That 1960 Edsel really is a rather handsome car, to my eyes at least. If they would've released the 1960 model in 1958, it might've really taken off saleswise.

@Trefoile

28 күн бұрын

Yes, I have always liked the 1960.

@adp5R3x

28 күн бұрын

UNIQUE! ... but not Handsome

@michaelwhite2823

28 күн бұрын

Agreed, except the rear end.

@Primus54

28 күн бұрын

Put the 1960 Edsel next to a 1960 Galaxie and the shared design and sheet metal is quite obvious, although it is certainly an improvement over the previous two model years.

@ttop64

28 күн бұрын

I have also thought the same thing. 1960 was the best model year.

I always considered Edsel Ford a rather tragic figure. His father was harsh with him, afraid he'd make him "soft". Then he died young from an ulcer. He was such a different person than his father.

@michaelreilly1310esq

28 күн бұрын

Edsel Ford was a kind and capable man, not so much Henry

@gregt8638

28 күн бұрын

True. And I'm glad you brought it up. Edsel- the man was a nice kind man... and you can see buckling under the pressure to be mean he got an ulcer..died young. God bless him!

@Paramount531

27 күн бұрын

He certainly had an eye for design.

@michaelreilly1310esq

27 күн бұрын

Edsel brought Lincoln to the Ford company

@greemblomb

26 күн бұрын

He died of metastatic stomach cancer

That gold Citation convertible, absolutely gorgeous. I was born just after the whole Edsel debacle ended. Honestly I never saw one and knew what it was until the '70s, and then I was hooked. I love Edsels, their horse-collar, their rotating drum speedo, their Mach 5 push buttons on the steering wheel hub. They really have a presence.

Many vehicles of the late 1950’s suffered from overwrought styling. The ’58 Edsel had the misfortune of being rolled out in a recession year. It seems to me the ugly bar has been raised to a new level with the introduction of the Cybertruck.

@AandD...always

28 күн бұрын

ahhh yess.....CyberJunk...what a Dawg! LOL 😃

@jimlubinski4731

28 күн бұрын

All mid-priced cars in 1958 sold poorly. the only winners that year were Rambler and Thunderbird.

@Jody-kt9ev

28 күн бұрын

We have one of those Cybertrucks driving around here. UG!

@Michael-lk4oh

28 күн бұрын

@@Jody-kt9ev We have many of the cyber trucks roaming the streets of San Francisco. One in our neighborhood is parked on the street every night and already has dents and scuffs. The trucks are too large for the narrow and hilly streets.

@Jody-kt9ev

28 күн бұрын

@@Michael-lk4oh Texas is full of giant trucks already, so no street issues, just ugly. The Tesla cars are common around here, but the Tesla trucks are not. The Rivian is a lot better looking electric truck. We have these here also

As a kid then like now I loved the looks. The grill was ahead of it's time

When I was 17 I prepped two 58 Edsels for paint in exchange for a 57 four door New Yorker. 392 Hemi that was running. It took some work, but that was my daily until I was 21 and a one ton Chevy ran a stop sign and destroyed her. I absolutely love your channel Brother 🤜🏼🤛🏼

"In 1960 the Edsel was little more than a warmed-over Ford...." I know you meant in terms of its styling but, in fact, the Edsel was *_never_* more than a gussied up Ford. And while the styling is often (and reflexively) blamed for its failure, a major part of this marketing misstep was due to Ford over-promising what the Edsel would deliver once unveiled. Terms like "revolutionary" and "completely new" were used freely, leading consumers to expect a groundbreaking vehicle. Ford amped up the intrigue by keeping the Edsel's design a secret until its unveiling. This strategy backfired, as consumers developed wild expectations and then lost interest when the actual car wasn't as revolutionary as the hype had promised.

@seed_drill7135

28 күн бұрын

Yeah, they were expecting something akin to the Corvair but what they got was a really weird looking Mercury chock full of gimmicks like the Teletouch Transmission.

@lincoslam

28 күн бұрын

@@seed_drill7135 I owned a 1958 Edsel Citation 4 door hardtop in the 90's. While the "teletouch" may seem gimmicky mine worked flawlessly and BTW My 2020 Lincoln Continental is shifted by push buttons.

@EyesWideOpen61

28 күн бұрын

Definitely one of the most overhyped products in history

@tywebb355

27 күн бұрын

Almost every car promises to be different than the rest. The Edsel some features that weren't common in other cars. The styling just polarized people. Once everybody that liked it bought it than sales tapered off.

@xqqqme

27 күн бұрын

@@tywebb355 "Almost every car promises to be different than the rest."

