Edsel

The Edsel was a make of automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company during the 1958, 1959 and 1960 model years. The car brand is best known as a spectacular failure in the history of the United States automobile industry. more...

History

The Edsel was introduced amidst a considerable amount of publicity on "E Day" -- September 4, 1957. The firm had recently earned its status as a publicly-traded corporation that was no longer entirely owned by members of the Ford family. It was able to sell cars without being hindered by Henry Ford's antiquated preferences following the sellers' market of the post-war years. The new management compared the roster of Ford makes with that of General Motors, and noted that Lincoln competed not with Cadillac, but with Oldsmobile. The plan was developed to move Lincoln upmarket and put another make in beneath it, with yet another (Continental) at the very top. Research and development had begun in 1955 under the name "E-car" which stood for "Experimental car".

This represented a new division of the firm alongside that of Ford itself and the Lincoln-Mercury division, which at the time shared the same body. Continental was also sold in the latter division. Although Edsel would share its body with Ford, it would be sold through a new division. This short-lived Edsel division existed from November 1956 until January 1958, after which Edsels were made by the Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln division (referred to as M-E-L). Edsel was sold through a new network of 1500 dealers. This briefly brought total dealers of all Ford products to 10,000. Ford saw this as a way to come closer to parity with the other two companies of the Big Three: Chrysler had 10,000 dealers and General Motors had 16,000. As soon as it became apparent that the Edsels were not selling, many of these dealers added Lincoln-Mercury, English Ford and/or Taunus dealerships to their lines with the encouragement of Ford Motor Company. Some dealers, however, closed.

For the 1958 model year, Edsel produced four models, including the larger Mercury-based Citation and Corsair, and the smaller, more affordable Ford-based Pacer and Ranger. The Citation came in two-door and four-door hardtops, and two-door convertible versions. The Corsair came in two-door and four-door hardtop versions. The Pacer came in two-door and four-door hardtops, four-door sedan, and two-door convertible. The Ranger came in two-door and four-door hardtop or sedan versions. The Bermuda Wagon, Villager Wagon, and Roundup Wagon were based on the two smaller Edsel models, and shared body structure with the '57-59 Ford wagons. It included several features that were, at the time, cutting-edge innovations, among which were its "rolling dome" speedometer and its "Teletouch" transmission shifting system, on the center of the steering wheel. Other less-touted but more enduring design innovations included a primitive attempt at ergonomically-designed controls for the driver, and self-adjusting brakes (a first for the industry). 63,110 Edsels sold the first year. Though this was below expectations, it was still the second largest car launch for any brand to date. Only the Plymouth introduction in 1928 was better.

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