1960 Edsel 4 Door Hardtop - $18,000 (Seattle WA area) Not Mine

[m-mman]

Up for sale is a very rare 1960 Edsel 4 Door Hardtop Sedan. It is one of only 135 built in the 1960 model year. Won first place in its class at the 2012 International Edsel Owners Club (EOC) meet.

The car has been restored with new Alaskan Gold paint and a new SMS fabrics interior including 100% original style seat coverings and door panels. The interior restoration alone was over $5,000. The car has only 68,000 miles on it and has the original 292 Y-Block V8 in it with an automatic transmission, power steering and manual brakes.

New brakes, new brake lines, new starter, rebuilt generator, Pertronix ignition. New Coker original style tires with internal radial construction.

 

https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/d/snohomish-1960-edsel-door-hardtop/7649721955.html  

 

This 1960 Edsel is Not Mine and I have no connection to the sale thereof. 

 

 

[58L-Y8]

Interesting, extremely rare Edsel.  The subtle differences between the '60 Edsel Ranger 4dr hardtop and the '60 Ford Galaxie 4dr Town Victoria is the roof quarters sail panel: Ford had the Thunderbird-style formal quarters; Edsel a 4dr hardtop version of the style employed for the sedans.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Good find, M-m-man!

This Edsel looks excellent, and the price is probably

realistic, too, considering its condition.

 

In my opinion, the 1960 Edsels look better than the

1958 and 1959 models.

[kingrudy]

Immaculate car, from the really cool paint, super clean engine compartment to the gorgeous interior. Worth every penny IMO. 

[deac]

What a cool Edsel.  This is the first time I have seen one these.  I love the look of the roof line and the taillight design looks wild.  I hope it goes to someone will preserve it and win some trophies at a local car show!

Edited August 6, 2023 by deac (see edit history)

[B Jake Moran]

36 minutes ago, deac said:

What a cool Edsel.  This is the first time I have seen one these.  I love the look of the roof line and the taillight design looks wild.  I hope it goes to someone will preserve it and win some trophies at a local car show!

They are so rare few of us have seen one in person.  If it speaks to you (meaning any collector not just you DEAC) then $18k is not out of line.  I’ll bet it goes for $15k or so. Frankly, I find it curious it is offered in the regular marketplace.   Typically, these rare cars are hand shake exchanged amongst the club members. 

[deac]

36 minutes ago, B Jake Moran said:

They are so rare few of us have seen one in person.  If it speaks to you (meaning any collector not just you DEAC) then $18k is not out of line.  I’ll bet it goes for $15k or so. Frankly, I find it curious it is offered in the regular marketplace.   Typically, these rare cars are hand shake exchanged amongst the club members. 

it definitely speaks to me! Your opinion on price is what I was thinking as well....

[rocketraider]

I'd never seen one either. Like most cars, you never see anything but two-door hardtops and convertibles.

 

Granted, the Edsel never lived up to its hype, but they weren't inherently bad cars.

 

I do think the 1960 should have retained the horse collar grille styling. It lost a lot of identity when it became a 59 Pontiac.

 

If McNamara hadn't been determined to convert Ford to all Falcon-sized four-door sedans, Edsel might still have stood a chance. His blatant dislike for the whole Edsel program and subterfuge working against it didn't help. His departure was one of the best things that ever happened to Ford Motor Company. Course he went on to get the United States mired so deeply in Southeast Asia there was no honorable way to get out, but that's another story for another day. He might have been a Whiz Kid, but also a truly rotten human being.

 

If any of you remember AMT's 1960s 3-in-1 model kits, some of those came with some really cool "stylizing" parts. The 1963-issue 1957 Ford kit had pieces to convert its rear end to 1960 Edsel styling.

 

That the custom crowd liked the styling says that the styling wasn't bad, just maybe a little ahead of its time. Also notice the use of a 1957 DeSoto upper grille bar on the custom. Good design is good design.

 

 

This kit was my first exposure to using body putty to fill and smooth seams. I often think back that if there'd been body shop glazing putty like showed up 10 years later, me stylized Ford might not have looked so amateurish! The AMT-supplied putty was hard to work especially in 1/25 scale.

