Lots of Edsels in the old days. I remember a lot of guys put floor shifts to eliminate the teletouch system. You could buy an Edsel with a conventional shift lever just like the Ford had. I worked in a gas station, and the Edsel was not a bad car at all.
The floor shifters were often installed because the Teletouch push button shifters didn't work. If you can't shift the transmission, the car won't move. It wasn't uncommon to have an Edsel that's fine in every other way except an inoperable transmission shifter. Edsels were built on Ford and Mercury assembly lines, and other than styling differences and the Teletouch transmission shifters, were not much different than their siblings.
Thanks … A snapshot of the times …. I can't imagine what demographic Edsel was trying to influence with this commercial. Daredevils? Hot Rodders? People with boats/camping trailers?
About the self adjusting brake feature on the Edsel. When you keep backing up and hitting the brakes- do they eventually self adjust in locking up the brakes solid? Edsel was not the only automobile that had that brake feature. All Ford vehicles had self adjusting brakes. My parent's Ford car's had them also. After my father would replace the brake shoes, and hand adjusted each wheel on their cars, my father would drive in reverse - hit the brakes to make sure all four wheels were properly adjusted evenly. That way, no wheel was adjusted more tightly than the rest. So when you're driving forward and have to slam on the brakes, no single wheel would lock up first and skid before the other three wheels locked up. All four wheels locked up evenly and at the same time. Now we have anti-locking brake systems where you don't lock up the wheels and go into a skid. And stop at much greater short distances.
1958 Edsel was the first car to use Bendix self-adjusting brakes which only tighten to the correct adjustment, not locking the brakes. In reverse, when you brake the self-adjusters automatically tighten the shoes to the correct amount. The system is the same used on subsequent Ford products for many years, but Edsel had it first.
Yes, I agree with you on that point. Edsel was on the road when I was still learning how to walk as a young child. Growing up after the Edsel no longer was built, I remember all the Ford vehicles my parents bought new or used, had the auto adjustable brakes on them. Very cool invention way back then. Now we have vehicles that automatically brake and stop the car for you, in case the driver isn't paying attention to the road, or is having a medical emergency behind the wheel. Can't wait to see the Jetson mobile take flight. We are getting electric vehicles now, next up in the batters box - hover craft vehicle's. Thanks for your reply on my comment.
This old Simpsons clip is worth watching for all Edsel guys. Homer's long-lost brother Herb comes back into his life, as a senior product-planning executive at an automaker who's fed up with his company's conventional designs. Looking to plumb the desires of the "average American" as to wheeled transportation, he unwisely gives Homer carte blanche to order his design team around -- and sinks both the company's development budget and most of its reserve cash into the project. Engineers are promptly fired for not going along with Homer's uninformed, blue-sky whims, while Herb declares that he doesn't want the see or hear about the prototype until it's ready for roll-out. Dubbed "The Homer", the eventual car is huge, ugly, loaded with superfluous gimcracks (e.g., a one-gallon sized cup holder and three horns, one of which plays, "La Cucaracha"), It gets really crappy gas mileage, and will cost a small fortune ($82,000 apiece). Herb's reputation is ruined; he's not only fired, but quickly blacklisted from the industry. REMIND YOU OF ANYTHING?th-cam.com/video/WPc-VEqBPHI/w-d-xo.html
the dearborn test track these edsels performed over looks like a drive around my former hometown of asheville,nc on i-26, 1-40 and i-240 during rush hours when i went to work on my 12 hr graveyard shift ~ 5-6 pm on the crosstown expressway thru east asheville,downtown and future i-26 north to work. i would have tried the "center dash" if i could have got by with it.5 yrs after retirement, don't miss it at all.moved to a deep south state small town where the only traffic jam now is 5 cars behind a farm tractor ~ 500 pm.
