1958 Edsel ranger, aged like fine wine. 

Yeah buddy you got it =)

@@What.its.like. As I remember Fats Domino covered a lot of old music. For example Blueberry Hill was an old song from before world war 2. And I think the song you mentioned on this video was also an old song.

Beat my correct response by that much......

I love the 58 edsel, I think they aged like fine wine. =)

True, this is not ugly at all. There must be other reasons why this didn't became a success. May be many.

@@eucitizen78 The recession that year was probably the biggest cause

Merry Christmas =)

Thank you these are like rolling art I just like pointing all the lines out =)

=)

Hoping to shoot a citation next year =) Merry Christmas

@@What.its.like. that will be great!!! I really enjoy your videos!!! 👍👍🙂

I agree the '58 Edsel is the best looking model. Then again, the '60 is also very slick; it's similar to the '60 Pontiac, save for the split grille. It was Bob MacNamara who killed the E-Car before he became secretary of defense. His dream was to make Ford like Volkswagen; one model fits all. Thanks for showing a right nice '58 Ranger... not the current pick'em-up truck version!

Awesome what did you think of the 58 wagons also which was your favorite

My 58 Bermuda 9 passenger was my favorite, but the one I drove the most was my Metallic brown/white Villager 9 passenger with the optional glowing red speedometer ( when you went over your set speed.) Bought the ‘59 Villager for my girlfriend at the time, rebuilt the 352 in it and she drove it for about 10 years until her Aunt stuffed it into a tree.

Glad you dig =)

That’s awesome do you still have a pretty big collection which is your favorite. Just curious where are you located?

@@What.its.like. I sold the last of my Edsels (a Citation 2HT) back in 2020 so I could travel. The Ranger/Pacer will always be my fave bodystyles. Spring Green, Turquoise & Sunset Coral are my fave colors for 1958. I'm in Seattle.

What did you think of the citation versus the pacer always wondered are the big black cars better beings that you sold your citation kind of answers my question.. I’ve never been to Washington state maybe one day

@@What.its.like. Citations/Corsairs are not as "nimble" to drive as Rangers/Pacers. The best handling was the station wagon. I owned two Bermudas and they were great driving automobiles.

Awesome thank you so much for sharing all the insite and information =) greatly appreciate it Curious where are you located ? What model 58,59 edsel do you have I totally agree about the 60 but it’s grown on me the 58 is my favorite of the three

The 60 Edsels was basically copying the Split grill design from Pontiac to basically making it Ford's version of Pontiac.

@CJ Colvin not exactly....I read that it was an unintended coincidence that the '60 Edsel resembled the '59 Pontiac. But it's a good that it did, because one 1960 Edsel front-end proposal had a singular, large, center bumper-guard type of grill.....so prominent and weird that it was rejected by management....thank G-d..... There is however at least one member of the Edsel clubs who built a one-off 1960 Edsel with the center grille guard.....it's not attractive.

Dean Gammey - that's exactly right, you can see the carry-over grille end design of the Edsel within Comet.

Thank you so much for sharing that insight =)

Which did you like better ?

I read that it was mercury edsel Lincoln for 1958 only then moved down market ( engines where called MEL mercury edsel Lincoln) in 59 and 60 was ford edsel mercury Lincoln that’s what I’ve read so idk finding out there is a lot of conflicting information

Happy holidays to you as well =) more stuff coming I’m contemplating on what episode I want to do next I have one more Packard in the pipeline very call car I think that one’s going to be the next one I’m going back to Classic Automall Wednesday.. but I got a lot of cars in the pipeline just trying to figure out what I would like to do next.. The Packard might wait =)

I first saw the ads all in model form I was about 14 or 15 and I was like what is that hideous car it was in a model kit right next to the Chrysler turbine car very first time I ever saw that car as well. The more I researched about the heads or the more I fell in love with it I think 58 was the best year. It got watered down after that. I really want to cover a citation this year and maybe a wagon if that’s possible. The plan is to cover every single body style that I can find I want this to be one of the most in depth channels/communities talk about more than just the two doors the four-door hard tops are really cool as well. I have no idea why they failed aside from the whole recession thing there was a huge recession in 1958 I guess it was comparable to what happened in 2008. Every time I see a new alpha I think of an Edsel they look very similar

Glad you dig this episode =)

You're mainly correct, the Eisenhower recession hurt all makes. Then, once people like your Dad realized the Edsel wasn't radically new or different under the fenders, they probably reasoned a Mercury was a better choice - no first-year gremlins, established dealer network, and contemporary, attractive styling.

Thank you so much for sharing those stories what great memories. =) What do you like the most about the Edsel Was it floaty that’s the vibe I got that I would ride really well (but have that floaty feel)

@@What.its.like. no... The smaller ones rode like any Sixties/early Seventies type of car. The bigger ones (Citation) had more of a floaty luxury ride, though. My Pacer got around pretty well. I was actually getting about 15mpg around town with it... It'd get something like 18 on the freeway. My favorite thing about those '58 Edsels was completely unique body styling... The whole car is just beautiful. Have you seen the Packard Predictor show car? I'm pretty sure that the Ford Design Department took a lot of cues off of that car. Oh... And the dash was incredible! It really was "Intuitive" way before that was "a thing"... Everything was exactly where you'd expect it to be.

