The Short-Lived and Expensive Tale of Ford's Edsel
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 พ.ค. 2020
- This is a reupload of my original Edsel video, which I had to take down and do some amendments to in order to fix some technical issues.
Back to cars for this week, and we take a gander at what is often considered the most famous automotive failure in history. The idea behind the Edsel marque was based on fairly sensible principles, but the execution was something truly special, one that resulted in this machine going down in motoring legend as an abject commercial disaster.
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References:
- Ford Motor Company
- My Classic Car (and their respective references)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references)
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I'm old enough to remember the car being sold new. Everybody began calling it an "Ethel", a female name, because of the shape of the grill.
Cool
"an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon"
pu$$y grill
"Everybody?" Maybe among the people you knew.
I was around then. I never head this.
As the president of the Edsel Owner’s Club & owning an Edsel since 1968, I can certainly say from experience that there is nothing that draws a crowd more than when an Edsel shows up at a car show. Everyone is happy to see that the Edsel finally achieved success and has today become a collectors prize. Some Edsel’s are now selling over $150,000.00 (USD) such as the 1960 Ranger convertible of which only 76 units were built. They are fun cars to drive and there is much pleasure in telling these stories to the people who fondly remember them from a time in automotive history where the cars were unique and memorable. This was a very good presentation of the history of the Edsel. Well done!
RIP the folks who died in them in accidents
@@peacenow42 You can say that about any car model. What safety defects might you be referring to?
@@neilmccann5826 the design may have flopped because of it's appearance but if you look at it from a passenger safety point of the current era, it's a nightmare. Most old cars had these huge safety problems. You cannot compare a car of today with it's airbags and softer dashboards to an edsel. Just saying.
I'm a senior. In the late 60's my brother and I were walking down the street in Toronto and we seen an Edsel car. We were pointing at it laughing. We kept on saying, "look at the funny car". The owner seen us laughing at his car and started yelling at us. I guess he had plenty of criticism from friends and family but, when two little kids were laughing at his car, he lost it.
I heard the Edsel looks like a Buick sucking on a lemon.
That's a funny story. If little kids find the car's appearance funny then you know the designers messed it up.
@@peekaboo1575 I'd like to have a mint Edsel now.
@@peekaboo1575 It was in the early 60's when we seen a Edsel for the first time.
@@rottenanimal619 I can understand that. It's a piece of automotive history now. I'd like one too!
That Teletouch gear selector is like those of today's cars... guess there is some truth in the saying: sooner or later, everything old is new again.
And the child locks on the rear doors, that was way ahead of it's time.
I've got to have an Edsel!
To George Costanza. ALSO what America did first finally arrived everywhere else more than 30 years later!
My Edsel dealer grandfather said everyone had trouble with the gear selector 😕
If you look at the new Lincoln Navigators, they have push button 10 speed transmissions
I took the driving test for my first driver's license in my dad's 1958 Edsel Pacer. The shifting motor for the pushbutton transmission had burned out, so my dad installed a lever next to the accelerator pedal, so the driver could shift between driver, neutral, and reverse with his foot. Parallel parking was part of the driver's test. To begin parallel parking, I kept my hands on the steering wheel and shifted into reverse with my foot. The man giving me the test had a puzzled look on his face, apparently because he did not know how I managed to put the car into reverse. To my disappointment, he did not say anything about it. If he had, I was prepared to say, "You never heard of automatic transmission?"
How could you parallel park a car that big?
Cool anectode Mr.Enders. The documentary impressed me, everything went wrong with this car, marketing, promotion, the brand name, the design, the price and most important, the reliability. Jesus !!!
Only CHUMPS,bought Edsel's
So Gregory...this man decides to share an interesting story about the subject matter and happens to be someone who actually drove one of these vehicles. And then you post a stupid, thoughtless, useless comment going out of your way to call the man's father a "chump" without any thought to the fact the man is very likely long dead. Well to my sensibilities, your father is a chump because he raised a son who is thoughtless, rude and has nothing worthwhile to offer a conversation such as this one.
@Bull Durham The parking spaces were bigger BECAUSE the cars WERE bigger! What does population have to do with it?
I remember it being described as looking like "An Oldsmobile sucking a lemon!"
The quote was given by a comedian of the time named George Gobel. It has been credited with the ruination of the brand.
I remember that as well. You beat me posting it by 4 months lol.
@@johnoakes3106 I'll bet that the remark was also the ruination of George Gobel, once somebody picked up a phone.
I heard it as "A Mercury sucking a lemon."
MAD Magazine had fun with it too. They turned it into a running gag. For example, there was a piece on "What REALLY Ought to Go into a Time Capsule"; that is, stuff we really don't need and never will. An Edsel was on the list [1], along with the kinescope recordings of "This is Your Life" and 6,000,000 news clips about Eddie and Liz.
I also remember George Gobel. He got in trouble for making jokes about liquor. Sensitivities were different then [2].
1. www.artworkarchive.com/profile/satiric-art/artwork/mad-time-capsule-mad-50-1959?collection=wally-wood
2. www.imdb.com/name/nm0323597/
@@johnoakes3106 "It has been credited with the ruination of the brand." Wrongly, I assure you. After a boom, the medium price market shrank. Desoto quietly disappeared shortly afterwards.
My Uncle said he did not care what it looked like. He wanted performance, and he got it with the Edsel. In those days, you could drive over 100 on the Freeways in central and northern Minnesota. Those cars must have been speedy!
My Dad and I went station wagon shopping back on Sept 7, 1957 and came home with a 9 passenger Bermuda. Was quite powerful for the time with 303 hp. Also was pretty reliable with the teletouch having to be serviced only once, which was cleaning the systems electronic contacts. The whole family loved it and went on many road trips. It was sold after 5 years and 90k miles.
My father has restored a 1958 Corsair. Had to adjust the 62 year old teletouch system but not replace the motor. It's done many thousand miles in the past ten years and has been absolutely faultless. I find it difficult to reconcile his experience with some of the claims made in the video.
Amazing. An honest account, from those that actually had some experience with these cars.