Has anybody here ever seen the 1975 movie "Crazy Mama" with Cloris Leachman? If so, you may have noticed that the producers (who were obviously very loosey goosey with historical accuracy) used not one, but two 1960 Edsels in chase scenes. In one scene, a green '60 Edsel four door sedan was stolen and used as a getaway car. It was abused. But from watching the movie, it probably suffered comparatively little damage. But in the other scene, a '60 Edsel police car (also a four door sedan) had both right side doors ripped off by a truck, thus severely damaging it. In 1975, they were only 15 years old (not exactly "vintage"). But there were only 2846 1960 Edsels made, making them very rare when they were new. It's as if the producers not merely did not care, but deliberately sought out 1960 Edsels (and for a movie that is supposed to take place in 1958). If they HAD to damage or destroy Edsels in chase scenes, why didn't they use '58 models (of which about 68,000 were made)?
0:31 -- I do Bootlegger Reverse moves like this involuntarily when the Teletouch on my Citation fails. And whenever I step on the brake, the left turn signal goes on. No foolin'.
0:29 -- Factory-recommended maneuver for getting your Teletouch-equipped Edsel driving right again, if it's stuck in Reverse. 7:13 -- Demonstrating the quality of steering gear and front-ends installed on Edsels made on a Monday AM shift at Mahwah.I wonder if they sold the small-series cars involved in these "tests" at retail after they were done? I know a couple of guys who might have gotten one.
Notice the cars doing the crazy stunts were Ford bodied Edsels which handled much better than the larger Mercury bodied Corsair and Citation. The truck pulling stunt was done with a Citation with the heftier Lincoln and Mercury engine.
Hello Lynn, nice to hear from you. I intend to post the "Casa de Edsel" video as well as "The Legend is Back" on 60th anniversary of E-day, September 4, 2017.
Some kind of an (accidental) auto-comedy ! Not much point to most of it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. Like other people in this comments section say, you won't see folks drive their Edsels like THIS anymore ! -It's worth watching for That alone...
They actually seem to handle reasonably well,considering that they were introduced in 1957 - But,we are no longer accustomed to all of that squealing from bias ply tires.....
In that era, it was common to show such promotional films to students in classrooms, although those kids wouldn't be potential customers. Also, many TV stations in the 1950's didn't have programming for the late night hours and had time to fill on weekend afternoons. Promo films such as these were furnished for free to TV stations to fill gaps in their schedule. And your idea is probably on track as well.
Quite Funny and Those that Watched the "The Rockford Files" in 70s thought that J Turn that Hollywood stunt later Termed. A "Rockford Turn" because it. Started from Swift Backwards Speed n Twist Shift to Swift Forwards Driving
OMG, I surely wouldn't do this to my PACER, or Citation, lol. They surely did all kinds of stunts on these cars, why didn't they try it with the Burmdas, the Villagers, and the Convertibles 😵😅😵
00:26 to 00:31 and 04:14 to 04:45---- my ex-old lady in a pissed off mood forgeting something. these stunt drivers drove like she would. had to check my fear-o-meter when me and the little dog was in the car with her and our 2 kids when they were young.
You still see this kind of driving today on the city & neighborhood streets and freeways. They call it road rage. And to add more excitement and thrills of driving to work, or to the grocery store, the driver's and passengers of these modern day stunt driver's point gun's out the windows and shoot the people and children they drive by. Hence the phrase "drive by shootings". Somebody should produce an up to date video of what we all see everyday around us.
The engines tended to leak oil onto the exhaust manifold after turning the engine off. If you backed out of a parking spot afterwards there would be a healthy cloud of blue smoke coming out of the horseshoe grille. Fun times.
For several years I drove a 1961 Imperial, which also had a push button transmission, though on a side pod on the left of the steering wheel. It's actually pretty cool and convenient once you get used to it. And why not have the transmission controlled by a button instead of a lever? There's nothing inherently superior about one or the other.
Edsel Teletouch was a neat idea, but trouble-prone, and contributed to the early “lemon” jokes. Your Imperial and most other pushbutton transmissions of the 50s-60s used a mechanical linkage with cables between the buttons and transmission, quite reliable. Edsel used complex electrical relays with an electric motor mounted to the transmission case to operate the transmission lever. Not always reliable. There are a few experts now who can rebuild the Teletouch better than new.
