Saturday, June 28, 2008

Ford Edsel




I guess Ford is in the gun sights again. Before the Edsel was introduced in 1958, there was much hoopla about a totally new car coming from Ford. This new car would be so much better then anything else sold to date. Newly created Edsel dealers blanked out their windows in anticipation of the unveiling of this gift to the motoring world. From what I have heard from witnesses to this event, when the curtain was raised there were gasps and many stood in stunned silence. What was unveiled was a much overhyped automotive joke. Looking like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon, the grille was the first thing that shocked everyone. The rear end was not much better. At first glance this all new car, once you regained your composure after seeing the grille, was just a redone full size Ford with ghastly styling. Sales of the car never amounted to much more then a drop in a bucket and the car soldiered on until the last one came off the assembly line in 1960. Wouldn't you have wanted to be an Edsel dealer and lost all of your investment on this dog?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

They and we are still gasping!

eatswedishfish said...

What were the designers looking at when they approved this design? They must have had pretty ugly parents!! (just kidding)

Sofar said...

I kind of liked the 1959 model, it was a little more toned-down. By 1960 the horse-collar grill had disappeared (along with the panoramic windshield) leaving it little to distinguish it from a Mercury with a weird gearbox.