Do You Remember When Edsels Were New? What Did You Think?

[John_S_in_Penna]

Before its introduction, The Edsel car was promoted

more heavily than probably anything else.  Reviewers

liked it at first, but when it came out on September 4, 1957,

sales were far below expectations.  As everyone knows,

its styling was unusual.  Some examples had quality problems.

 

If you were around at that time, what did you think of

the Edsel?  Whether you owned one or not, what were your

impressions of the publicity, the car's looks, its quality,

the jokes made about it, and so on?  Did you go to see it

in the showrooms?  Did your neighbor have one?

 

I recently read the book The Edsel Affair by Gayle Warnock.

One benefit of having long experience is that you may

have had experiences that others can only read about.

 

Let's record the impressions and the stories for posterity!

Edited August 13, 2018 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[Taylormade]

Since the grill looked like a toilet bowl, I wasn’t impressed.  Over the years it’s kind of grown on me.

[Bhigdog]

I was 17 when it came out. Every red blooded guy was a car guy including me. There wasn't a car I didn't like or least didn't hate (Henry-J excepted). My dad was a Studebaker man so that kind of made me a bit of an outlier. All that said, I remember seeing my first Edsel and thinking "WTF". And that was before "WTF" was a everyday term. What exactly were they thinking? Anyone know?...............Bob

[John_S_in_Penna]

Please give plenty of detail, as much as you recall:

It will make the accounts fuller and even more interesting.

 

For example, where did you see the first Edsel?

Was this the day they came out, or weeks later?

Do you recall the colors, the body style?  Did your friends

think as you did?

 

Gayle Warnock's book said that they were trying to

use a reinterpretation of the classic upright grille.

To be noticed, they wanted the car to stand out on the

road and be instantly recognizable from a distance.

The designer of the car later said, "There's not a bad line

on that car."  But I must disagree with the designer!

Edited August 13, 2018 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[Laughing Coyote]

Here's a nice one ready to run.

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/cto/d/1959-edsel-ranger-v8-two-door/6659075010.html

[old car fan]

The  edsel fans will be happy,auburn and Hershey is loaded

 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2018 by old car fan
Spelling (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

The Edsel was a fancy medium priced car that had the misfortune to come out at the time that the public taste was turning away from such cars, and toward small economy cars, imports and compact cars. It failed to sell because it was the wrong kind of car for the times. Notice that the year they dropped the Edsel they introduced the Falcon and it was a smash hit.

 

I think the Edsel was well received on its introduction but when it failed to sell became the butt of jokes, and everyone was looking for something to pin the blame on, usually something superficial like its looks. Somehow the critics failed to notice that sales of such well established medium priced cars as Oldsmobile Packard Nash and DeSoto crashed about the same time, with fatal results to all but Oldsmobile.

 

I was seven years old when the Edsel debuted and don't remember anything about it. I do remember seeing a row of 5 or 6 brand new Rancheros on a Ford dealer's lot and being mighty impressed.

Edited August 13, 2018 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Taylormade]

I do remember the incredibly sappy promo song that went with the car’s introduction -

‘Ford, Thunderbird, Lincoln, Mercury, Continental...and happy day, happy day, the brand new Edsel’s on it’s way!

[Bhigdog]

15 minutes ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

Do you recall the colors, the body style?  Did your friends

think as you did?

 

Saw it soon after it came out. One was parked in front of the soda shop after school. I remember looking in the open side window and thinking I didn't like it at all. Weird buttons in the steering wheel hub. Rather than sleek and exciting with vertical fins and sweeping lines it looked fat and dumpy. Reminded me of my Aunt Mary. I remember some commentator at the time saying it looked like an Oldsmobile swallowing a lemon.

Probably the biggest miss-read of the mood of the American buying public to that date.

As I look at the above pix it looks to me like a Corvair on steroids swallowing a lemon.

Not Trying to insult Edsel owners but I think I'm safe saying it's an acquired taste.

Hey, I like Studebakers...................Bob

[SC38dls]

I saw it in Chicago. It was a box they thru some odd looking almost oval on the front to break up the box look.  Someone hit it with an ugly stick multiple times. Didn’t like it then still don’t like it now. I once heard it described as a failed idea to please a spoiled egotistical guy that wanted that name on a the car, so it was built. 

Dave S 

[Rusty_OToole]

The spoiled egotistical guy was Henry Ford II. He named the car after his father Edsel Ford who died in 1943.