@@Volterrific Having push buttons means you can put it on the left side and have the middle of the dashboard available for other things. Because most people are right handed, you have to put a lever on the right side because it’s trickier (even though very slightly) than pushing a button. You have to be more precise. Pushing a button you can do easy with either hand. As for lefties using a lever with their off hand, I think lefties are more used to adapting to right handed stuff because they have to do it all their lives while most righties are completely inept with their left hands since everything’s made for them and they never have to adapt.
yes the edsel is a collectable classic car odditie nowadays, but with just one passing glance, from ANY angle, it's so obvious why nobody wanted to buy an edsel back in the day. styling? ewww.
Ken K I have owned several 1958 Edsels. Agreed they are oddly styled. When I bought my first Edsel in 1980, old timers who remembered the debacle were still laughing. However, younger folks don’t know the history and invariably don’t think they look bad. I like Edsels because of the fascinating history and quirkiness.
An amazing car that never got the attention it deserved.
I had no idea about the brakes. That's one cool feature.
Must be tricky to pull a reverse 180 with a push button on the wheel.
My dad's favorite cars which is why he bought 3 of them, and a 58 MERCURY, rip dad , 😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏. Great video,😁😎🤠👌👍🇺🇸🇺🇸
Lots of Edsels in the old days. I remember a lot of guys put floor shifts to eliminate the teletouch system. You could buy an Edsel with a conventional shift lever just like the Ford had. I worked in a gas station, and the Edsel was not a bad car at all.
The floor shifters were often installed because the Teletouch push button shifters didn't work. If you can't shift the transmission, the car won't move. It wasn't uncommon to have an Edsel that's fine in every other way except an inoperable transmission shifter. Edsels were built on Ford and Mercury assembly lines, and other than styling differences and the Teletouch transmission shifters, were not much different than their siblings.
4:00 -- Makes a virtue of having the Teletouch stuck in Reverse. Stick around, folks, I've got a million of 'em. I'll be here all week...
Thanks … A snapshot of the times ….
I can't imagine what demographic Edsel was
trying to influence with this commercial.
Daredevils?
Hot Rodders?
People with boats/camping trailers?
About the self adjusting brake feature on the Edsel. When you keep backing up and hitting the brakes- do they eventually self adjust in locking up the brakes solid?
Edsel was not the only automobile that had that brake feature. All Ford vehicles had self adjusting brakes. My parent's Ford car's had them also. After my father would replace the brake shoes, and hand adjusted each wheel on their cars, my father would drive in reverse - hit the brakes to make sure all four wheels were properly adjusted evenly. That way, no wheel was adjusted more tightly than the rest. So when you're driving forward and have to slam on the brakes, no single wheel would lock up first and skid before the other three wheels locked up. All four wheels locked up evenly and at the same time. Now we have anti-locking brake systems where you don't lock up the wheels and go into a skid. And stop at much greater short distances.
1958 Edsel was the first car to use Bendix self-adjusting brakes which only tighten to the correct adjustment, not locking the brakes. In reverse, when you brake the self-adjusters automatically tighten the shoes to the correct amount. The system is the same used on subsequent Ford products for many years, but Edsel had it first.
Yes, I agree with you on that point. Edsel was on the road when I was still learning how to walk as a young child. Growing up after the Edsel no longer was built, I remember all the Ford vehicles my parents bought new or used, had the auto adjustable brakes on them. Very cool invention way back then.
Now we have vehicles that automatically brake and stop the car for you, in case the driver isn't paying attention to the road, or is having a medical emergency behind the wheel. Can't wait to see the Jetson mobile take flight. We are getting electric vehicles now, next up in the batters box - hover craft vehicle's. Thanks for your reply on my comment.
I have a 58 ranger that just started restoring. 1 owner ,numbers matching, California car 67xxx miles. These are bitchin cars!
Wow; I love it! 'Careful, with those fine Ford automobiles!
Ok, I'm going to try the truck trick with a Prius...
Doing 'Rockford's' with an Edsel! Great stuff!
“And alot more fun than standing over a hot stove”.
I have a 1959 Edsel, can't see it doing any of that. Ha Ha !
My family had a 59 Edsel, 4 door Ranger metallic blue,6 cyl. auto. my brother had a 58 2 door v-8 auto. We also had Studebakers!