 

From Edsels to McNamara to AMT model kits. Boy I'm swerving all over the road today!

[George Albright]

If it wasn’t in Seattle it would be in my Florida garage!

[deac]

6 minutes ago, George Albright said:

If it wasn’t in Seattle it would be in my Florida garage!

My thinking is similar to yours... If I had a covered safe place near me to park it I would aggressively pursue this one!!!  It's a no brainer in my book.

Edited August 6, 2023 by deac (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

13 minutes ago, deac said:

My thinking is similar to yours... If I had a covered safe place near me to park it I would aggressively pursue this one!!!  It's a no brainer in my book.

I think that keeps a lot of us from going after cars that are a good deal and that we really like. 

 

It's the only reason I haven't pursued that 1980 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight that was on here a few days ago. I realize that gaining the car is only the down payment. I'd have to build it somewhere suitable to live.

[58L-Y8]

I've never seen a 1960 Edsel Ranger four-door hardtop in person either.  A late friend and I used to visit Hugh Leslie's Edsel-Mercury-Lincoln farm collection in lower Pennsylvania in the 1990's.  He had collected hundreds of Edsels as well as mid-1950's to early 1960 Lincolns and Mercurys.  Iirc, he even had a 1960 Edsel station wagon but not a four-door hardtop.  A good share of Hugh's collection were projects or parts cars.  He is gone now, and the collection dispersed; good cars in other collector hands and the parts cars processed for parts before being scrapped. 

 

One downside that I can verify the broad wrapped rear window produced, being shared with the 1960 Ford sedan bodies of which my family had one in the 1962-'66 period, was the greenhouse effect on rear seat passengers in the summer driving away from the sun.

[rocketraider]

I think all 59-62 cars suffered from that to some extent. The  GM two-door hardtops could have sun visors on the rear glass, and the glass had a mirrored band across the top, but rear seat passengers still always had sunburned necks and bald heads in summer.

[DrumBob]

Didn't the critics say the Edsel looked like an Oldsmobile? 

[John_S_in_Penna]

35 minutes ago, DrumBob said:

Didn't the critics say the Edsel looked like an Oldsmobile? 

 One joke about the new Edsels (the 1958 models)

was that they "look like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon!"

Comparing the 2 front ends, one can see the point:

 

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[m-mman]

1 hour ago, DrumBob said:

Didn't the critics say the Edsel looked like an Oldsmobile? 

That was for 1958.  The joke was "Looks like an Oldsmobile sucking on a lemon" 

 

EDIT:

These might help you understand the joke. 

For many years Olds used a large wide "open mouth" grille. 

The 1958 Edsel used a narrow, vertical grille. . . . . 

Edited August 8, 2023 by m-mman (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

Keep in mind I identify as an Oldsmobile guy.

 

The 58 Edsel was a better styled car!

 

The 1958 Oldsmobile line was best described as "wretched excess", and the Buick was worse. Their greatest success was they convinced GM that maybe Harley Earl should retire. 

 

At least by 1960 some of the "wretched excess" GM styling tropes had finally been laid to rest.

 

Course you look at some modern vehicles, notably pickup trucks, and wretched excess on styling seems to be slouching its way back toward Bethlehem.

[deac]

I cannot believe that I went back looking for an Edsel; but I did!  This thing is still for sale!  I have to think that the Edsel name is holding this car back!  This thing is so cool!

[John_S_in_Penna]

36 minutes ago, deac said:

I cannot believe that I went back looking for an Edsel; but I did!  This thing is still for sale! 

And the all-important contact information, copied

from the ad, is:

 

Telephone (206) 683-7811.

The car is on the Snohomish, Washington Craig's List.

Go for it, Deac!  To find a 1960 Edsel, in excellent condition,

and realistically priced from a knowledgeable Edsel owner,

isn't an everyday occurrence.  The car is even on the West

Coast for you.

 

Edited August 19, 2023 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[Commodore]

Did this car sell?

I'm an AACA life member, (084468)  but never thought much about Edsels.

 

Kinda looking for a Villager with the same interior....

 

[B Jake Moran]

You would have to call the seller. 

[John_S_in_Penna]

2 hours ago, B Jake Moran said:

You would have to call the seller. 

