Edsel - a grand idea cursed by fate

Over the past five years I’ve written articles about my favorite models of ten domestic automotive brands including Chevy, Mercury and DeSoto. I’m feeling the urge to share with readers my take on another domestic automotive brand.

My task of picking a number of favorite specific models will be put to the test, however.   My selection?  Ford Motor Company’s Edsel.  The Edsel was a car so scorned since its introduction in September 1957 that the word “Edsel” has become a metaphor in describing any form of colossal failure. 

The Edsel was in production for just two and a half years, so the number of favorite models to choose from is limited.

Some years back I wrote a column about the Edsel and its history.  I liked the car when it was introduced in the fall of 1957 and I like it even more now. 

I never have and I never will heap scorn on the Edsel.  I don’t think its grille looks like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon, as it was so cruelly described back in 1958.  I have no way of knowing if its build quality was as bad as it has been written about in the years since in a number of books on its creation and sudden demise.

I was only 15 years old when the Edsel was brought to market.  I got my first peak at a “real” Edsel on a warm day in August of 1957 in Dearborn.  My big brother had offered to take me to Ford’s popular Rotunda exhibition site on Michigan Avenue. 

I really enjoyed the impressive displays inside the Rotunda, but the most memorable part of the trip was during the walk back to the parking lot.  As we exited the building, a car carrier was passing by with a load of canvas-covered, yet-to-be-shown all-new automobiles. 

I wouldn’t have identified them if it hadn’t happened that on one model a canvas cover was left untied and a portion of the canvas had flipped up on the car’s trunk.  It was a new, much ballyhooed Edsel.

Although the car had not been officially announced to the press, word of how the car would look had leaked out and every one who read a newspaper or a car magazine knew the new Edsel would be quite different looking with a vertical grille up front and flat, horizontal boomerang-shaped taillights in back.  That boomerang-shaped taillight just jumped right out at me.  It was a thrill to see it.

Most older readers probably know the Edsel story as it’s been told so many times.   For younger readers, here’s is a brief history.  Ford decided in the early 50s that the company needed another mid-priced marque to join its Mercury model range to compete more effectively with GM’s Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Buick and Chrysler’s Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler.

Sales of mid-priced cars were growing like crazy.  By 1955 Buick had displayed Plymouth as the third best selling auto in the U.S. and Olds wasn’t far behind.  So the green light was given by Ford brass in 1955 for the go ahead to bring out the Edsel for the 1958 model year.

Unfortunately, by the time the Edsel reached the market, mid-priced car sales had softened dramatically due to a severe recession at introduction time.  It didn’t help that the new car had a very odd name (Henry Ford’s son was named Edsel) and the car’s controversial Olds-sucking-a-lemon grille didn’t help sales either.

Edsel was supposed to sell 100,000 units in 1958 but only 63,110 vehicles were built.  In 1959 Ford reduced the size of the vertical grille, limited the number of models and still the car didn’t sell well – only 39,771 were sold.  The 1960 model, now with a Pontiac-like split grille and a body almost identical to Ford’s, was in production for a few months and only 2,846 cars were built when Ford pulled the plug in November of 1959.  The Edsel was no more.

The Edsel failure cost Ford a lot. In the millions of dollars spent on research, testing, production costs and dealer payouts but also in prestige and reputation.  So it is little wonder the name Edsel is not held in high esteem, even after 56 years.

Me? I loved the Edsel when new and still do.  Only three year’s of Edsels were produced, so to select a few favorites is rather easy.  Some may argue that I can include the Mercury Comet amongst my choices, as the senior compact was intended to be sold a the Edsel Comet when it was introduced in mid-1960.

Certainly the most memorable and attractive Edsels were the first-born 1958 models.  Ford went all out to cover as much of the mid-priced field as possible and offered the Edsel in two distinct sizes.

The Ranger and Pacer were built on the Ford platform/body and offered similar powertrains and options.  The more luxurious Corsair and Citation models were actually Mercurys under the skin and were larger, heavier and more powerful.

The new Edsel came in two and four-door post sedans, two and four-door hardtops, convertibles and wagons.  The best seller was the Ranger, with the slightly upscale Pacer a close second.  The luxury twins Corsair and Citation together only found 17,500 buyers.

Of the four Edsel nameplates in 1958, I’d pick any one of them as a winner.  I tend to be most attracted to the Pacer and Corsair, as they were less chrome laden. 

The entire 1958 Edsel line up offered an optional automatic transmission that featured pushbuttons located in the steering wheel.  Ahead of the driver were a driver-centered instrument panel with a circular, drum-style speedometer and lots of chrome and idiot lights. 

Out back, turning its nose up at Chrysler’s soaring fins, you would find handsome and modest looking dual horizontal taillights perched at the end of a flat trunk lid.  All of the Edsels had sculptural cove-like indentation on the rear doors and fenders.  This design element looked especially handsome when the owner ordered their Edsel with two-tone paint.

And, of course, all the Edsels came with the vertical grille up front.  Paired with quad headlights and split front bumpers, the Edsel made quite an impression to onlookers.  Not everyone thought it looked like an Olds after making lemonade.

The 1959 Edsels were little more than a gussied up Ford.  There were no Mercury-based models.  The vertical grille remained, but smaller in size.  Gone, too, were the horizontal taillights.  Now dual oval chrome pod held three taillights each, one a backup light.  The dash was but a Ford with a little extra chrome trim.

For its final year, as little as possible was done to make the all-new Ford look like an Edsel.  A split grille, mimicking the 1959 Pontiac, was used up front and two vertically mounted ovoid taillights out back tried to live with the horizontal fin found on the Ford.  It was not a happy marriage.

The Edsel lasted less than three years.  Ford’s reputation got bruised but car guys like me were given a batch of new cars that captured our imagination for a spell and continue to give us joy. 

I sometimes wonder what an Edsel would look like if the ill-fated marque were still sold today.

Ford Motor Company's 1958 Edsel was created to do battle in the mid-price field, a hot selling part of the auto market in 1955 when the decision to build the Edsel was given the go ahead to proceed.  The Edsel came in four flavors on two platforms.  The Ford-based Edsels were named Ranger and Pacer (shown - turquoise) and the Mercury-based Edsels were the Corsair and Citation.  Unfavorable economic conditions doomed the first year Edsel and after only 26 months on the market, it was discontinued.  The Edsel, named to honor Henry Ford's son, featured bold styling features like a vertical grille and horizontal "fins."

The introduction of the 1958 Edsel mid-priced lineup of automobiles was suppose to solve Ford Motor Company's problem of not having enough brands to compete effectively with GM's Pontiac-Olds-Buick line up and Chrysler Corporation's Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler offerings.  Ford had only the Mercury to do battle.  Unfortunately sales of mid-priced autos quickly collapsed in late 1957 and 1958 during a severe economic depression and the expensive effort by Ford to do battle with GM and Chrysler failed miserably. The Edsel sold poorly and was discontinued in November 1959 after a little more than two years on the market, offering three model year offerings.  Shown here is the 1960 Edsel that was produced only for three months.