[W_Higgins]

Often overlooked is the recession of '58, which started at the beginning of the model year.  At least that's the excuse to which we Lincoln owners gravitate.

 

 

[Terry Bond]

I'll never forget it!  My uncle lived in Detroit and was an employee at Chrysler in their R&D department.  Wow I can tell you some stories about the cars he had access to!   But I digress - I was already a motor-head, even at such a young age of 10,   We visited regularly, and on one weekend, the talk was all about the new Ford car.  My uncle had already seen it and just had to take my Dad and I to see the one on display at one of the largest Ford dealers in town.  I'll never forget the crowd of people in that showroom.. There it was - a Red Edsell convertible.  It was pretty exciting atmosphere but the car struck me as different.  The front end of course was really strange looking, and my uncle referred to it as a "Mercury sucking a lemon."   Don't know if that's an expression he coined or heard tossed around among others who were there inspecting it, but it always stuck with me.  No, it didn't grow on me - always thought of them as odd looking.  Although later in life I could certainly appreciate the collector interest in them.  As I learned more about the history of the Ford company and the car itself, it became interesting from that perspective.   But, heck, even the ugly Pontiac Aztec has an interesting story I'm sure.

Terry

[SC38dls]

Henery II insisted the car was designed based on market research with the public and would give them everything they wanted in a car. It was introduced about the time Ford went public and lost somewhere around $250 millions a large part of which was before the car ever was produced. Other execs tried to tell him it was a looser but he would not listen. I guess you might say it was his way or the highway. Today it’s still considered one of the biggest failures in business. I think that may qualify as an ego move but that is just my opinion. 

Dave S 

 

[36 D2 Coupe]

I was 10 in 1957 and don't recall the debut. But my uncle had a red and white '58 Edsel for a while and it was rather pretty. We were a Chrysler family so we were familiar with the push button shifter. However it seemed odd to have the push buttons in the middle of the steering wheel. In my 10 year old mind they should have been where Chrysler put them - to the left of the steering wheel on the dash. The car's unusual grille was an eye catcher and since this was the era of radical style changes every year,  I accepted it as normal. Those were the days when new models arrived at the dealers' lots hidden in shrouds and we waited and speculated breathlessly about what the new bodies would look like. It was VERY exciting!

My recollections of Edsels then shifts to 1960. Our local mechanic  at the garage just across the road from our Public School owned a black one. I was fascinated by the tail light arrangement. It is different enough that I actually wouldn't mind owning one now just for the memories.

[Roger Frazee]

I remember riding with my parents when we came up on an Edsel.  At first glance, I thought it was going backwards.

[Bhigdog]

10 minutes ago, Roger Frazee said:

I remember riding with my parents when we came up on an Edsel.  At first glance, I thought it was going backwards.

That was the rap on earlier studebakers.......bob

[Rusty_OToole]

As far as the Edsel being a giant Ford blunder. You should keep in mind that between 1955 and 1965 Ford brought out 5 completely new cars, the Thunderbird, Edsel, Falcon, Fairlane and Mustang. Every one was a smash hit except the Edsel.

 

If a Hollywood director made 5 movies in 10 years and 4 out of 5 were hits he would be remembered as the greatest genius in show business. Yet for some reason they still talk about the Edsel and forget the others.

[kgreen]

2 hours ago, SC38DLS said:

Henry II insisted the car was designed based on market research with the public and would give them everything they wanted in a car...

Dave S 

 

Henry Ford I once said "if I asked people what they wanted, they would have replied: a faster horse". 

 

So Ford II did the exact opposite of his father philosophy and proved his father correct

[John Byrd]

Sure do remember it John S.... the 1st one in town was brought in from a neighboring town, and parked in front of the drug store.  It was red and white, automatic, and seemed unreal to me. I was 9, about to turn 10 and loved it !  I got a model car of each year, and only had one real one, a 59 Villager wagon.  I still think the 58 Bermuda wagons are one of the best looking cars out there.... but like the other guy, I drive Studebakers and British cars, ha !

[Mark Simmons]

I can't recall exactly but I think Ford made the Edsel from both Ford and Mercury bodies and it took me quite awhile to see the difference. I had a conversation with the owner of Big M Vintage Auto parts in Williams Ca.about this and he showed me the two different body styles. I believe he had a few of each. 

