![1971 Fargo](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/Screen-Shot-2022-01-17-at-12.11.06-PM-1024x715.png)
Fun fact: 90 percent of Canada’s population lives with 100 miles of the U.S. border. That said, it’s an awfully long border—about 5500 miles long, actually. Looked at another way, Canada’s population density is only about 10 percent that of America’s, meaning there’s a lot of Canadian land with very few people living on it.
This matters very much to automotive retailers in Canada, who have long dealt with the challenges of how best to locate new-car dealerships. Obviously, big cities were a prime location, but things got trickier after that. Canada isn’t a land of sprawling suburbs like the U.S. is, so serving the country’s non-urban population gets problematic.
One solution was for carmakers to stock Canadian dealerships with more models across greater price ranges than are typically seen in the United States. An example of this is Chrysler’s now-defunct Fargo brand. Used by Chrysler in the U.S. in the company’s early days, Fargo was repurposed for use in Canada. Why? Read on…
Beginning before World War II, Chrysler sold vehicles in Canada through two channels: Chrysler-Dodge stores, and Chrysler-Plymouth stores. Dodge trucks were retailed through the Chrysler-Dodge outlets, of course.
But, because of a relatively thin dealer network—a byproduct of Canada’s low population density—Chrysler deemed it necessary to sell trucks, especially pickup trucks, through Chrysler-Plymouth dealerships as well. And since it would be unseemly to sell Dodge trucks via stores which did not sell Dodge-branded cars, Chrysler rebadged Dodge trucks as Fargo for sale through those dealerships.
If this sounds complicated, it is. However, Ford chose to do roughly the same thing, selling Ford pickup trucks badged as Mercurys at Mercury stores. As for dealer scarcity, the 1965 Toyota Land Cruiser ad below tackles that issue head on.
Now that we know things have always been a little different up North, have a look at the collected ads shared here. Any thoughts on our gallery of Canadian truck ads? Share them down below.
Canadian Truck Ads
1942 Fargo
![1942 Fargo Ad](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1942-741x1024.jpg)
Photo Feature: 1955 Monarch Richelieu
1950 REO
![1950 REO Ad, REO Speedwagon](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1950-752x1024.jpg)
1952 Fargo
![](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1952-732x1024.jpg)
Export Madness! A Gallery of American Trucks Ads From Foreign Markets
1953 Dodge
![1953 Dodge Ad](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1953-1024x927.jpg)
Canadian Confusion: GM’s Short-Lived Passport Dealerships
1953 Willys
![1953 Willys Ad](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1953-03-le-bulletin-des-agriculteurs-canada-french-ad-lores-702x1024.jpg)
Halifax: Volvo’s Forgotten North American Factory
1954 Fargo
![1954 Fargo Ad](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1954-Fargo-709x1024-747x1024.png)
1954 International
![1954 International Ad, French, Canadian](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1954-762x1024.jpg)
Canadian Export: 2011-2014 Lancia Thema
1954 Mercury
![1954 Mercury Ad](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1954-791x1024.png)
The Canadian Auto Brochure Power Quiz
1959 Ford/Thames
![1959 Ford/Thames Ad, Canada](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1959-1-725x1024.jpg)
Droëwors Madness! A Gallery of Classic South African Car Ads
1961 Jeep
![1961 Jeep Ad](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1961-06-le-bulletin-des-agriculteurs-willys-of-canada-truck-ad-lores-721x1024.jpg)
’60s Madness! 10 Years of Classic Pickup Truck Ads
1965 Toyota
![1965 Toyota Land Cruiuser Ad](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/4e0ff1c651c62f4d7b6b9bdbffa04a01-787x1024.jpg)
The Last Regular-Cab Short-Bed Pickup
1972 Dodge/Fargo
![1971 Dodge/Fargo Ad](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1971-737x1024.jpg)
’70s Madness! 10 Years of Classic Pickup Truck Ads
1972 Scot
![1972 Scot Ad, Atlantic Truck Manufacturing, Scot Trucks, Canada, Canadian Truck Ads](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1972-816x1024.jpg)
Big-Rig Style: What If Semi-Truck Makers Built Pickups?
1980 Datsun
![1980 Toyota Ad](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/1980-714x1024.jpg)
Check out the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast
Canadian Truck Ads Gallery
(click below for enlarged images)