I think it was a mistake to emulate the GM range of cars. GM didn’t create any of their brands, they acquired existing companies that already had fans. Creating a new brand from scratch is much more difficult.

If the stylists wanted the Edsel to be recognized as an Edsel and nothing else, they definitely succeeded.

I actually think the 1960 Edsel is quite good looking. I prefer the rear end treatment on the Ford, but I like the front end on the Edsel more, with the divided grille. Definitely reminds me of the 1959 Pontiac in particular. Has to be one of my favorite American cars from 1960, I think it looks better than anything made by GM or Chrysler the same year. I'd consider owning one if they weren't so rare.

Jeremy Clarkson would have said the grille resembled "lady parts".

@lincoslam

28 күн бұрын

Probably.....but he would have been looking at his own "lady parts"

I read the book “Disaster in Dearborn” and came away with a different point of view. During the press introduction Robert McNamara announced that plans to discontinue the brand before it ever got started. The actual sales figures for a first year vehicle were actually not bad at all. It’s too bad that the rug was pulled out from under the vehicle so soon.

@simonf8902

27 күн бұрын

Naming it after your dead father is not a happy start. Edsel Ford died quite young leaving Henry Ford II as head of the family.

@sfg5724

27 күн бұрын

I wish Robert McNamara, one of the "whiz kids" would have discontinued the Vietnam war before it got really going under his watch.

@dave1956

27 күн бұрын

@@sfg5724 I never thought about that one, but I’m old enough to remember it. Fortunately I was too young to participate.

@ashleygordon3467

26 күн бұрын

Comforting the contemporary opposition, I don’t think the Edsel was ugly at all. When I studied Marketing at University we looked at the Edsel as a case study. The lecturer said it failed for two main reasons: 1) it had wheels and 2) some in senior management wanted to kill it . The ‘it had wheels’ comment related to the advance promotion of the car, which promised so much advancement that people’s expectations could not be satisfied with what was really just another car.

@cjb8010

24 күн бұрын

@@sfg5724why stop the Vietnam war? Leave the Vietnamese to the predations of the communists even early?

OK, I have two Edsel stories. In 1977, I was 18, and there was a '59 Corsair 4-door with 60k miles for $1000. It was almost perfect. I wanted it bad, but Dad said "No". Later that year, there was a '58 "Edsel Ranchero" on a consignment lot. It was a '58 Ford Ranchero, with '58 Edsel parts, including the dash, swapped onto the body. Probably from a wagon, because the tail lights, etc were Edsel parts, and it all worked. I loved it. Dad said "Hell no", and basically said he would write me out of the will. He was in college when the Edsel debuted, and he saw them only as a representation of a complete failure. It didn't help when I said I wanted to find a Nixon bumper sticker to put on the back bumper... My first car was a '60 Ford Starliner (should have kept that one). I finally saw a '60 Edsel when I was in college, and I could only see it as a Ford with a few different trim parts just screwed to the body. Perhaps if I hadn't owned the Ford, it might have looked better to me. I think I have seen a total of 5, 1960s.

@mitchb2305

28 күн бұрын

AWWW, just a thousand??? Did your dad kick himself later? Edit : read the rest of the story. Doesn't sound like he changed his viewpoint!

@jimf4492

28 күн бұрын

@@mitchb2305 Well, $1k was a LOT of money then. I was working part-time during college, and I felt rich making $3/hr. I probably could have bought a nice mid-'60s GTO for $2500.

@AaaAaa-ly3on

28 күн бұрын

Sounds like your dad treated you the same way Henry himself treated Edsel... :)

@jimf4492

28 күн бұрын

@@AaaAaa-ly3on No, not really. He was more concerned about me finishing school than buying another toy car, and he was right. I still lived at home, so, his castle, his rules!

@mitchb2305

27 күн бұрын

@@jimf4492 -- Still, I wonder what that Edsel would be worth today, assuming you still had the car and it was garaged, or something. That thousand would've gone a long way.

I liked the Edsel’s styling when it came out. But, in fairness, I was only 4 years old at the time.

@kellismith4329

28 күн бұрын

Already obsolete by the seem of it

What’s wrong with the rear three-quarter view? I like the tail lights, + would argue it aged a lot better than some fins. Much cleaner design than the ultra cluttered GM of the time, too, plus there is some continuity of line to it, unusual for that era Might’ve been OK if they had a different grill. 🤷‍♂️

There were 68,045 Edsels produced in 1958 and just 49,445 DeSotos.

@davidpistek6241

24 күн бұрын

Desoto was the Chrysler division not around much longer they had some pretty ones 58 worked better for Chrysler than anyone else for styling, heard they rusted quickly

@AaaAaa-ly3on

13 күн бұрын

-And all those DeSoto's also looks beautiful, stylish and charismatic in their own way!..