[JD in KC]

I was twelve and remember all the advertising hoopla prior to the introduction.  I also remember being a little disappointed when I actually saw the car and it wasn't as cool as I had imagined it would be.  The car wasn't helped when  Red Skelton made fun of the grill on his popular TV program.  New car introductions were a big event in our family back then.  The boulevard (Van Nuys, CA) was lined with WW2 spotlights and people thronged to the dealerships to see the latest wonders from the carmakers.  I later thought the 1959 Buick Electra 225 (black convertible) was the most wonderful thing I had ever seen on four wheels.  I can't imagine thronging to see the latest transportation appliance stamped out by today's carmakers.  It was a great time to be a teenager.

 

[lump]

To each his own, but just never did see any appeal whatsoever to Edsel designs. I was only 4 when they came out, and didn't even notice them. But my grandparents bought new Ford cars every few years, and I went with them to the showrooms. Still not impressed with those designs today. Again, to each his own. 

 

[Mark Simmons]

I'd also read some decade or so ago that Ford's own market research department told Ford that the Edsel was a bad idea for that time citing several factors. Ford chose to not listen to the very people that they'd paid to see if Edsel was a good marketable product. So much for listening to good paid for advice. I suspect that there may have been to much of Henry Ford in Henry Ford 2 than was known.  Of the 3 years the '58 is my personal favorite with it's sharp lines. A friend of mines dad bought a '58 blue and white 2 door hard top, Ranger model I believe with an E 400 motor and that thing would flat out move. I don't think it handled all that well though. 

[1935Packard]

Fun thread.   

 

I was born long after Edsels, but I'll add that I think the front and interior are super cool-looking.  The rear is pretty awkward, though. 

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

I saw the first one the same way I did the retractable hardtop convertible top on the Ford. At the factory!  I was working at the Ford assembly plant in Milpitas, CA. I don't remember thinking too much about it , one way or another. 

 

  I believe it was just an unneeded car. No different than a Ford or a Mercury.

 

 And you folks are being too kind on names for the grill. Horse collar was bandied around. As was a more crude one.   

 

  Ben

[AJFord54]

39 minutes ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

I saw the first one the same way I did the retractable hardtop convertible top on the Ford. At the factory!  I was working at the Ford assembly plant in Milpitas, CA. I don't remember thinking too much about it , one way or another. 

 

  I believe it was just an unneeded car. No different than a Ford or a Mercury.

 

 And you folks are being too kind on names for the grill. Horse collar was bandied around. As was a more crude one.   

 

  Ben

Ben - That's what I was going to mention about the front grill.  There were crass comparisons.  For me, the guy across the street had one with the push-button transmission and the neat speedometer that resembled one of those compasses suspended in liquid.  I thought both features were really neat.

When we talk about the grill, I laugh because if you look at some of the most popular cars today, the grill on some is absolutely ugly.  First one to come to mind is the new Lexus.  It goes to show that ego trumps taste.  For me, the grill defines the car, with BMW taking first prize in beauty.

Back to the Edsel, sometimes success or failure isn't really a fair game.  The recession, one too many cars in the Ford lineup, rumor, etc. all may have entered into the formula for the downfall.  

Even today, as you look at the car from a collector's point of view - do you look down on it unfairly?  I think most do.

Finally, as far as Henry Ford II, let us all remember he saved Ford Motor Company with his commitment to the redesigned '49 which was ahead of its time.  He may have missed the mark on this one, but his successes far outweighed his failures.

Edited August 14, 2018 by AJFord54 (see edit history)

[8E45E]

12 hours ago, SC38DLS said:

Today it’s still considered one of the biggest failures in business. I think that may qualify as an ego move but that is just my opinion. 

Dave S 

 

That was Ford's biggest hoax---EVER!! 

 

As proved in later years, it was insiders within FoMoCo who really wanted the Edsel division to fail, including Robert S. McNamara.  He was the big corporate cost-cutter at Ford, to the point where he made the Ford and Mercury share the same bodyshell starting in 1961.  To say the Edsel was a 'failure' in the marketplace is not correct; especially when stacked up against its competition who also lost sales in the 1958 model year.  True, it never met Ford's own expectations, but Edsel outsold both Studebaker and Packard combined that year, and Ford was marketing some rather exclusive lines of cars in Canada, (Monarch and Meteor) with different trim with far lower sales that the Edsel.  If the Monarch and the Meteor weren't making money for Ford with such low production figures, they would not have lasted for all those years.