This old Simpsons clip is worth watching for all Edsel guys. Homer's long-lost brother Herb comes back into his life, as a senior product-planning executive at an automaker who's fed up with his company's conventional designs. Looking to plumb the desires of the "average American" as to wheeled transportation, he unwisely gives Homer carte blanche to order his design team around -- and sinks both the company's development budget and most of its reserve cash into the project. Engineers are promptly fired for not going along with Homer's uninformed, blue-sky whims, while Herb declares that he doesn't want the see or hear about the prototype until it's ready for roll-out. Dubbed "The Homer", the eventual car is huge, ugly, loaded with superfluous gimcracks (e.g., a one-gallon sized cup holder and three horns, one of which plays, "La Cucaracha"), It gets really crappy gas mileage, and will cost a small fortune ($82,000 apiece). Herb's reputation is ruined; he's not only fired, but quickly blacklisted from the industry. REMIND YOU OF ANYTHING?th-cam.com/video/WPc-VEqBPHI/w-d-xo.html
That music was exciting too. Like the music on Ed Sullivan during a juggling act.
the dearborn test track these edsels performed over looks like a drive around my former hometown of asheville,nc on i-26, 1-40 and i-240 during rush hours when i went to work on my 12 hr graveyard shift ~ 5-6 pm on the crosstown expressway thru east asheville,downtown and future i-26 north to work. i would have tried the "center dash" if i could have got by with it.5 yrs after retirement, don't miss it at all.moved to a deep south state small town where the only traffic jam now is 5 cars behind a farm tractor ~ 500 pm.
Has anybody here ever seen the 1975 movie "Crazy Mama" with Cloris Leachman? If so, you may have noticed that the producers (who were obviously very loosey goosey with historical accuracy) used not one, but two 1960 Edsels in chase scenes. In one scene, a green '60 Edsel four door sedan was stolen and used as a getaway car. It was abused. But from watching the movie, it probably suffered comparatively little damage. But in the other scene, a '60 Edsel police car (also a four door sedan) had both right side doors ripped off by a truck, thus severely damaging it. In 1975, they were only 15 years old (not exactly "vintage"). But there were only 2846 1960 Edsels made, making them very rare when they were new. It's as if the producers not merely did not care, but deliberately sought out 1960 Edsels (and for a movie that is supposed to take place in 1958). If they HAD to damage or destroy Edsels in chase scenes, why didn't they use '58 models (of which about 68,000 were made)?
The moral of this story …
"Never loan or rent you classic car
to a film or TV studio" ???
They were “just cars” back then, not special like they are to us today
I didn't realize how much torque they have. I'm the owner of a 59 ranger and I didn't even realize
0:31 -- I do Bootlegger Reverse moves like this involuntarily when the Teletouch on my Citation fails. And whenever I step on the brake, the left turn signal goes on. No foolin'.
Ha!! They didn't do that reverse to forward spin using the teletouch. The shifting motor was pretty slow changing gears.
0:29 -- Factory-recommended maneuver for getting your Teletouch-equipped Edsel driving right again, if it's stuck in Reverse. 7:13 -- Demonstrating the quality of steering gear and front-ends installed on Edsels made on a Monday AM shift at Mahwah.I wonder if they sold the small-series cars involved in these "tests" at retail after they were done? I know a couple of guys who might have gotten one.
Very nice. But, for some strange reason, I just can't see myself doing any of these things with my '58 Corsair.
Notice the cars doing the crazy stunts were Ford bodied Edsels which handled much better than the larger Mercury bodied Corsair and Citation. The truck pulling stunt was done with a Citation with the heftier Lincoln and Mercury engine.
Remember the VHS u have my dad many years ago copied to a DVD now my older son enjoys it
Hello Lynn, nice to hear from you. I intend to post the "Casa de Edsel" video as well as "The Legend is Back" on 60th anniversary of E-day, September 4, 2017.
Some kind of an (accidental) auto-comedy ! Not much point to most of it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. Like other people in this comments section say, you won't see folks drive their Edsels like THIS anymore ! -It's worth watching for That alone...
It looks great! I bet it was a big seller! Lol
It looks better when going in reverse
Agreed! Edsels look best from the rear. And I’m a long time Edsel fan
They actually seem to handle reasonably well,considering that they were introduced in 1957 - But,we are no longer accustomed to all of that squealing from bias ply tires.....
