Canadian Scarborough

1959 Canadian Scarborough Grand Columbia

The **Canadian Scarborough** is an automobile model that was originally sold between the 1959 and 1971 model years, with the model being revived for the 2023 model year by Canadian in Canada. Taking its name from the Scarborough, Ontario estate of Wyatt Wilkinson, the Scarborough nameplate was used for three different generations of the vehicle. Through its production, the model line would be marketed in a wide variety of body styles, including two-door and four-door sedans, two-door and four-door hardtops, station wagons, and both traditional and retractable-hardtop convertibles.

Initially introduced as the flagship of the full-size Canadian range, the Scarborough marked the introduction of nameplates such as the Grand Columbia for example, which later became stand-alone full-size model lines.

Following the introduction of the Scarborough as a full-size model, it became a high-end model similar to the likes of the LaVoie Chateau for example until 1964 when it was repackaged as an intermediate-segment car (today, mid-size) from 1964 to 1971. For 1971, Canadian dropped the Scarborough nameplate in Canada. In South America, the second generation Scarborough was marketed through 1981 alongside market-specific models of the Canadian Lapin; Canadian of Australia used the nameplate on its own version of the Scarborough through the 2007 model year.

The Scarborough was initially discontinued in 1971 citing a possible increase in oil prices therefore making full-sized cars economically unviable. The Scarborough returned for a third generation in 2023, marking Canadian's return into the full-size sedan market.

## Overview

### Assembly

Windsor Assembly(Windsor, Ontario, Canada)

## Dimensions

### Weight

1436 kg (3166 lb)

For the 1959 model year, the Scarborough nameplate was introduced as Canadian's premier full-sized sedan offering. Three different body styles were offered, traditional 2-door sedans, 2-door convertibles with a power folding hardtop, and the Grand Columbia 2-door sedan. All featured the trademark chrome-plated stainless-steel "Scarborough Strip" on the side, with only the Grand Columbia having the strip adorning the roof between the B-Pillars. Power options included a 207 cui (3.4L) small-block V8 and a 311 cui (5.1L) big-block V8. Only the Legionnaire trim was offered with both the 3.4L and the 5.1L; the lower trimmed Exclusive was only offered with the 3.4L V8.

The Scarborough 2-door Grand Columbia was the most popular sedan Canadian sold that year in 1959, having manufactured 365,548 units with a listed retail price of US$2,071 ($21,904 in 2023 dollars after adjusting for inflation).

Few changes were made for 1963; general improvements to the automatic transmission, the addition of daytime running lights as standard equipment, the addition of reverse lights into the rear fascia, and general improvements to the 5.1L V8 so it was more comfortable to handle with daily business. A comprehensive safety package dubbed the "SafetyGuard" was introduced. The two-door Exclusive hardtop featured a new and slimmer roofline. An experimental one-year only two-door station wagon was offered, but the design was scrapped before it was made public.

Despite the SafetyGuard safety package, it wasn't enough to quell the wrath of Ralph Nader's fury when he wrote the book "Unsafe At Any Speed" in 1965. Nader pointed out that while the Scarborough having the safety package, Canadian did nothing to address the fact that the car had suicide doors that opened independently of the front doors - a design that allowed for the doors to open while in motion, allowing any unbelted occupants to potentially be ejected from the vehicle. Additionally, he pointed out that the intricate chrome design on the rear of the car could be dazzling and blind other drivers when the sun hits the trim at just the right angle. On top of the expose that nearly destroyed the car and the company's reputation, the company also had to issue recalls for slightly shoddy wiring in the engine bay that could allow the car to shut off while driving at best and spontaneously catch fire at the worst.

With how many of the first generation of the Scarborough was produced, it quickly became the go-to car to represent the upper echelon of society in countless movies of the decade, both B-movies and blockbuster movies. Movie companies often had exclusive contracts to purchase large batches of Scarboroughs for use in countless movies. Such examples would be Lens Flare Studios established in Belasco, California. Lens Flare Studios acquired some 6,000 Scarboroughs for use in their movies between 1959-1962, with half being destroyed over the decades and the other half being sold off as movie props during the company restructuring in 2008 following the global recession.