@ Yes, the reality of the car's reliability counts volumes more than ignorant armchair dummies who've never driven an old car in the first place and hide in books.
@@Peregrine1984 A friend of mine in Utah has 5 Edsels, not once has he had any trouble with the Teletouch.
As you implied, the testimony of actual owners and professional mechanics counts far more than pre-adolescent trolls who've never owned or maintained an old car because their heads are stuck in editorials.
The 1958 Bermuda was such a beautiful car, with the woodgrain and all. I have a 1959 Villager that was parked from 1973 to 2013 with engine problems. I put a later model Ford powertrain in it and a few other mechanical upgrades like power brakes and power steering, but kept the car looking original. It's a beautiful car but the '58 Bermuda is certainly a step up. Heck any of the 50's cars were beautiful compared to anything made in the last quarter century.
As a kid, car shopping with mom and dad, I would always play around the "back row"--remember? Car lots, especially new car dealers, would have the odd cars for cheap along the back of the lot. I always liked seeing the Edsels. Their notoriety made them remarkable. Thanks for the post of this slice of Americana.
I lived in an old family estate on Bayshore Drive in Coconut Grove Fl. Our front yard was 2 acres. I remember my grandmother buying a new Edsel in 1959. We were allowed to drive it around the yard for fun. It had push buttons for the transmission in the middle of the steering wheel. I was eleven.
WHAT DO RACE CARS HAVE FOR GEAR SHIFT ? AND SOME EXOTIC CARS FAST AND FURIOS CARS----ALL HAVE CLOSE TO THE FINGERS TRANS CONTROLS, KNOWN AS "PADDLES" ! JUST A LITTLE DIFFERENT-yes?
My husband's older brother had a1958 Edsel convertible he told me that his brother took him for a ride in it and it would fly
My uncle was an engineer at FoMoCo (thankfully not a designer) and worked on the project. While he passed when I was relatively young I remember him being pleased with his particular department’s work on the Edsel. Also that a lot of the engineering work was applied to other vehicles along the Ford product line so at least they were able to recoup a tiny bit of the invested costs.
From what I recall he would pretty much agree with all the points made.
Did he get a new Edsel or are you just lying about it mate?
@@wildestcowboy2668 Umm. I’m not lying Mate and I have no idea if he bought one or not as it was before my time. When I first met him he was driving a Falcon.
Why would you accuse someone of lying? WTH is that all about?
@@anthonygray333 I didn't accuse you of BLOODY lying I asked If you were lying. My cousin designed the bloody wing car in 69 for dodge and Chrysler gave him one. FACTS mate
@@IAmAnAdowablePanto2190 His department handled the ancillary bits. All the nuts, bolts, washers, sealant, etc. All the things that kept it all together. His job got a lot more difficult in the mid 70s when downsizing took hold but computer stress analysis started being used more and more.
I bought Edsels at the NY City Police auctions for $25 per car during the 1960s. ( I purchased 9 of them) They had 15 gallon gas tanks and one had to stop at every gas station to feed them. The 1958 Citation and Corsair came with 4 barrel carbs. The giant fuse for the push button transmission was buried under the padded dash which had to be removed to change the fuse.. They came with seat belts, bumper guards, and some models had a push button self lubing system. The chassis was re-enforced by cast iron supports, and was a good car to be in if one had a collision with any other vehicle. I know, because I had a head-on collision with a diaper delivery truck..... the truck was demolished, and I was able to drive the Edsel Corsair away, mostly intact. Edsels are still used as transportation in Cuba. However the transmissions and motors have been replaced with other systems.
Roger--yes. I had a neighbor in the 1960's who would prowl back rows of car dealer lots for Edsels. The sheer low price and novelty of getting a loaded Citation for cheap was a thrill.
I had a friend that owned a 1958 Edsel Citation two door hard top, black with white trim. I remember going to an Edsel Owners meeting with him. He drove that car like he stole it and he passed other cars on the highway and they would speed up and repass us because they really wanted to make sure it was an Edsel that passed them. lol And, the Teletouch was cool to see at night because the buttons are lit at night and they don't move when you turn the steering wheel.
My grandmother bought the first one that came to Miami and loved it and traded it for another new one two years later. We lived on our families 1894 estate on Bayshore Drive in Coconut Grove and were allowed to drive the car anywhere inside our gates. I remember the push buttons on the steer wheel.
As a child this was my favorite car. I love the original grill styling. Aside from all documented issues with production and quality control, I would buy a top end '58 Citation in the blink of an eye if I had the money and found one in good condition.
So would I. The '58 was a stunning looking car. The later models considerably less so. The "yoke" grill made it unique, especially as many '58 models looked really rather similar. I cannot comment on its build quality as I've only ever seen one Edsel in real life, a '58 Pacer Convertible in orange (in the UK), and I've certainly never driven one. But from a purely asthetic perspective, I cannot understand why there was so much negativity about the car.
The grill?! It was the ugliest feature.
I have a neighbor that has an Edsel. It looks like it's been restored and its beautiful
YEA !
@Tommy Gofigure YES correct tommy, and whatabout the studebaker which had a centre grill sharp point flanked on each side by the extended headlight, very futuristic for the time--- now, i wonder why some of the 50's 60's concept cars didn't make it ont the market, probably too dareing for the car companies to try it out--FEAR of having a flop! mostly governed by shareholders. look at the TUCKER TORPEDO, ,AND THE EARLY "CORD", GREAT START TO FUTURE-ISM,but alas, money problems hit so many would be entreprenures. shame.. CRAZY CHRIS cheers.
My Neighbor growing up who lived across the street had a 1958 Edsel, It ran good and outside of normal maint. like oil changes, tune up it ran fine! It never let him down! He would trade it in in 67 for a brand new Ford Fairlane! Many did not like the horse collar design of the grill, but it worked out fine for Pontiac, especially the Firebird!