 

I look at GM's Saturn as their 'Edsel'.  For several years prior to its release, it was far over-hyped, and the public was led to believe they were going to get something out-of-this-world like its name implied and send Toyota, Honda, Nissan, et al., back to their drawing boards and rethink their products.  In the end, it was a bog-standard ordinary car with painted plastic panels and a different set of marketing rules when it came to selling the product.  Like the Edsel, it was not a 'bad' car, but the Saturn fell way below the public's expectations of what they thought they were going to receive after years of pre-production publicity and speculation from the manufacturer.  About the only thing Saturn did was steal sales away from its other well established divisions, especially Oldsmobile.

 

Craig

Edited August 14, 2018 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[R Walling]

 I was 18 when the Edsels were introduced.

 At that time, everybody flocked to the show rooms to see what was new that year.

 The Edsels were not supposed to be shown until a certain day, so the local dealer, Young motors, painted up the mechanics shop all in bright green and white and kept the cars there until the opening day.

 BUT! they left the garage doors all open and did not stop the curious from going inside.

 

  When I saw the first one I seen on the road I thought, this will change the way all cars were made!

 

 I recall a saying that went around that stated that one person drove to Florida in one and the only thing that was still working when he got there was the motor.

 

 

[oily rag]

I was just a little snot nosed kid then living in a small town of almost 600,  with no car lots or stop lights .

The Edsel was a funny looking car to me, every other car in town was most likely at least five years old and looked normal.

The interior was what impressed me. The Edsel was gone from town by 1961.

[TexRiv_63]

I was only nine years old when the Edsels came out so I was not aware then of much of what happened. I do remember seeing a very few driving around and unlike most people I liked their design. Back then I was one of those kids who could identify most of the cars by sight and it was always easy to ID an Edsel! I do remember that they opened a dedicated Edsel dealership in a town close to where we lived, I think it may have been a former Hudson or Packard dealership. I know it didn't last long. Other than the styling issue, I have always thought what did them in was the offering of a dizzying number of models on two different platforms and a lot of advanced tech like Teletouch that were not engineered very well and led to bad word-of mouth. I still like them today and would absolutely love to have a 1960 Edsel station wagon.

[Rusty_OToole]

To understand the Edsel you have to know something about the car market in the postwar period. In the late forties and early fifties there was a lot of demand for medium priced cars and deluxe editions of regular cars. In 1953 or 54 Buick outsold Plymouth, in other words an eight cylinder car at the top of the medium price bracket outsold one of the low priced three. This was unprecedented. Before the war, the best selling cars were the cheapest black sedans. Suddenly the bigger more expensive cars were outselling the economy models.

 

A lot of people don't know that Ford Motor Company slipped to third place in sales behind General Motors and Chrysler in the forties. Ford always outsold Plymouth by 2 to 1 while Chrysler was very strong in the medium priced field with Dodge, DeSoto and the Chrysler sixes perennial best sellers.

 

Both GM and Chrysler had 5 different makes to sell while Ford had only 3. Mercury was Ford's only medium priced offering.  If a Ford owner didn't happen to like the Mercury it was a big step up to a Lincoln while GM offered a choice of Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick while Chrysler had the Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler.

 

Mercury was Ford's sole medium priced make, and it switched from a super deluxe Ford to a junior Lincoln in 1949, then back to a super deluxe Ford in 1952. This reflects the confusion in planning and marketing at Ford in those days.

 

Ford's top management decided in the mid fifties that they needed to revise their lineup entirely, especially the medium priced bracket which as I said, were best sellers at the time. Their new strategy was to keep Ford as the low priced line, add a  new medium priced car, move Mercury up from a Pontiac competitor to  the Buick class, and make a bigger Lincoln to compete with Cadillac.

 

The new car was to cover the medium priced field from Pontiac/Dodge to Oldsmobile/ Chrysler. They planned 4 models, two based on the Ford platform and 2 on the Mercury. This involved making an entirely new Mercury that owed nothing to Ford, and this new Mercury debuted in 1957.

 

After much work and market research they boiled down the list of possible names to four - Ranger, Pacer, Corsair, and Citation. Henry Ford II didn't want any of them, he wanted the car named after his father Edsel.