My late uncle Charlie owned a Citation 59 convertible for many years. He left it to his son when he died. It still looks good.

@kenon6968

27 күн бұрын

the 59s are some of the most attractive cars of that year, definitely going against the grain of more chrome, more fins, more more

Sometimes you put out a product for which there are not enough buyers. Take Ford's current financial losses with EV production as an example. According to Bloomberg, Ford's EV losses topped $100,000 per vehicle in the last quarter.

1958 was a recession year. I think thats part of the reason the Edsel flopped. I dont think the car was any uglier than its contemporaries

@davidprosser7278

28 күн бұрын

Apparently, Ford did a lot of research, and the Edsel tried and failed to be everything to everyone. Plus, there was a recession.

The 1960 Edsel was a good looking car. I would have purchased it back then. Thanks for the information Adam 👍.

@gergatron7000

28 күн бұрын

You can see now, with the benefit of hindsight, that the new direction that Ford was going in was pioneering in spirit, and the others followed with handsome designs like the 61 Olds, etc.

"How does it feel owning a 58 Edsel"? "It's like falling in love". People say that love is blind, however not enough people fell in love with the Edsel. The Pontiacs years later had the beak in the center of the grill. I wonder if the designers were slightly influenced by the Edsel?

@Clyde-2055

27 күн бұрын

The ‘58 Edsel didn’t have a beak, it had a vulva. The Pontiac design resembled the 1960 Edsel …

I was a little boy in the 60s and a car enthusiast even then so I was very familiar with the styling of that era and even older ones from the 50s and 40s as there were still quite a few of them on the go at that time. I always had an eye for the peculiar and the unique which is why I always loved the old Exner Mopars and some of the other more oddball offerings from other makers. There was only one Edsel that I can remember in our town and everyone called it butt ugly but it was one of my favorites. A beautiful candy apple red with white which was always clean and shiny.

I still find the 1958 Edsel wagons the most interesting, because they adapted the Ford wagon rear end with those weird, counter-intuitive-shaped boomerang tail lamps. It wasn't really possible to make the true scallop on the side due to the Ford's round taillights so rather like the '58 Stude front headlights, they tacked on those lower fin shapes. Like others, I don't find the Edsel any worse or better looking than other '58's (but I was only 3 years old when it came out). And, of course, the 'Eisenhower recession' hurt all medium priced cars that year. I appreciate Ford's daring innovation, though.

@seed_drill7135

28 күн бұрын

Yeah, DeSoto never recovered after '58 and that was also Packards last year, by that time just an upscaled Studebaker (and it was also the last year for full sized Studebakers).

@tompastian3447

28 күн бұрын

The Edsel Ranger wagon had a great feature, split sliding rear windows. Driving two Mercury wagons everyday, on one wagon I took out one rear side window and never put it back, because it's so handy having that rear side window gone when you want to reach in and grab stuff. There was also a two and four door option on the wagons. Martha Stewart has a 58 Edsel wagon on her premises. She was granted permission to buy Edsel Ford's estate, with the stipulation she maintains the property as Edsel Ford did. Edsel himself was quite the designer.

To me, the Edsel was not as ugly as the '58 Ford, Mercury or Lincoln, or many of the GM products of that year (the Olds was really horrible!). It was unusual though. I have always liked the '58, and I wish I could find a nice one that I can afford. Later on, Pontiac successfully used the same styling concept. It's all timing, I guess. I enjoy your videos. Thanks.

@dustin_4501

28 күн бұрын

While Oldsmobile was bad the worst offender for 58 was Buick.

@jeffshadow2407

28 күн бұрын

In my Anaheim, California neighborhood, many years ago, someone had five Edsels parked on Broadway Street near Walnut. They were finally for sale at $700 each.

@jimf4492

28 күн бұрын

@@dustin_4501 You aren't wrong! However, I think the Buick had a few redeeming features - but the front end was probably not one of them. I just can't find anything good on the '58 Olds. The Chevy and Pontiac weren't at all bad, especially when considering what their competition looked like.

@dustin_4501

28 күн бұрын

@@jimf4492 Chrysler didn't left the 57 room in 58, Ford looks uninteresting, Mercury and Lincoln looks so garish that they could be rejected GM ideas.

@michaelreilly1310esq

28 күн бұрын

The ‘58 Pontiac was gorgeous then and now

I remember being very excited when the 1958 Edsel was introduced. I thought it looked really cool (I still do) and I was fascinated by the push-button automatic transmission. I was 7 years old! I don't think I was ever fortunate enough to even ride in one.