The grill was so "ugly" that every Pontiac thereafter had a version of it. What is that saying . . . Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
I owned one. The "center-steering-column shift" mechanism was hosed from the dealer. It took FMC 47 days to get the parts shipped in,and they sent the wrong parts. Finally,I got a notice,but it turned out to be a oil change notice. The correct parts finally got there , but the dealership had lost the steering column. It took a total of 68 days of trashing a loaner , and then 10 more days to figure out that the mechanic that worked on it , had been fired. They wanted to replace it with another Edsel. I got my costs,license fees,insurance costs ti insure it the entire time it was in the shop. That was the first year of my love for Chevys. Al least the check didn't bounce.
LOL! What a car!
I think the karma you got back from "trashing the loaner" cursed you into falling for GM's propaganda and resulted in you driving crap vehicles the rest of your life. Which means you're the one who got "hosed".
@@tjcallahan1598 I don't think you read what he wrote. If he got a Chevy, it meant no more cruddy center steering column shift, no more lousy workmanship, and no more driving a loaner for nearly 3 months while Ford did their usual fumbling around on repairs. And he got a car that looked a hell of a lot better than the Edsel, too. The Edsel's styling probably served as an effective anti-theft device though. The only other advantage to a Ford is its excellent fuel economy--which is to be expected when it's hitched to a tow truck 1/3 of the time ;-) It's been my personal experience in Blue Oval ownership that Fords do a good job of trashing themselves. On top of that my neighbor's brand-new F150 exploded in his driveway while parked--due to faulty cruise-control wiring--if that isn't getting "hosed" I'd like to know what is!
@@tjcallahan1598
Meh.....dont treat your customers like crap and they wont feel vengeful...
And back when I was a kid in the '70s they were saying "They don't build them like they used to." That makes my cousins' overstyled and overweight (mid-size!) pollution-controls-burdened (pre-catalytic-converter) '74 Ford Torino wagon that hesitated and stalled after every cold or partial-cold start (wait, cousin had to pump the gas pedal three times before turning the key or we were never getting out of the driveway) sound like an improvement.
I had a 2-door '58 Pacer in the UK from 2000-2003, loved it, and wherever I went people loved it.
"I don't want my fathers good name spinning around on thousands of hubcaps."
- Henry FORD II
🤷♂️ The irony of that statement.
The whole Win a Pony promo was so hilarious. There’s so many things you can give away that a customer would sign up for but a Pony is seriously not it. 💀
You could always train the animal to pull the car if need be.
Goes with the horse collar grill! : D
Even back then, I imagine only about 3% of the population could easily take in a pony at their homes...farmers and upper income people. Farmers MIGHT enter the contest if they had the spare time to go into town, but farming is usually constant work. Upper income people probably wouldn't enter a contest to win a pony...they'd probably want to know which breed, sex, size, pedigree first.
I hope those poor ponies were taken care of properly, always wondered what happened to them.
The pony idea was unbelievably hilarious and was truly aimed at families only.
Amish families, maybe. But they have this thing about cars...
In Cockney rhyming slang 'pony' means 'crap' as in 'pony and trap' :D
"The show was built around the newest Ford offering, the 1958 Edsel. A new vista of motoring pleasure, unlike any other car you've ever seen. The only Edsel I ever saw was one they gave me to drive while I was rehearsing. I came out of the CBS Building, up those little steps to the street where my purple Edsel was waiting, like the Normandie in drydock. Mr. Ford (Henry Ford II) was right behind me, heading for his Edsel. I opened the door of my car and the handle came off. I turned to him, holding it out to him. 'About your car . . .'"
- Rosemary Clooney, on the afternoon of filming The Edsel Show
Excellent video and it has solved an old mystery for me. Back in the 70's I was at a small car museum and there was supposed to be an Edsel there. The car I saw did not look like an Edsel to me at all. I had only seen pictures but the car I saw did not look like it. Now from your video I can see that the car I saw was probably from the last year the Edsel was made, as the styling did change.
YES, YOU ARE RIGHT,, THE 1960/61. edsels, were quite a nice looking car, low builds and are now very rare and none for sale ! very collectable, especialy customized superb.
The boomerang tail lights on the wagons were partially dictated by Edsel having to use the Ford wagon body. The side cove on the other models were imitated by using trim and paint. The taillights had to be fit into the space dictated by the Ford quarter panel shape.
Great documentary and well done. But one minor problem, I don't understand the problem with the combustion chamber shape as outlined at 21:13. I'm a former auto service technician and owned a MEL engine, and this design feature does not cause problems. The design was in production unchanged through 1967, without trouble. The design feature was also used in Chevrolet's W-motor, without problems. I suspect the researchers or script writer has either misunderstood a problem or articulated it improperly.
As a MEL driver, I totally concur with your input. Those engines for some oddball reason just fell by the wayside of automotive history, despite the fact they could deliver a lot of power, a lot more torque, and take a lot more punishment than I dare say any other engine of its time or since. My car's engine block has a crack in it, between the #2 and #3 cylinders...but even the machine shop that prepped it for rebuilding was not willing to outright declare it scrap. The crack never penetrated the cylinder walls, so any chance of any fluid leaking into cylinders is zero. With the head gasket in place, the chance of a breakdown is still zero. In fact, I took this engine on two long road trips just this year with nary a problem from it. In fact, my engine feels far more powerful now than it ever has, like it's goading me to go faster.
Something else historians fail to acknowledge of MELs: *These are Y-blocks.* They may not be the same as the engine subseries of '52 thru '57, but they have common origins and the same distinguishing characteristic of a Y-block. I dare say that these are the best Y-blocks Ford ever made.
Yeah I've built a few engines myself and that little tidbit sounded ridiculous. Sounds like some bs from Wikipedia. Great information overall just some technical jargon that didn't belong where it was placed
Its amazing how the Edsel's case study can work wonders as a Industrial Design essay on how a product should not be planned, conceived and teaching about its whole feedback from society.
" I have to uses the rest room!" " Ok , let me pull over so you can use the grille". Comes with toilet seat on the front.of the car.
Seriously. You can't ask a bunch of people what they want in a car and then just put it all in. That's like asking a bunch of people what food they like then coming back with some pizza/ice cream/eggroll/spaghetti/chocolate/cheeseburger/potato monstrosity
Fyi, the recession killed the Edsel, NOT poor engineering! Get your facts straight!