 

The marketing people were in agony. They tested the name Edsel with the public and it meant nothing. It reminded them of things like "dead cell" and "red cell". Hardly anyone outside the auto industry had even heard of Edsel Ford.

 

But, Henry called the shots and Edsel it was. Ranger, Pacer, Corsair and Citation became model names. The Ranger and Pacer being the Ford based models and the others based on the larger Mercury platform.

 

So that was the master plan for the late fifties and beyond. How could they know that the country would hit a recession just as the new line was introduced and big cars became stinko.

 

This is why they dumped everything except the Ford as fast as they could. After 1960 there was no more Edsel and no more separate body for Mercury. Mercury went back to being Ford based and the Lincoln was downsized drastically.

 

Instead they came out with a series of smaller cars, the Falcon, Fairlane, Mercury Comet and Meteor, later the Mustang and Cougar.

 

So there is the story of a marketing plan that backfired and how they got out of it.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[GK1918]

I drove my father crazy to test drive the all new Edsel,  because if he did,  I would get a new

model.  Mine is pink and cream color.  Still have it still in the box.  Somewhere in this very house.

[Buffalowed Bill]

I was fourteen when the Edsel debuted. I had been interested in car design, from the time I was five or six years old. Every year when the new cars came out was exciting to me. Some I liked and some I didn't, but there was always something that I liked every year. Then 1955 rolled around, it was like I had died and gone to heaven. With the possible exception of the Nash I loved them all (I appreciate the Nash now). In fact I loved virtually all the 1956 American cars and most of the 1957's as well. 

 

Then 1958 happened. To me it was like most every manufacturer, with the possible exception of Chrysler, took a step backward, styling wise.  For me the Edsel was just one mistake, little better or worse then all the others. It's rather funny how I've come to appreciate those cars today,' including the Edsel. 

[John_S_in_Penna]

In the 1958 model year (in the spring of '58, I think),

Edsel developed a "pony give-away" contest.

Some dealerships had already closed, and many

others were struggling.  But Ford Motor delivered

a live pony to every dealership, and the public could

test-drive an Edsel and earn the right to submit a name

for the pony.

 

The ponies were kept either in a pen in the showroom,

or in an outdoor corral, such as in the used car lot.

 

After a specified number of test drives, the winning name

would be chosen, and a lucky person would get the pony!

 

Does anyone remember this?

 

 

[Dynaflash8]

A buddy and I went to the opening night showing in Arlington (Clarendon), VA to see the new 1958 Edsel.  I really liked the car.  The grill reminded me of an old pre-War LaSalle grill.  I always like pre-War cars.

[8E45E]

Funny how the Edsel grille gets criticized so much, considering Alfa Romeo has used a similar shaped grille center on all their vehicles from before the war, and continues to do so on current models.

 

Craig

[Paul Dobbin]

 

I was 11 and newly interested in cars in anticipation of learning to drive on my long awaited

12th birthday.  I thought the Edsel was UGLY.  However 61 years later I think they are interestingly COOL.  I once saw one made into a Ranchero that I really liked.  (Similar to another never made by the factory car, the 57 El Camino from a Nomad.)

[Mike36]

I was in the 6th grade when the Edsel debuted. We boys were excited when our teacher bought one, and ran outside at the final bell to see it. If I remember correctly, we liked it. In the following years, I remember them being referred to as a lemon sucking an egg.

[danleblanc]

9 hours ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

In the 1958 model year (in the spring of '58, I think),

Edsel developed a "pony give-away" contest.

Some dealerships had already closed, and many

others were struggling.  But Ford Motor delivered

a live pony to every dealership, and the public could

test-drive an Edsel and earn the right to submit a name

for the pony.

 

The ponies were kept either in a pen in the showroom,

or in an outdoor corral, such as in the used car lot.

 

After a specified number of test drives, the winning name

would be chosen, and a lucky person would get the pony!

 

Does anyone remember this?

 

 

I looked up Darling's Rambler as the Darling name is still very active in Bangor, ME today as a Ford dealership.   Bangor is 1 1/2 hours southwest of me and so I quite often pass through there heading south.

 

Anyhow, Darling's Rambler was a Rambler dealer from 1959-1966, so this photo would have been dated sometime in 1959.  Interesting that the photo would've been taken sometime in 1959 with obviously two leftover 1958 Edsels.  One would think that they would've used current models for a publicity photo.