"Dagmars" appeared on the front of many GM cars of the earlier 1950’s so the logical progression in extreme, egocentric design was to lower one’s gaze to what might be an anatomically Venusian reference in the grill - a shape not previously publicly presented - it was shocking when so considered, something one cannot ‘unsee’; yet polite society would not admit to such a carnal association of automotive styling elements. Plainly, it was risqué! With unique tail treatments only found on Edsels and design elements echoing the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser which include heavily carved side panels and greenhouse, this new division of FoMoCo somehow comes off as clumsy, uncoordinated and incongruous with the intended positioning in the market. Adam, you present such interesting features, in-depth knowledge and interviews with designers and automotive influencers of the classic periods that I really enjoy learning about cars which have been of no particular interest to me. Thank you so much for your channel!

The vertical grille has been an Alfa Romeo signature feature for decades, and yet few consider it ugly or a failure.

@matthewpaanotorres7309

28 күн бұрын

That is very confusing and very interesting at the same time!

@paulparoma

28 күн бұрын

@@matthewpaanotorres7309 But why confusing?

@perdanielsorensen7775

28 күн бұрын

There are many, many cars that have vertical grilles, not all are equally successful from a design standpoint

@johnnymula2305

28 күн бұрын

Thats because the Alfa is a very small car. Its easy to add a center vertical grill when its only a few inches tall. The Edsel’s is well over a foot tall. The vehicles proportions are all over the place. Theres lots of blank sheetmetal. That adds to its ugliness.

@mrluckyuncle

28 күн бұрын

It’s a matter of proportion.

Thanks Adam on a great Edsel history, and including the Ads, which are so good. Your readers comments are fantastic also. I own a 62 Polara and love that controversial styling, so i am qualified to comment on Edsel ... its very hard for human beings to accept the 58 and 59 Edsels front grill. Even 62 Polara owners, and we are a forgiving bunch. The 60 Edsel, now that is beautiful.

As a child in 1958, I remember accompanying my dad to an Edsel showroom. Wisely, Dad bought a Pontiac!

Thank you Adam. It is interesting the model names went on to be used elsewhere. One is used today at Lincoln: The Corsair. Pacer went on to be used at American Motors, Ranger is a truck at Ford and was used by GM in South Africa. Citation was used by GM on a Chevrolet. It is interesting how things get used. You have to wonder if the brand had been successful would it have been phased out along with Mercury. It is interesting to know Ford was trying to match GM brand for brand. Thank you for the commercials as well.

@JeffW77

25 күн бұрын

Fun to read this. I read someplace about the naming process. Marketing/advertising people presented names for the brand--Ranger, Pacer, Corsair, Citation--"anything but EDSEL!" Well we know what happened. Edsel the brand, the other four as models. Edsel Ford was a good man and talented car guy. Unfortunately, Edsel is dumb name for a car.

@OLDS98

25 күн бұрын

@@JeffW77 History has revealed this fact about the brand. What if the car had been styled correctly... Who knows.. Marketing is key. Oldsmobile found this out the hard way because of the brand names they used on the last models: Aurora, Intrigue, Alero. They just did not resonate with buyers. They had strong brand names that just needed a new styling direction and backing with stronger marketing.

I went to pick up a 58 Edsel with him,and I remember he was excited about it.there was a private airport,a couple of miles from our house,and they had quarter mile markers on side of road.all of sudden,he wanted to see what it do in a quarter mile.He was at the end of the quarter mile,when a car was coming from the other way. It turned out to be a cop,and he got a ticket. He never did that again. The car had 400 and some cubic in engine. I loved the round speedometer,and the buttons on the steering wheel,the car was black with white.

Don't know if I would've bought one new. But I do like them.

@pipedreamin

28 күн бұрын

Agreed, I have always liked the Edsel, but I have the advantage of looking back and didn’t have to deal with the styling in real time.

@fairfaxcat1312

28 күн бұрын

It’s usually best to wait a couple years to buy that Edsel. Wait until the car is a couple years old so that someone else will take the depreciation hit. When you buy a brand new car, as soon as you drive it off the lot you will loose $600 or so because the car depreciates faster at the front end of its lifespan.

@kellismith4329

28 күн бұрын

Glad I grew up in the 70’s

6:00 To me, the most striking part of Edsel styling were the lack of any suggestions to tail fins that were so popular in other makes and models.

@MarinCipollina

28 күн бұрын

FoMoCo mostly eschewed tail fins, which were heartily embraced by General Motors and Chrysler.

1- in the first commercial in the opening of the vídeo it shows the Thunderbird as a separeted line. 2- the 60 wagon is a beaty! Gorgeous!