@@TheOzthewiz And the 1957-58 pandemic, which accounted for a 15% loss in the stock market. 116,000 died in the US. At least they didn't shut down the economy.
JUST OWN ONE, FORGET ABOUT THE REST !
Henry Ford II: “I don’t want my fathers name on a bunch of cars”
Uhh, yeah, what was your car company named after again?
Very good point.
Yeah that and the fact that the founder of the company, and ancestor, was an unrepentant Nazi. I think your legacy has already been dragged through the mud
@@EarlFaulk Yep, Henry Ford gave Adolf Hitler 50,000 Reichsmarks every year as a birthday gift.
@@EarlFaulk He wasn't a Nazi but he had many similar ideas as the Nazis, which most Americans did, as people were racist back then and there was an antisemitic narriative of history
@@galoon that was before anyone knew about the holocaust
1958 was the year all automotive companies were going nuts with extra air dragging chrome. Kept my 1954 Olds Holiday Coupe going, all that extra chrome was removed, Olds 98 tail lights, lowered, and really a clean cut look, ha, just like me. Edsel was the epidemy of super chrome. Heard they started an Edsel restoring club, but it didn't last very long. Purchased a 65 Buick Electra four door hardtop, that's when they started with clean lines.
Can you believe that car loaded was only 2500 bucks? Over 5,000 pounds, and all stainless steel, with inflation, would cost about $13,000 today! Man are we getting screwed buying this new stuff made of tin and plastic.
I think the 1958 is absolutely beautiful. I would love to own one.
I search far and wide just to own a Edsel model car. Because of its notorious history and I just love it.
My grandfather was an Edsel dealer. THANK YOU for explaining why i have a picture of my grandfather standing in front of an Edsel sign, holding the reigns of a pony, next to some random winner of said pony. Yeah, really...!! Would upload it here but... 🤷🏻♂️🐴
My family's Edsel story:
Not entirely sure of the year. It was a new Corsair, salmon pink/orange in colour. Obviously Dad liked it!
There were numerous problems with the car, almost all electrical in nature. The last straw occurred when my Mum experienced total brake failure on the 2&20 outside Montreal. Fortunately there were no injuries. In fact, she was able to coast to a stop without even crumpling a fender. But Dad had had enough. The car never came home after that episode. Went to Monarchs after that. As I recall, as a young adolescent, it was a pretty car and rather luxurious. The new Monarch that replaced it was very plain-Jane and black in comparison.
Born in the early 50s, I have always been curious about the Edsel & the Packard. I never owned a Ford product, preferring GM nameplates instead. My Paternal Grandmother owned a pink & white Packard, which she loved to drive to Florida, with her favorite very young grandson in tow. Now that I have enjoyed this informative presentation on the Edsel, I hope to find one on the Packard soon.
I've seen a few videos on the Edsel, I know very little about the Packard. I hope your idea comes to pass.
@@Jack_Russell_Brown there are remains of about a 56 Packard in bone yard in my town. It has V8
There is another in my area, a 54 with flathead straight 8. One of the weirdest motors ever. Looks like a big square tool box with the longest one piece cast iron exhaust manifold on planet earth.
What a great video. I owned a 1958 Citation for a short time. The body and all the chrome was in grear shape...the interior was in total tatters. Ford sure made major mistakes in the design of this car as well as the marketing of this car. That front grill...was 10 kinds of "butt ugly." I enjoyed the video of the history of this Ford failure.
I owned a 1958 Edsel Pacer in the 1970’s. The person I sold the car to rented it out for use in the movie Peggy Sue Got Married. So that was my car at one point. It was a fun car to own and drive and at times I miss it. My car did not have power steering. To make it easier to turn the steering wheel they geared it down so you had to turn the wheel a lot more to steer it. This took some getting use to. Likewise, it did not have power assisted brakes. There were times I needed both feet on the brake pedal in order to apply enough force to stop in time. The brakes would fade due to over heating when used a lot. It would get scary driving around the hills of San Francisco. The TeleTouch failed a couple times on me. When this happened, I crawled under the car and disconnected the electric motor that moved the transmission shift lever by removing a cotter pin. I then manually put the transmission permanently into drive so I could get home without needing to call a tow truck. The TeleTouch drive motor and control circuit was located under the transmission and was exposed to engine heat, road dirt and oil. I don’t recall any restriction in the order that gears could be selected. I had obtained a circuit diagram and with my understanding of how it worked, I see no reason why there would be any such restriction. Interestingly, there was a complicated planetary gear system for keeping the TeleTouch buttons upright in the center of the steering wheel as you turned the wheel. It was easy to take for granted the fact that the buttons didn’t rotate as you turned the steering wheel. The windshield wipers were powered by the engine vacuum. Thus, the wipers would slow down or even stop entirely when you gave the car gas. This was extremely annoying when going up a long steep hill in the rain.
Have enjoyed many of your posts Mr Mac Veigh, on a broad range of subjects. My interests are more aligned to aviation, but this one was amazing. Very detailed research.
Like many I knew a little about the Edsel debacle but had no idea of the scale and how comprehensively FMC managed to mess things up at almost every part of the process. One could say it was a clean sweep on what not to do.
Surprised at the volume of units they actually managed to move, but then North America is a very large market.
Fascinating story, thanks.
Moral of the story, you shouldn't hire a company called "Foote, Cone & Belding" to come up with a snappy product name.
Ford should have contacted Sterling Cooper and asked for Don Draper
The Edsel automobile is a product of the Ford Motor Company. The motor company was named after Mr. Henry Ford of Detroit, Michigan who pioneered the assembly line method of automobile manufacturing.
I got a 1:18 scale model car of a 1958 Ford edsel citation, I love to look at it sitting on my shelf in my room everyday
I'm not a Ford man and I'll admit to making fun of the Edsel Styling when I was a kid, however looking back on the '58 Edsel it now seems fairly easy on the eyes. Styling is of course subjective but the '58 Edsel was better than average for that model year, probably the best at Ford and certainly better than Buick or Oldsmobile.
