Another "what if" car: 1958 Edsel...SKYLINER??

[JamesR]

I know we focus on unmodified old cars, but sometimes there are modified cars that don't try to look like customized cars. They try to look more like concept cars that never were, with features that the originals never had, but maybe could've had. Some don't look quite right (tri-five Chevy El Caminos) but some are pretty cool and make you wonder if such a car could've been successfully marketed by the factory way back when. I posted a T-Bird station wagon and a late '60's Cougar fast back a few years ago, and we had some interesting debates about those cars. Here's another one I found on Curbside Classics - an Edsel Skyliner. Of course, the Edsel was a sales flop and Ford didn't make many Skyliners, so I doubt the idea would've been a "success", but I still think the retractable top looks pretty good on the Edsel. What do you folks think?

 

Cohort Sighting: 1958 Edsel Skyliner - It Should Have Been An Edsel All Along - Curbside Classic

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by JamesR (see edit history)

[Dave Wells]

This is an old story...   (Nothing new under the sun)

 

The forum discussion dates back to 2005.

 

 

 

Here's a '59 version:

 

 

 

 

Lots of Edsel Rancheros have been created . Here are a few:

 

 

How about a Mercury Ranchero?

 

 

 

 

Here's a real one:

 

Some people have a sense of humor:

 

P.S. Thank you, James, for your post. It's sort of nice to travel through Fantasy Land now and again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by Dave Wells (see edit history)

[Crusty Trucker]

 

From what I can determine, authentic Edsels did not have the flair or bulge over the rear wheel well opening (quarter panel), but a flare matching the front. The bulge was a feature of Fords in '57 and '58 and did not appear on the '58 Edsel. This leads me to believe that the subject retractable is a highly modified Ford, NOT an Edsel.

 

[mikewest]

8 minutes ago, Crusty Trucker said:

 

From what I can determine, authentic Edsels did not have the flair or bulge over the rear wheel well opening (quarter panel), but a flare matching the front. The bulge was a feature of Fords in '57 and '58 and did not appear on the '58 Edsel. This leads me to believe that the subject retractable is a highly modified Ford, NOT an Edsel.

 

You can fool some of the people some of the time .... but not all of the people all of the time. Nice pick!

[JamesR]

Thanks for the info and insights, guys! I think I prefer the look of the green '59 in Skyliner form, but the '58 looks good, too. Yes, I can now see that the '58 looks like a modified Ford. I wonder if that's also what happened with the '59? I'd guess that converting a Ford into an Edsel would be easier than converting a non-retractable into a retractable, but I could be wrong.

 

The Edsel Rancheros that Dave posted are cool - better than some other attempts at a "ute" conversion. My all time favorite non-production sedan-pickup is the prototype that Pontiac built in '59. I personally think it looked even better than the '59 El Camino (which looked good.) I think Pontiac may have missed out on an opportunity by not building that one.

 

 

I mentioned I didn't care for the tri-five Chevy El Caminos, but that's not entirely true. The ones made out of Nomads look pretty nice, but modding a Nomad into a ute is an idea I find a bit troubling.

Edited November 28, 2023 by JamesR (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I'm surprised they never made a 58 Edsel Skyliner. It was their new medium priced offering and it bristled with avante garde features like Teletouch pushbutton shift in the steering wheel, big V8, air suspension, novel front and rear styling. The retractible hardtop would have fit right in.

[Billy Kingsley]

I have read that the Edsel front end is a bolt on replacement for the Ranchero, although I do not know if that's 100% true. Maybe the more knowledgeable folks on here than me can confirm or deny? 

 

The rear side cove on the retractable 58 Edsel appears to be from a 58 Edsel Wagon, not a sedan. 

[Rusty_OToole]

7 hours ago, Billy Kingsley said:

I have read that the Edsel front end is a bolt on replacement for the Ranchero, although I do not know if that's 100% true. Maybe the more knowledgeable folks on here than me can confirm or deny? 

 

The rear side cove on the retractable 58 Edsel appears to be from a 58 Edsel Wagon, not a sedan. 

There were 4 models of Edsel, Ranger Pacer Corsair and CItation.  The Ranger and Pacer were based on the Ford body, Corsair and Citation were Mercury based.

This means many parts of the Ranger and Pacer interchange with Fords, including the complete front clip.

The Edsel station wagons used a slightly modified Ford station wagon body. The Edsel tail lights bolt onto the Ford body, with the addition of a little fin at the bottom. Edsel wagon trim fits a Ford body. So the easy way to make an Edsel retractable is to put the Edsel front clip and wagon rear trim onto the Ford.

Edited November 29, 2023 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[8E45E]

18 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

I'm surprised they never made a 58 Edsel Skyliner. It was their new medium priced offering and it bristled with avante garde features like Teletouch pushbutton shift in the steering wheel, big V8, air suspension, novel front and rear styling. The retractable hardtop would have fit right in.

I don't believe the retractable hardtop was earning Ford any payback on the development costs and tooling for it.   Whether an Edsel version would have resulted increased sales is doubtful as the only model Edsel would be on the Ford-based Pacer, and would have competed in-house with the Ford Fairlane 500 trim level upon which it was based. 

 

Now a Meteor Rideau retractable hardtop in Canada would have been interesting had they made one!!  A few years previous, there were Meteor Crown Victorias.

 

Craig

[arcticbuicks]

yes,they did the meteor version of pretty much everything ......just not the retractable.....there is one well done custom made meteor retractable i have seen and probably pics on the net,two tone blue ........i like the meteor ranchero

[8E45E]

4 minutes ago, arcticbuicks said:

yes,they did the meteor version of pretty much everything ......just not the retractable.....there is one well done custom made meteor retractable i have seen and probably pics on the net,two tone blue ........i like the meteor ranchero

There were Meteor Rancheros and sedan deliveries made in very small numbers.  

 

Another Meteor that was never made was a Country Squire/Colony Park wood paneled version, at least after 1951.

 

Craig

[PONTIAC1953]

On 11/28/2023 at 10:31 AM, JamesR said:

Thanks for the info and insights, guys! I think I prefer the look of the green '59 in Skyliner form, but the '58 looks good, too. Yes, I can now see that the '58 looks like a modified Ford. I wonder if that's also what happened with the '59? I'd guess that converting a Ford into an Edsel would be easier than converting a non-retractable into a retractable, but I could be wrong.

 

The Edsel Rancheros that Dave posted are cool - better than some other attempts at a "ute" conversion. My all time favorite non-production sedan-pickup is the prototype that Pontiac built in '59. I personally think it looked even better than the '59 El Camino (which looked good.) I think Pontiac may have missed out on an opportunity by not building that one.

 

 

I mentioned I didn't care for the tri-five Chevy El Caminos, but that's not entirely true. The ones made out of Nomads look pretty nice, but modding a Nomad into a ute is an idea I find a bit troubling.

this is actually a tribute copy of the one prototype that Pontiac did build in 1959.

[PONTIAC1953]

I can remember working parttime at a Santa Monica used car lot, washing the cars on the lot, Gordy the owner would buy 1960 Fords and convert them into fake Edsels.

[Fargoguy]

I saw this car at Donut Derelicts in Huntington Beach, CA a few years ago and LOVED IT.