The 58 Pontiac had the same scalloped side in two tone in the top trims

@MarinCipollina

28 күн бұрын

Yeah, but the Pontiac featured rockets.. lol

The combo of the 58 economy downturn - hurting all the competition in that market segment - Mercury, Oldsmobile/Buick, De Soto ( DS which never to recover shut down in 1960 also). 58 was peak "fin era . I've got Popular Mechanics from those years. You look at them issues 56-59 IT WAS FINS & V8's BABY, that's all that mattered 57-59 "Exner's, Forward Look" was the Bomb, Chrysler was just mopping up across the board. Edsel did pretty well considering the economic climate ( no one wants to talk about money, when they don't have it, pick on something else, styling). 58 Packhard died, Stude & Rambler were at deaths door ( saved by their small "compact models") was a huge shake up time for the US car industry. Rather than carry a whole separate Brand - more profit in what Chrysler did - over lap that segment with combo of high spec Dodges & Low spec Chrysler's. Fords Galaxie & Mercury Meteor filled that Edsel void.

The white, and ice green Pacer, shown @2:46, was for sale in 2014. I still to this day, wished I had bought it. Very clean, original, 2 door hardtop. Drove down the road, quiet, and smooth.

They were simply ahead of the curve when it came to front- end styling. Ten years later many cars began to show the trend of central/ vertical grill design. By the mid 1970s most American cars were sporting some version of the classic radiator shell which had disappeared from virtually every car by the very late 1930s. The release of the movie " The Great Gatspy" awakened an interest in that epoch. That and the sudden popularity of the Mercedes Benz were very strong styling influences.

The Edsel and I have something in common: we were both conceived in 1954. Some might say we were both flops!

@theschiznit8777

27 күн бұрын

Fortunately you were not discontinued after three years.

I think the Edsel was a beautiful car.

3:42 "In 1958 the Edsel was a flop and one of the biggest reasons historians attribute [this to, is] its styling...the vertical grill..." Unlikely this was more than maybe 20% of the cause: 1 Gaudy and garish was what much of the market wanted in 1958. 2 It appears 'historians' underestimate the effect of the 1958 recession. Missing the first year 100k projection by 36 percent, is right at the median of all Big 3 makes' sales drops from the previous year -- down 17 to 61 percent: percent change from 1957 --- make -- 1958 production -17 Cadillac 121,778 -23 Oldsmobile 294,374 -32 Chevrolet 1,142,460 -34 Ford 987,945 -35 Pontiac 217,303 -36 Edsel 63,110 vs 100k projection -39 Plymouth 443,799 -40 Buick 241,892 -48 Chrysler 63,681 -52 Dodge 137,861 -53 Mercury 133,271 -61 DeSoto 49,445 -- wikipedia U.S._Automobile_Production_Figures

No one ever comments on the Edsel name itself. I was a kid at the time, but I clearly recall my mother saying that Edsel was a stupid name for a car.

@larskars5835

27 күн бұрын

Agreed. This surely must have helped reduce sales. The name feels clumsy, clunky, slow.

@georgeburns7251

26 күн бұрын

I think you are on to something. I couldn’t imagine buying anything called Edsel.

Seems the Full EV may become the Edsel of the 2020's

@joe6096

28 күн бұрын

Ford just reported they’ve lost $2b on their EV platforms (Mustang Mach E and F150 Lightning) - wonder how that compares to the inflation-adjusted equivalent to what they lost in 1958-60 on the Edsel failure.

@madmike2624

28 күн бұрын

@@joe6096 Great point!!!

@adp5R3x

28 күн бұрын

Don't insult the Edsel

@madmike2624

28 күн бұрын

@@adp5R3x Everyone else did....joking of course....lol

What’s interesting about that commercial at the beginning of the video is that they broke out Thunderbird as its own thing even though it was obviously a Ford.

Very good, but you forgot the wagons. Roundup 2 door (1958 only) Villager 4 door 6 and 9 passenger. (All 3 years) Bermuda 4 door 6 and 9 passenger. (1958 only) Note: the Bermuda was Edsels answer to Fords Country Squire or Mercury's Colney Park. Only the Ford and Mercury came in 9 passenger. Where Edsel gave you the choice of 6 or 9 passenger.

I'm not a fan of the headlight treatment of the 58, but otherwise I like the styling. Especially the taillights.

We had a 59 Edsel Wagon (not exactly sure of the year), family of 7. We had that car until the mid 70's. FANTASTIC car!! I was the kid sitting in the "way-back" now know as the 3rd. row. My Dad said "you could NOT kill that damn thing"....God knows he tried!. And the coldest a/c I have ever seen. She was known as "The Betsy" and we eventually wore her out with well over 200K on the odometer. GREAT CAR & MEMORIES!!