Would you say Ford Mercury. EDSEL was a separate division of the Ford motor company it was it's own brand like Mercury and Lincoln
Great! It's a fascinating story. I knew a few general details, but hardly any of the most juicy pieces of information. That stuff in the first four minutes, about the design criteria is so revealing - trying to do too much perhaps? And Marianne Moore's loopy contribution of possible names is so memorable. The reasons for the failure to sell are spelt out in ways far easier to understand than most other accounts I've read online. (I've never read a book or article on this infamous story.) That's a really bad tale about the way the company expected the dealers to address faults, and about the persistent design faults about which dealers could do nothing. And then expecting the dealers to look after a pony...............?
Fascinating! Thank you!
Actually in those days it was pretty standard for all of the manufacturers to ship defective cars to dealers for sale. The more reputable dealers would try to finish building or repair them to some fair approximation of a working car before selling them, but a huge number would just sell the vehicle while it was broken, and then charge the new customer for the necessary repairs to make it functional. That was a large part of the brand hopping that occurred every 2 years when cars wore out in those days.
@@lwilton Thank you. Quite a story.
@@lwilton Yes. Car shopping, car buying was an American pastime then. Families made the car decision into a hobby. Collecting brochures, going to car dealers and the first chance to see the new year models was a big deal. Each model year had new features, new colors and in this case, even a new name--EDSEL.
Being a former "car shagger" for a car dealership in my teens, I can just imagine which employee at the Edsel store got the honor of maintaining the pony's stall, mucking out yesterday's straw & pony-droppings and hauling in new straw, water & feed and daily caught a ration of teasing from the mechanics.
I just bought a 1958 pacer from a farm had been sitting there for year's but i knew i had to rescue it and get it back on the road only bad thing is part's are hard to find and some are pretty expensive bit it's a complete car will take a while but i will get her done one day.
Did it come with a free horse?
Edsel Ford was responsible for building an assembly line bomber plant at Willow Run during WWII. In Arthur Herman's book on war production during WWII, he cites Edsel Ford as a war hero. Although he didn't know it, Ford was dying of cancer during the six months in which he brought the plane finally on line. So the failure of the model was additionally unfortunate and certainly undeserving to the memory of a patriot.
I saw a baby blue Edsel with push button steering wheel transmission derelict in a parking lot in White Oak / Chattanooga next to a McDonalds. I didn''t have money at the time to buy anything, but by god it was one of the sexiest cars I had ever seen, reminiscent of Christine. Even knowing all the gimmicky problems, I'd fork over the money to buy the car today.
Ha, I'd definitely pull an Arnie Cunningham if I saw one for sale. Some years ago, aroudn 2013, there was one in a local car show. I'm in the UK, and we don't see Edsels here very often. Plenty of '57 Chevs & mid 60s Mustangs but not much else. I was photographing a super hot 1970 Challenger, when my attention was grabbed by a shot of bright orange in my peripheral vision. I looked up and it was a convertible '58 Pacer. I just stopped what I was doing, left my plan of doing each row of vehicles in order, and skipped about six rows over to the car. It was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen. The owner had to put up with me gushing over it. The car show is actually happening again tomorrow. I wonder if it'll be there again.
All Ford products of that era suffered quality problems. The real disaster were guys who bought Edsel dealerships. Many were wiped out.
The quality of the Edsel was below that of other Ford products.
Nothings changed really when you consider the Triton engine
@@kingrex1931 No it wasn't, do some reading.
@@67marlins81 I have read quite a bit about the Edsel, you are just a biased Edsel apologist. The poor quality build issues are all over the internet. Books have been written about the Edsel.
@@kingrex1931 Good for you, you agree with someone else's opinion. I've owned and driven them, unlike you, and know better. Bye.
It was that overhead valve V-8 that GM got out first that really made Caddies go and you could get it in one model of Oldsmobile too in 1949. The "Rocket Olds" they called them. The Lincolns looked heavy and sedate by comparison. Stylists should've avoided that huge "horse collar" grill in Edsel's front. That alone might've saved the mark.
You can either get over the grill, or you just can't. 62 fury was possibly even uglier
My dad graduated high school in 1958. He told me on several occasions about how bad the Edsel was from a reliability standpoint. He had friends who's parents had bought them. My dad, instead, went to Chevrolet and special ordered an Impala in 1959. And one of his biggest regrets was selling that car because his first wife just couldn't master driving a manual. So he traded it in back in, I want to say, 1962, on a 55 Nomad, Which he also regrets getting rid of later on, lol. But yeah he said the Edsel really developed a bad reputation very quickly after launch. I'd never really researched it or anything so was very glad to find this video and very much enjoyed it. My dad probably would have as well if he were still alive.
As an aside I actually like the early Edsels, stylistically. Although if put beside a contemporary Chevy, Buick, or Plymouth of the day I'd pick one of the the GM offerings first and then the Plymouth a close second.
As a side note, it's funny McNamara hated the Edsel because later he worked as the Secretary of Defence, he pushed for the F-111 fighter plane to be used in Viet Nam. The f-111 was so unreliable that it was known as the flying Edsel.
Never knew that! He probably never took responsibility for the F-111 either.
@@billolsen4360 He would have been a great president, just like Trump hahahaha!
My stepdad was an F-111 mechanic/electronics tech at Upper Heyford, England, during the Vietnam war. It was a terrible plane, and it definitely kept him busy 😂
Love that singing group at 24:04 - Hi Fivehead and his Four Backups
I’ve always liked the looks of the Edsel. I designed a hot rod coupe around the grille and wagon taillights.
The '58 wagon taillights were popular in customizing Rancheros and '57 Thunderbirds, btw. They look great on my '58 Ranchero.
The '58 Edsel is one of the most beautiful cars I have ever seen.
My dad bought a 2-door Pacer, white hard top. It was a great car-sadly it was rear-ended while parked, the frame was bent, and although it was 'repaired', the car was never the same. We never had any issues with the steering wheel push button gear selector.
I’ve always loved the Edsel and hope to buy one someday
Compared to a lot of 1958 cars, it didn't look at all bad. Remembering the Chrome King Oldsmobiles...and Olds's had had such a perfect design the year before.
