1958 Edsel Citation 4 Door HT Project $2,900 Not Mine

[B Jake Moran]

(1) Marketplace - 1958 Ford edsel | Facebook

 

1958 Edsel Citation. Full car with a 410 engine and a lot of great parts. Have title.

 

 

[B Jake Moran]

This is a tough one for me, old and limited on space, time and money.   I don't care much about which body style in 1958, but I would love to own a 58 Citation, the top of the model line of this ill fated make.  This is also a color, a brownish-goldish bronze - that I also prefer.  

 

Sadly, the car would cost upwards of $150,000 to restore properly, or perhaps a bit less.  At one time, it was likely a nice car, owing to the front seat appearance, complete engine compartment.   I spotted it on marketplace as a Corsair and advised the seller, who said it was his dad's car.  He changed the title and description.  If you are among the few folks in the Edsel clubs or Edsel collectors circuit, I am sure you have Edsel Citation set up as a search on the on line marketplaces.  

 

As I said, I don't car a whole lot that it is a 4 door hardtop, but if it was a 2 door hardtop or a convertible it would likely be gone at $2,900.   It's just odd that these next generationers who are gifted with such cool cars continue to let them languish or put absurd prices on them in some cases.   

[58L-Y8]

In about 1961-'62, nearby Tunningley Ford dealership took in a trade of a 1958 Edsel Citation four door hardtop in this same bronze and white color combination.  By then, even though the car was in good condition, demand for used Edsels was low.  Norm parked it in the cheap used car backlot line, then it was used for a loaner car for 4-5 years when a customer needed one while his car was in for repairs.  Late 1960's, it was in a line of unsaleable cars by his body shop, which eventually got towed to his junkyard up on his farm out of town.  

 

Come the 1970's, Norm's son-in-law takes over the dealership when Norm passes, his junkyard gets scrapped except for what few cars are deemed worth setting aside as 'collector's items' or potentially so, which included any Edsel in the inflation-racked '70's.  It kicked around with various owners, weathering as it did into the 1980's, landing with an employer I had for a few years who had a collection of rough Ford products. 

 

In the early 1990's, my employer offered two Edsels, the '58 Citation and a '59 Ranger plus two Lincoln sedans, a '61 and a '64 his wife ruined for free if I'd take them.  I took the Lincolns, the Edsels went to a fellow who was gather up whatever weathered, rusty Edsels he could still find.  My final encounter with that '58 Citation was 6-7 years later, extremely rough by then but with only a little over 40K miles on the odometer.  It was in an active salvage operation so its safe to assume it went to its rest.

 

Whenever I see a 1958 Edsel Citation four door hardtop in this specific color combination, I remember that car.