Interesting factoid, the Comet was originally supposed to be an Edsel but, after the decision had been made to pull the plug on the division, it was sold through Mercury dealers, though, like the Valiant at Chrysler, during it's first two years it didn't say "Mercury" anywhere on it.

@UhOK327

14 күн бұрын

Early Comet ignition keys even had a stylized ‘E’ on them.

For that grill you could reference he Packard Predictor concept car from 1956

OMG! That clay model at 14:06? It's a though someone spiked the design center's water cooler with LSD. 😲

@donjacobson818

27 күн бұрын

It's no wonder the two men in that photo are laughing.

I really didn't think these were bad looking for that era myself! The only one I'd be interested in would be the '58 Citation though - love those "eyebrow" taillights.

Cool video, Adam. That scale model looks like something right out of the George Barris Customs garage.

I always thought the vertical element and the two piece grill was something like a Pontiac. I do think GM did a MUCH better job. All these sort of random styling similarities made me wonder about spying in the design divisions. That might make an interesting video someday!

"It's like falling in love!" 🤣

Adam, Edsel may not have succeeded as a car brand but it very successfully gave the English language a new word for embarrassing failure. 😉

In the recession of the late 50s, Edsel wasn't the only flop to try to get into the mid priced field, as Chrysler shifted the DeSoto into that field where many vehicles prices were overlapping. It got down to personal styling preferences for within a couple hundred dollars more, or less of a larger name division such as Mercury, or Dodge. Honestly, there were so many new cars to choose from. BUT 1 thing of note was that when word got out that the teletouch transmission system had trouble, buyers shied away.

It just hit me! Because everyone was concentrating on the front end styling, I've never heard anyone notice the fact that this is quite likely the only car of 1958 that had absolutely NO hint of fins in the back... That tall, square 'gullwingc rear end also gave you a huge trunk, and this has to be the first car with low fuel AND low oil level lights! 😮

@grand73am

25 күн бұрын

58 Chevrolet had no fins...just a rounded off tail.

I've read that Henry Ford ll never warmed to the idea of the Edsel, and was firmly opposed to naming it for his father, whom he revered. Somehow Ernie Breech talked him into it, and when the car flopped, Ernie was soon gone.

Creating the Edsel Division was a good idea with bad execution and timing. There was a recession in 1957-1958, the cars had numerous quality issues and the '58 Edsel had a face only a mother could love.

A great overview, I really enjoyed it.

I wish we could have seen the interior of the car more. Seems like the Edsel had some interesting & different features.The Edsel had some really beautiful colors as well. I like the earlier years better. I think the rear view mirrors were in good locations too. Their placement does not obstruct the view looking out the side windows for a short driver like myself like on so many newer vehicles.

Design is fascinating, and we'll always try to make objective what must be subjective-- but I think at a point a limit is reached in adventurousness, and a design falls flat, and practically everyone agrees. One example of this happening is when a feature seems to have been glued on later. As if it was never a part of the original idea. As if the subject of the design was finished, and then someone walked by and just *planted* a feature onto it. That is what I see when I look at the centerpiece of the Edsel grill.

A pandemic, and a recession, starting in later 1957, hurt the Edsel. They did sell over 63,000 Edsels, compared to 44,000 DeSoto's, which was a long established brand.

@MarinCipollina

28 күн бұрын

DeSoto would be gone after 1961

From what else I've heard about why the Edsel failed , in 1958 the US was going through a recession which had an impact on auto sales . So it was bad timing to introduce a new car on the market as much as anything , because as it was mentioned in the video , the cars from the late 50's were pretty much known for their over the top styling , and honestly , the Edsel looked just as good as a lot of other cars from that period . It certainly looked better than the late '50's Mercurys . Plus , it's too bad that Edsel couldn't have been kept around longer , maybe up until 2011 like Mercury , considering that Henry Ford 2 named the car in honor of his late father Edsel Ford .

@MarinCipollina

28 күн бұрын

Ford simply did not have the sales volume to support two mid-priced brands.

Nice one. Getting to know the Edsel.

I love the Edsel...if I win the lottery I'd build an a all factory options black and yellow citation

I found it amusing how Adam describes the grill without getting vulgar but says exactly what other people have famously stated about the grill. Made me chuckle.

@TomSnyder-gx5ru

28 күн бұрын

Yes, some say it looked "woman-ly!"