@@billolsen4360 Not sure about that. A friend of mine has a '58 Olds Rocket 88 and it's gorgeous.
@@susi-emily It's all in the eye of the beholder
The Edsel sounds like something built by British Leyland, especially with the quality problems
That was true for ALL American cars at that time. Chrysler products were notorious for poor quality (even today).
Every great idea has got to begin its implementation somewhere. If you do it right, everyone will think you're a genius. If not, they'll call you an Edsel.
Ford story - Dad saw a used 1957 Thunderbird on the lot and was looking it over. Salesman came over and gave him keys and told him to take it for a spin. It became very apparent that this was a special engine as my father said he smoked the first in first and second gears, as the car had a Paxton supercharger on it. My Dad felt it was undriveable and instead bought a 1956 Crown Victoria with Continental Kit.
This is by far the best narrated video I have ever seen. Well done.
WAIT! Edsel wanted to work with the UAW, it was Harry Bennett and Henry Ford that caused the problems with the UAW!
Edsel Ford was renowned as a very decent, intelligent and tasteful man. Tragically, he died young and Henry's psychological abuse didn't help.
It probably didnt matter to the people on the floor making the cars though. I've seen employees like that at my old union job. There is a real toxic environment at union workplaces.
@@EarlFaulk I've worked with a lot of good union people.....and I'm white-collar.
@@67marlins81 It seems to depend on the union, the local union management, and the employer. I've seen both sides. The "we're here to destroy management because we are not in charge of the company" attitude was very prevalent from the 1930s to the 1970s. It has fortunately much died out since then.
@@lwilton I agree, some are good, some are selfish.
OK, so it was much misunderstood at the time, but the Edsel is now a desired classic. I think they look great.
my alfa has the same grille and people love it now.
@@joeray6229 yeah I can see that but your Alfa is much nicer.
Cheers
Yeah my dad always made fun of them but i thought they looked pretty nice
@@joeray6229 - No way: look at the proportions! No one in Italy would build such a miscarriage of a car. Alfa Romeo is another world: you have a poor knowledge of good cars
@@francfurian8215 It's not ot compare at all !
It's like the old adage: a camel looks like a horse designed by a committee.
And an Edsel looks like a car designed by a focus group.
My parents couldn't even dream of buying a new car and I remember very well their 1963 chevy in 1968 and yes it was an old car but worked well enough. My first car was 53 plymouth that I bought for 600 dollars.
Had the Edsel made its debut with the '59 styling instead of the '58, there is a chance the line would have lasted right through the '60's. The '58 horse-collar grille was a disaster but was filled in rather nicely on the '59. Had a conventional column shifter been installed or something similar to the Chrysler line dashboard push-buttons, it would have made a lot of difference to the first-year sales. The teletouch shift in the centre of the steering wheel was fraught with problems. Though the '59 was a definite improvement, it proved too little, too late. And the 1960 model that had only a short run of manufacturing looked too much like the standard Fords.
Bring back the EDSEL! 📣
A free pony🐴 with each purchase. ( hurry, while supplies last )
SORRY--THAT WAS A WHILE AGO, ALL YOU CAN EXPECT NOW IS SOME BROKEN DOWN OLD NAG ! (GO BACK TO BED MOTHER....)
My Dad bought one very used from a neighbor who bought it from little old lady who bought it new. This was the 2 door wagon. The seats still had dealer installed clear plastic covers on them, the interior was mint. What I remember is my Dad rebuilding the motor, then the transmission, and he moved on to a 1960 Country Squire which had enough seating for the neighborhood. The guy who bought it loaded it up and moved 2800 miles to Cali, it made the trip no problem and he hung on to it for years.
What a great car, my dad bought 2 1958s a 4 dr Sedan Pacer, and a 1958 4dr hardtop Citation and 1 1959 Edsel Villager, 9 passanger station wagon, dad's gone now, but I have his cars, what cool collection♥️💯🤠😉👍 nice video👍💯👍😉
I want to thank you for this video for it brought back some old memories I was born in Detroit and I remember all these vehicles Boy dose time pass.
there are 2 of them sitting in a lot for sale in Mattawa, ont, canada as you head west out of town on highway 17. they look in pretty good shape not all rusted out.
BUT PROBABLY ASKING A LOT FOR THEM......THEY WILL NOT LAST THERE LONG. COLLECTORS AR SNATCHING THEM UP WORLWIDE..
Aside from business and engineering issues, the atrocious frontal styling killed it, period. Awesome video and great detail appreciated.
A great and comprehensive documentary!!
Chrysler had the pushbutton transmission. But the buttons were on the instrument panel.
You're right Glenn, and that's far from the only goof in this presentation. Half the pictures don't match what he's narrating, at any particular moment.
Almost every top car had the push-buttons in 1957. By the early 60's, they were banned for being 'too dangerous!' What a joke.
Chrysler's pushbutton worked properly, the Edsel unit was prone to failure.
@@willem2544 No it wasn't......internet goofball
The 57 Plymouth also had push buttons for the transmission.
I remember seeing only one 1960 Edsel, and thought it was a strange 1960 Ford. However, Robert Strange McNamara was a hit below the waterline of any organization he touched, especially the Defense Department. While cutting back on the various types of shoes could save millions, his lack of experience beyond the spreadsheet cost billions, and lives lost, when it came to weapons systems.
Nepotism and favoritism are still at work in the company. Just about every organization employs it, but seldom to the scale of Ford. Several years ago, the local media had its standard fawning coverages of a distant Ford descendant, "starting at the bottom of the family business" as head of the foreign sales department.
Yeah, back to your point, McNamara was a know-it-all punk who Peter Principled his way from Ford to the Defense Department. Thing is, at Ford all he squandered was Ford's good name and millions of dollars. At Defense, he wasted untold American lives for absolutely no good reason in a war our country never should have entered - and we're paying the price for his stupidity to this day.
I had a used 59 Edsel. I seem to remember transmission replacement. Mine was 6 cylinder, standard transmission. Got rid of it when a tree limb took out the rear window.