I played initial d music over the stunt footage
Where would this film be shown? Did car dealerships have a room where potential buyers could watch these films??
In that era, it was common to show such promotional films to students in classrooms, although those kids wouldn't be potential customers. Also, many TV stations in the 1950's didn't have programming for the late night hours and had time to fill on weekend afternoons. Promo films such as these were furnished for free to TV stations to fill gaps in their schedule. And your idea is probably on track as well.
Thanks, Chris! Your name sounds really familiar to me. Are you into the Edsels??
carrie wilder yes I have owned several Edsel Citations. I recently completed a concours-quality Citation coupe restoration.
@@Volterrific
The film is more exciting than a filmstrip.
;D
Quite Funny and Those that Watched the "The Rockford Files" in 70s thought that J Turn that Hollywood stunt later Termed. A "Rockford Turn" because it. Started from Swift Backwards Speed n Twist Shift to Swift Forwards Driving
OMG, I surely wouldn't do this to my PACER, or Citation, lol. They surely did all kinds of stunts on these cars, why didn't they try it with the Burmdas, the Villagers, and the Convertibles 😵😅😵
00:26 to 00:31 and 04:14 to 04:45---- my ex-old lady in a pissed off mood forgeting something. these stunt drivers drove like she would. had to check my fear-o-meter when me and the little dog was in the car with her and our 2 kids when they were young.
Clearly, Ford was planning to build this car for a while...but I always wondered what they would have named it if Edsel Ford's name had been Harvey.
Carvey
They must have tack welded the hubcaps on.
You still see this kind of driving today on the city & neighborhood streets and freeways. They call it road rage. And to add more excitement and thrills of driving to work, or to the grocery store, the driver's and passengers of these modern day stunt driver's point gun's out the windows and shoot the people and children they drive by. Hence the phrase
"drive by shootings". Somebody should produce an up to date video of what we all see everyday around us.
The engines tended to leak oil onto the exhaust manifold after turning the engine off. If you backed out of a parking spot afterwards there would be a healthy cloud of blue smoke coming out of the horseshoe grille. Fun times.
Order now least you miss out!
that front grille shaped like a... well, you know... lol
A very vulgar word for a part of the female anatomy, which rhymes with "front"?
For several years I drove a 1961 Imperial, which also had a push button transmission, though on a side pod on the left of the steering wheel. It's actually pretty cool and convenient once you get used to it. And why not have the transmission controlled by a button instead of a lever? There's nothing inherently superior about one or the other.
Edsel Teletouch was a neat idea, but trouble-prone, and contributed to the early “lemon” jokes. Your Imperial and most other pushbutton transmissions of the 50s-60s used a mechanical linkage with cables between the buttons and transmission, quite reliable. Edsel used complex electrical relays with an electric motor mounted to the transmission case to operate the transmission lever. Not always reliable. There are a few experts now who can rebuild the Teletouch better than new.
@@Volterrific Having push buttons means you can put it on the left side and have the middle of the dashboard available for other things. Because most people are right handed, you have to put a lever on the right side because it’s trickier (even though very slightly) than pushing a button. You have to be more precise. Pushing a button you can do easy with either hand. As for lefties using a lever with their off hand, I think lefties are more used to adapting to right handed stuff because they have to do it all their lives while most righties are completely inept with their left hands since everything’s made for them and they never have to adapt.
Do u still have the casa de Edsel video
Too bad Edsel ford deserved better they should’ve named the mustang after him
A decent vehicle if it wasnt for that ridiculous grille. And the push button crap.
...and the unfortunate name and the recession at the time, etc etc etc
The towing act was totally bullshit.
yes the edsel is a collectable classic car odditie nowadays, but with just one passing glance, from ANY angle, it's so obvious why nobody wanted to buy an edsel back in the day. styling? ewww.
Ken K I have owned several 1958 Edsels. Agreed they are oddly styled. When I bought my first Edsel in 1980, old timers who remembered the debacle were still laughing. However, younger folks don’t know the history and invariably don’t think they look bad. I like Edsels because of the fascinating history and quirkiness.
There are compensations. These days, my 'Citation 2-Dr draws chicks like a magnet. Trouble is, all those chicks are 65+ years old.
What a stupid film, even by 1950's standards!..Lol..