prototype with duals (looked pretty
> strange).
>
> And as much as I love '57 Imperials, if I ever found
> myself with a dual-equipped '57 I wouldn't be able to
> stop myself from changing it over...
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