I was 8 years-old in 1957, and boy, do I remember the Ford Edsel!! You could see that grill coming a mile away! LOL!! BTW, the 1956 Ford was really sharp! I remember building the AMT or Revell '56 Ford model kit, with Testors plastic cement and 1/4 oz. bottles of Testors paint.
I958 was my worst year.I got married and bought an Edsel😂😂😂
They sell for megabucks these days, idiot.
You didn't finish, you still have the Edsel, correct?
@@ericgeorge5483 -- What, old wives?
Marriage isn’t just a word, it’s a sentence!
So what was worse? The wife or the car LOL
They should have got Homer on the design team.
I thought he designed it!
That episode was a direct parody of the Edsel disaster.
ROTFLMAO
Well they sort of did.
Hahahaha, surely the Simsons episode with Homer as a car builder was inspired on the Edsel.
Couple of things. There was interior shot of A/C unit which looked like an afterthought but I guess was factory. I recall about 1958 first time seeing one of these in action, it frosted up big time. I have a friend who was an Airman stationed at a missle silo construction in early 60’s. One Saturday morning they had just extinguished a fire, the phone rang, it was Secretary McNamara calling for status.
This still ranks as one of the top engineering, timing and marketing failures of all time. Amazing how many other corporations failed and continue to fail in their arrogance to learn the multitude of lessons from this horrendous bomb of a marque.
Timing and marketing YES, engineering NO.
@@TheOzthewiz Agreed, and the only time engineering is mentioned in the video is in regards to why the front 'horse collar' was made so big - it needed to be to get air to the engine. The styling to me looks not greatly different to other cars of that year, when the US was hitting the peak of the "rockets and fins" style. Yes the recession was a big factor and out of Ford's control. I think poor quality control was a big factor, entire marques have suffered for that before and since.
Too bad McNamara couldn't see as clearly when it came to running the war in Vietnam.
Dan Patterson, I was scrolling down to post this exact thought when I saw you said it for me!
Too bad Nixon thought he was going to win by expanding the war to neighboring countries!
McNamara made just as poor of a decision on the Edsel & the original M-16's as he did the war in Viet Nam.
ojars zvaigzne President Nixon got us out of the war. One cannot disparage any of Nixon’s war strategies.
@@tjcallahan1598 McNamara was opposed to the Edsel. The Ford Fairlane 500 was specifically designed to kill the Edsel.
My Dad bought a 60 Edsel Wagon to haul around our Little League Team . White exterior, Red vinyl interior, 3 row seating with the 3rd row facing back....and a 400 cu. in. V-8. Great car. Now that BMW and Alfa Romeo copied the unique grille- its cool. We called it "A Mercury ,sucking a Lemon!"
Edsel was the very definition of corporate group-think. A cautionary tale for designers and marketers. Know your customers!
My brother in law had one. Great beautiful car. Convertible. And it was always breaking down, always being towed.
he needs to find a competent mechanic, all problems on all cars -can be solved i know, i have been doing it all my life, now 81, skill- is the word,,
I always thought the Edsel was pretty nice looking and i expecially liked the grill and if I was old enough at the time I would probably purchased one but the push-button transmission on the wheel was doomed from the beginning they had a lot of problems with this setup
WAHT PROBLEMS? ONLY 2 I KNOW OFF ? ON THE ELECTRICAL MODULE SELETOT WAS FITTED "TOO CLOSE TO THE EXHAUST SYSTEM,, AND THE UNIT "FRIED" 'n COOKED THE INNARDS ,, A SIMPLE RE POSITIONING WOULD HAVE CORRECTED THIS PROBLEM. THE OTHER--IF YOU HAD A FLAT BATTERY PUSH BUTTONS DID NOT WORK, AND IT WOULD BE LOCKED IN PARK ! A SAFETY FEATURE TODAY ON MANY CARS,
@@christianhutchinson1758 no need to yell
I remember when the car came out and one of my friends bought one and when we took a ride in it it was one of the most comfortable rides and fast. I think the cars of the 50s were the most stylish and beautiful cars that they have ever made I love them all
My little sister was a friend for a while of Bonnie Brown, a daughter of Ray Brown Jr, the man who styled the infamous Edsel. This was while the Browns were laterally arabesqued to Ford in UK while the heat from the failed car died down. My sister and Bonnie would have been 9 or 10 at that time. I remember young Bonnie Brown had a blue American bike with a metal cutout of an elephant decorating its front mudguard... (Weird, the things you remember!)
But Mr. Brown was not to be associated with failure while in Europe. No, Sir!
While living in UK, Ray Brown created a styling coup with the hugely successful Mk1 Ford Cortina... still highly regarded as a good looking car..
... and with just a couple of acknowledgements to the styling of the Edsel... note the contrasting scalloped/fluted side panels, so much a feature of the Lotus Cortina when painted Lotus Green.
as Boy in Germany I was fascinated of that EDESEL Model...
...
I first heard about this car when an old lady asked about my family name (Etzel) and if it was the same as this car. As it happened, my parents got asked that question all the time when this thing was still fresh in people's memories, so when I mentioned this story to them they both got visibly annoyed.
Very interesting, thank you. Would love to see more stuff like this.
This documentary is very informative, comprehensive, interesting and entertaining !
The 1960 Comet was introduced as a stand alone product sold by Mercury dealers. It was supposed to be an Edsel. The grille shape reflects the 1960 Edsel, as does the instrument cluster, lettering, taillight shape and other styling cues. Comet became a Mercury in 1962.
Wasn't the comet a dressed up Falcon ?
@@donlove3741 Yes, but falcon664 is right that a lot of tooling, parts and capacity from Edsel went right into Comet.
There are some inaccuracies here. You left out Pontiac, one of GM's three mid-level cars. You present Citation, Pacer, and Ranger as names that became model names instead of the name of the marque, and this suggests that they were models of the Edsel, which they were, but you show the Citation emblem for a FWD compact Chevrolet Citation sold from 1980 to 1985, the Pacer emblem for a compact (American Motors) AMC Pacer sold from 1975 to 1980 (better known now as the Mirth Mobile from the movie Wayne's World), and the Ranger emblem from a trim package of the Ford F-100 pickup sold from 1967 to 1969. And VW Beetles and other compact imports didn't really catch on until the 1960s, though Rambler did make some inroads around 1959. You might have mentioned that Robert McNamara later went on to become the U.S. Secretary of Defense under President John F. Kennedy and into the Presidency of Lyndon Johnson, and presided over the U.S. build-up in the Vietnam War.