Remember when Herman Munster would be late coming home and Lilly would say "I hope Herman didn't get lured by another used car salesmen trying to sell him a used Edsel again. "

Great vid, really enjoyed this!!!! 🤜🤛 🙂

Seemed like a good idea to someone high up. Thank you for the information.

I find the exterior design to be unique in a positive way, along with handsome.

2:48 I like the back view of the '58 Edsel; it seems to have influenced the front of the 1960 Corvair, which influenced the Hillman Imp, BMW 2002, Simca 1000, and probably a bunch of other cars I've forgotten. The front was a little wacky for '58, but the '59 was a big improvement. What I don't see is a good reason for Ford to have launched a new brand at that point. GM had 5 divisions as much because they acquired each, with its customer base and dealer network, as for anything else. I can see the justification for maybe 3 "stair step" brand levels just to give those paying top dollar a different dealer experience and advertising message than those buying at the more bread and butter end of the spectrum. I can also see the need for special brands for performance, unproven innovations, "bargains" or anything else that might risk alienating an established customer base. But Ford was trying to use the "stair step" justification while they were not even making it work with the 3 divisions they had; maybe they were hoping that Edsel would be the glue that they needed to make the other 3 brands work. Maybe it would have worked to some extent if the recession had not hit, but even then, it seems like a crapshoot. A $350 million dollar one at that.

Great job!

I remember when they came out. My father said there’s one parked around the corner. I liked the gear selector in the steering wheel.

I always like the 59 models. The grill and and headlights look good integrated together.

The cyber truck makes the Edsel look like an Aston Martin.

@Paul1958R

21 күн бұрын

All Tesla's are so UGLY

Those commercials are a sign and instrument of God's love.

The trimline names of Ranger, Citation, Corsair, and Pacer were all recycled as model names years later without any stigma as the Edsel connection was forgotten.

Interesting. Keep em coming.

Wonder why they don;t use songs like that to advertise cars now! 😀

60k+ for a first year marque with controversial style isn't bad. Like the 61 Fury, the more you look it over the more you like it

@MarinCipollina

28 күн бұрын

Or the more bizarre it looks.

I remember when they hit the local dealership. I was a little kid. I think people making fun of people who bought them is what damaged. I’d like to find one

The '58 Edsel's styling was fine IMHO, except for that "toilet seat" front grille.

Never really knew much of the Edsel other than my Dad used that word when he described something that was a bad idea

I do not agree at all with the term "unlovable". I like all the Edsels. I was at the Ford Museum in Naples, FL and an auto show was being held on the premises. There were some classic Edsels at the show. The 58 really catches your eye from all sides. The steering wheel is like a piece of jewelry. Given the choice today of buying an SUV or EV vs. any Edsel model, I'd take the Edsels, any of the 3 years. These cars are more impressive in person than in a picture. It looks to me in terms of today's dollars, that Ford has lost more on it's recent EV Development than it did on the Edsel, about 400 million in 1957. Ford has lost 4.7 billion on EV's and loses 65k per EV sold.

It's been said that failure is often due to a cluster of reasons. This car's "unique" styling came during a decade where conformity was the rule. The design team was gambling from the start. Launching a new model while in a recession is risky at best.. Edsel Ford was not a fan of unions. The back story is there was animosity amongst some of the assembly workers and quality control issues began cropping up.. Those push button transmissions proved to be problematic in many of their products. Personally, I prefer the 1960 models, but they are quite rare... Thanks again Adam..

@matthewpaanotorres7309

28 күн бұрын

It was so unique that the turn signals would show the opposite of what they meant design-wise. If you were to activate the turn signal that goes left, it would show it going right when you are turning left, creating a sort of illusion. Nice job for the people working at Ford.

@Porschedude8

28 күн бұрын

@@matthewpaanotorres7309 I've heard stories of pedals that fell off and damaged headliners. This is how negative reputations are born... 🧐

@MarinCipollina

28 күн бұрын

The only "conformity" that era was that strange, if not downright bizarre, styling was in vogue.

@matthewpaanotorres7309

28 күн бұрын

@@MarinCipollina I respect your opinion, but I don’t get the hate towards the ‘50s cars, they look extremely beautiful to me.

@MarinCipollina

28 күн бұрын

@@matthewpaanotorres7309 I don't hate them at all. I find them unique and remarkable.