Yes, and we copied the telephone number into our

forum for the record you need.  Let us know if you

find it still available;  and even moreso if you buy it!

 

On 8/19/2023 at 10:22 AM, John_S_in_Penna said:

And the all-important contact information, copied

from the ad, is:

Telephone (206) 683-7811.

The car is on the Snohomish, Washington Craig's List.

 

[rocketraider]

That pretty Edsel needs a new and loving caretaker.

 

You couldn't restore one to that condition for the asking money, and this one has collector ownership and provenance going for it.

[JamesR]

On 8/6/2023 at 7:09 AM, 58L-Y8 said:

The subtle differences between the '60 Edsel Ranger 4dr hardtop and the '60 Ford Galaxie 4dr Town Victoria is the roof quarters sail panel

 

That 1960 Edsel is very nice, and super clean, from what I can see. Along with its similarities to the '60 Ford, I notice that it has an almost identical dashboard and instruments to my '61 Mercury Monterey. Was that dash a common element on full sized '60 and '61 Fords, too?

[marty14]

That rear end view of the Tail lights & Back lights makes me cringe....they just look so weird and do not fit into the overall look. The front end I like.

[deac]

1 hour ago, marty14 said:

That rear end view of the Tail lights & Back lights makes me cringe....they just look so weird and do not fit into the overall look. The front end I like.

I too was struck by the oddity of those taillights, then I grew to love them because they're so wild looking.  

[58L-Y8]

1 hour ago, JamesR said:

 

That 1960 Edsel is very nice, and super clean, from what I can see. Along with its similarities to the '60 Ford, I notice that it has an almost identical dashboard and instruments to my '61 Mercury Monterey. Was that dash a common element on full sized '60 and '61 Fords, too?

JamesR:

When Mercury went to the Ford platform for 1961, it assumed the instrument panel as well as a good deal of overall component commonality.  Here are the 1961 Ford, 1962 Ford and Mercury dashes.   The similarities weren't lost on the buying public who complained about their Mercury Monterey which was more expensive than a Ford Galaxie being too similar.  Note for 1963, greater effort was made to differentiate to two cars, one reason the Mercury received the 'breezeway' rear window feature exclusively. 

The 1961 marketing program promoting the Mercury Meteor 600 and 800 as "The Better Low-Priced Car", which included 6-cylinder full-sized Mercurys for the first time, was a major mistake, confused the public while diluting the upscale image that Mercury had cultivated since its introduction.  Blame for this foray that scrambled Mercury's upscale market thrust lay at Robert McNamara's feet.   He directed Mercury be reined-in after the extravagance under Jack Reith which produced disappointing results.    As justification, the successful conquest by Dodge of the low-priced segment with the 1960 Dart line for one year (essentially a Dodge-styled Plymouth) provided the impetus to take Mercury down market.  Never mind that the Dodge Dart cannibalized Plymouth sales, both suffered the consequences of that boneheaded move for years afterwards. 

Steve

 

[JamesR]

On 10/10/2023 at 4:46 PM, 58L-Y8 said:

 The similarities weren't lost on the buying public who complained about their Mercury Monterey which was more expensive than a Ford Galaxie being too similar.

 

Yes, that's my understanding of what was going on at Mercury back then, as well. I appreciate your expanding on that idea and giving it depth and context. Also, thanks for the dash pictures. Very interesting to see a console installed back then. I thought they didn't offer those til later, but obviously that's not the case.

[58L-Y8]

7 hours ago, JamesR said:

 

Yes, that's my understanding of what was going on at Mercury back then, as well. I appreciate your expanding on that idea and giving it depth and context. Also, thanks for the dash pictures. Very interesting to see a console installed back then. I thought they didn't offer those til later, but obviously that's not the case.

You're welcome! Context of what were the driving forces and personalities is key to understanding how these cars came to be.  The bucket seats and console shown in the 1962 Ford and Mercury were part of the XL500 and S-55 trim package.   Poor Mercury, dependent upon who was dominating Ford upper management, it either got to try to develop its own identity or was reined-in to fancy Ford status.  Although it was direct price competition for Pontiac and Dodge, it was never really allowed to develop its own, strong identity, which resulted in equally strong sales.