I have my on Edsel story. In 1965 or 1966 my dad bought a ‘57 Edsel. My mom drove it sparingly and eventually we pulled the motor and transmission out. We put it in my first car. A 1961 Ford Starliner. We bought the Edsel for 150 bks. My first car cost about that much
The grille isn't bad in itself, it's distinctive. There is an old corvette with that grille that looks awesome
He mentions every GM brand of the time but somehow forgets Pontiac
Thought only I caught that.
My Jr. high music teacher, Mr. Flick drove a completely rusted-out one in the mid-60's
The Chrysler products of that era were RUSTING while on the production lines!
YOU KNOW>? RUST IS THE ONLY THING THAT EVER COMES CHEAP--IN FACT COSTS NOTHING-- IT JUST APEARS WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT, AND YOU WISH TO HELL ,IT WASN'T THERE.
I've owned seven classic cars, GM and FOMOCO products, and all were pretty nice. I've had a '58 Edsel Citation for 15 years now, and it's easily the most reliable and best performance classic I've ever owned. The 410 engine has major power. It had been restored by a notable collector prior to my acquisition of it. I've driven it hundreds of miles in a single day to car shows and never had an issue. What always amazes me is how youngsters who don't know the marque's infamy think it's "cool," which says a lot. I find that particularly gratifying because I always thought they were cool, too. Most pictures don't do them justice. I don't think they can be fully appreciated until seen in-person, in top-notch condition. They really are beautiful cars.
WELCOME ABOARD BROTHER ! TO NORMAL ENTHUSIASTIC AND KNOWLEDGEABLE INDIVIDUALS.. THEY ARE "DIFFERENT", AND RARE, WHICH MEANS $$$$$$
@@christianhutchinson1758 Thank you. I appreciate the comment.
S'TRUE. at shows,particularly, is why you go! and display your pride and joy, like everyone else. BUT! with an EDSEL, you were SURE, to get inquisitive on lookers, asking questions, like ' WHAT IS IT?" or, "I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE BEFORE!", "NEVER HEARD OF IT", ALL seemingly doubtful of the truth!. more people stop to enquire or look at my EDSEL RANDER 2 DOOR DARDTOP,and take pictures, than ! all other makes ! just take notice next time you go! it's different alright, thats why I like it!. ( sold my Ranger now, it's gone to tasmania, Australia. i have a 4 door Citation, SENIOR MODEL,i am restoring, but at my age,it, 81, it may not get finished ! i would love to drive it to shows,etc. ENJOY YOURS, take care stay heathy,, chris h
Interesting video. It turned around many of the stories I'd had heard about this vehicle, and gave even more information that I ever never heard before also, i.e. the trim panels being left for dealer mechanics to install. Or how the UAW boys messed around at assembly, ha ha.
Thanks for the history lesson on the letter “E”.
It actually was to far advanced for the time. It included many things that you find on cars that are standard today. At a time when AC on cars was an option and not on standard cars Edsel had it straight up along with power windows, power steering, etc.. The poorly designed front end was one of the biggest problems. Chrysler had push button transmissions for many years but seeing it on a Ford was quite different. They just did not listen to what the market wanted and went to far above and had poor body design.
The Chrysler push button transmission worked, the Edsel one did not. The control unit was low and beside the transmission, where it was exposed to water & salt, causing failure. The wiring from the pushbuttons to the control unit was routed too close to the exhaust, where the excessive heat caused failure as well. The push buttons were hard to engage, with some people joking it took a hammer to engage them.
Ac power accessory ,power ,steering and brakes weren't new..been available for some time. Only item standard was seat belts. Optional in other cars.
Edsel was butt ugly,poorly built.
@@kingrex1931 I never had a moment's trouble with the pushbuttons in my Corsair. You may want to talk to real people who drove them.
@@donlove3741 Built just as well as anything else. I've owned two and know what I'm talking about, unlike many frustrated cynics.
@@67marlins81 so all those people that reported problems when these cars came out weren't real. Just because you didn't have an issue it doesn't mean that other people didn't, and based on the facts collected from the owners, the problems were quite frequent.
I took around local car shows in a Edsil estate wagon. Freaking sweet ride!
Never heard about the pony contest before -- LOL! Can't believe that promotion idea actually came to fruition. My very first thought, were I to have been on the marketing team, would've been, how many families have a place to keep a horse? My second thought would've been, what, we're going to keep the horse at the dealers' and they're going to care for it and clean up after it? Are you kidding? With marketing schemes like that being approved, it's no wonder this car was a failure.
Ironically, one year after Ford discontinued the Edsel, Chrysler discontinued their DeSoto nameplate. There really no need for two medium priced cars(the other is Dodge) in the Chrysler line up.
There was a recession during '57 to '62 at the same time that low priced cars were being optioned with big block v8s and other goodies.
Chrysler was a medium priced car, Imperial was their Luxury brand. The DeSoto was basically crushed in between the Dodge & Chrysler makes. Most makes moved upwards in price, which meant that Dodge moved into Desoto's price territory naturally. Chrysler added lines below there basic price range to not invade the Imperial's price range. Imperial was a new make in 1955 and Chrysler Corp wanted to ensure their survival. This movement basically squeezed DeSoto out. Ironically the 1955-1960 DeSoto's were the best looking cars in the Chrysler lineup.
@@kingrex1931 When Plymouth offered the Fury and powerful V8s the division lines were definitely blurred. Maybe Plymouth should have been aimed at Rambler? I've read that in the last year of the 230 L-head in Plymouth that 2/3 still chose it, Plymouth could have survived as a less featured make. When the 361 big block was available in the cheaper Plymouth, the stylish DeSoto was left without much market space, and the exclusive Hemis went away. But I sure like the last years of the DeSoto! I like all of the Forward Look era Mopars.