The Edsel actually doesn’t look bad to me. Different, but not really ugly as people say

I just can't help feeling that they weren't all that far off with the Edsel. Besides the recession and the non-existent market niche, it seems the details were the problem. I think the side scallop was actually quite attractive, and I always liked the color break bleeding onto the aft of the car, not unlike midcentury GM cars. That "spooned out" theme, as repeated on the bumpers was heavy-handed, while the banana tail lights were mounted too high. In the front, eyebrows over the headlights like the concurrent Fords and Mercuries would have lessened the bluntness, and replacing the inner rign on the horse collar with something like a 1939 LaSalle might have helped. I was not yet 10 when it came out, but the failure infused me with the idea that the name, "Edsel" was a dumb choice, as all the adults I knew used it as a punch line. There's no record of anyone doing that with the Chrysler Airflow, which meant something whether you saw the car or not. Any one of the Edsel's model names would have, at least, been more evocative. "Corsair" might have been my choice.

Thank for the video! I wonder if Ford or any of the makers ever tried to do market research before committing to a design. I can't imagine very many people liking the design.

As described by Adam it appears they toned down the severe styling of the front and sides after the '58. If they did so due to the poor sales of the '58, how could they have reacted that quickly? Aren't the designs committed several years in advance due to lead times for tooling, supply chain, marketing, etc ?

@MarinCipollina

28 күн бұрын

The update was a mere facelift, not a redesign, or even a mid cycle refresh.. Face lifts happened every year that era.

@JackF99

28 күн бұрын

@@MarinCipollina true the styling did change every year back then but each refresh still had to be planned several years ahead of time. Say the '58 Edsel was in final design in '56 and the '59 was in final design in '57. How did they already know in '57 that they were going to need to tone-down the '59 design due to poor sales in '58?

Adam, everyone is definitely going to remember that weird toilet grille in the middle with the happy headlights and weird grille beneath the headlights and next to the grille for sure! However, one thing I can remember is that the taillights were criticized for lighting up the opposite direction (if you were going left, it would shine right. If you were going right, it would shine left) and was placed in-between Ford and Mercury, but costed as much if not as nearly as a Lincoln. I have a book called "Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975" that said there were multiple dealerships set up for Edsel and that they expected around 100,000 cars to be sold in the first year. However, we all know the truth of why it didn't go well, if you also include the *1958 Automotive Recession.*

@MarinCipollina

28 күн бұрын

Actually, Edsel bracketed Mercury pricing.. It was a strange approach.. Pacer & Ranger cost between Ford & Mercury, Corsair and Citation were priced between Mercury & Lincoln.. Another odd choice.

Set yourself apart from the look alike car crowd with a brand new beautiful 58 Edsel. See your most commodious Edsel dealer today to schedule a test drive. The only car where your hands stay safely at the wheel with the all new Tele~Touch automatic transmission. Self adjusting brakes is just one of myriad of ground breaking innovations on the Edsel. You’ve likely never driven a car with more usable power so don’t delay, act fast, lest you miss out!

Nice, thank you.

My favorite description of the '58 Edsel was "a Mercury pushing a toilet seat."

It's funny that Ford would go on to buy Philco, who had the same problem in 1958-60 with the Predicta television sets.

The ad at the beginning was interesting. Was Thunderbird a standalone brand? Why was it mentioned separately?

I read that Ford used the same assembly line to build Fords and Edsels and the workers hated that. They would assemble several Fords and then an Edsel came down the line and they would have to change to putting in a Edsel instrument panel etc. and then go back to assembling Fords. That could explain problems with fit and finish. There were also several mechanical and electrical problems such as the push button shifting.

Ford Mach E, The Edsel were the good old days!

I kind of like the 60 Edsel and the 59 with a toned down grill is much better than 58.

Aside from that grille, that car wasn't even two minutes into the future. If Packard had the funding to build the '57s it initially designed, no one would have looked twice at the Edsel. I'd read it quite somewhere, probably in Collectible Automobile, that concluded that Buick made every mistake Edsel did, but got away with it. I'd say that Oldsmobile did the same. Aside from the vertical grille, the Mercury based models were cleaner looking than the Mercury, and the Ford based models were less overwrought than the Ford. Most people, when discussing the Edsel, fail to consider that there was a recession that year, and that time wasn't the greatest for mis priced brands. DeSoto would exit the market one year later in a remarkably similar fashion. Ford design has seemed to make efforts over the years to vindicate the choices made on the Edsel. The Mercury Cougar from 1971 to 1976 could easily have worn Edsel badges, and the same could be said of the 1970-72 Ford LTD. Both cars carry more than a hint of that vertical grille.

@TomSnyder-gx5ru

28 күн бұрын

I'm a Collectable Automobile subscriber myself - in fact, I have every issue they've published from day one. It's a good quality magazine that I would recommend to those that like reading up on vehicles from "back in the day!" Another good one is "Classic Car" that I've subscribed to since waaay back when I was still good lookin! 🤣

@rpsmith2990

27 күн бұрын

@@TomSnyder-gx5ru You must have quite the archive.