Thank you edsel is one of my favorite cars as well I think it translated into this video =) it’s never too late and some people don’t know what these cars are, last year I found a 57 silver hawk for $5k in great shape it’s possible to find some really cool things out there still

I like the 58 the best I think it had the most innovation especially the citation series that 410 is definitely an underrated engine for what it was and it’s a pity it was only lasted one year.. The 60 is growing on me the 59 in my opinion is the one that I like the least But it’s cool that you like them the wagons I do like to look at the wagons from all of the years

The power blue isn’t for me I really like teal and white or black and white looks classy too

I hope to find a citation convertible this year to feature on the channel as well as some wagons

Yeah this was a super clean one thank you so much I hope you guys had a merry Christmas as well =)

Me too I love edsels =)

And a cup holder!

It's funny....my dear late Mom recalled seeing the Edsel station wagon boomerangs in the rear of '57 Thunderbirds!! I myself installed a pair in my 1958 Edsel Ranchero conversion.

@@67marlins They are cool.

I thought the same I guess two tone was an option I think came standard on pacer ( don’t hold me to that )

Well comprehend that I don’t care for it. It was ugly in 1958 and it is just as ugly now. But that’s just me. There weren’t many cars that I did like in those days. I remember that some tv shows had the slogan “You ‘auto’ buy now!” The Dinah Shore Chevy Show was one such show.

When did cars get solid state transistor radios if they still had tubes in the radios in 1958? I had a 1970 Chevy as my first car and it had a transistor radio.

Totally agree but get it’s an acquired taste

@@What.its.like. Kinda like Brussels sprouts? I like the 1960 Edsel since they were a bit more conservatively styled. The grille on that resembles the grille on the 1959 Pontiac. I vaguely remember that this country was in the middle of a recession in 1958 and to introduce any new product would have been foolish at best.

@Glenn Lego Exactly - the Eisenhower recession was brief, but hurt the entire industry.

Sweet, I think it’s absolutely crazy that Edsel offered all these options and 58 and then by 59 they watered it down to offer the 292 which was on its way out just like the edsel I guess.

No worries =)

Yeah the last few days really sucked I mean you know it’s bad when you walk out side and are like man it’s nice out today and temperature is only 12 but feels like 30 it’s been -4, -5 the past two days going to get in the 50s by the end of this week =) those are degrees Fahrenheit

They are so cool I’ve only seen a handful of them in my lifetime

I love the 58 edsel.. maybe we get to hit a citation this year that would be really cool I’d like to do all of the 18 different models eventually =)

@@What.its.like. I'm on board with that idea!

Thank you for digging this episode =)

@@What.its.like. Thanks for including important details, I don’t recall seeing many if any Edsels in Manitoba back in the day. They were probably more rare then a Skyliner Ford. I do find the engines that they used interesting as they seem more powerful than the Ford and Mercury versions.

I plan on doing all of the Edsel wagons as well as all of the Edsel cars in depth =) I have never seen a round up or a Bermuda wagon in person.. I think I’ve only come across one Edsel 1958 Edsel wagon in person and that was at the Hershey car show.. =) Definitely want to hit more wagons this year

That song was from the era =)

@@What.its.like. true...but do that for all of them going forward! :D

These cars were works of art

It might have fit with the other lens that new lens is pretty big

@@What.its.like. What might be a good thing to make a list of is all the models that have passed the test with the big camera. I suggest keep the big camera as the litmus test. I was surprised that Edsel cut corners on the size of the glove box.

Merry Christmas =)

Thank you so much for sharing all that insight and information. I totally forgot that they spent all that money on tooling costs citation, Corsair senior series are totally different than Ranger and pacer =)

=)

Merry Christmas =)

I love the Continental mark II so classy was the most expensive car in america until Cadillac built the El Dorado brougham and that became the most expensive car offered by one of the big three in the 50s Here is a link to the Continental episode it was a while ago and the format has definitely come along way definitely going to hit again ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iDudLvVpuaA.html

Thank you so much for sharing that’s information, I honestly don’t think the Edsel design was any worse than what else is producing right now Pontiac had a design 61 that looked very feminine as well.

Awesome information thank you so much for sharing that =)

We covered the avanti would love to find an R3 OR R4 I might cover another one this year format changed a little bit ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XbJXYmIrlX4.html

@@What.its.like. The ones I've seen have great interiors.

I like it though I think there’s super underrated for what they are. If you got a citation with a stick shift which was optional, the car would go 0 to 60 in 7 seconds one of the fastest cars of the 50s

I never had a problem with my Teletouch, but was careful to keep it dry of course. Also, the Edsel Club published an excellent, simple and direct flowchart to diagnose any and all Teletouch problems, so these days it really isn't the headache it used to be.

It was a shame Ford didn’t engineer their push button shifter better. Chrysler did it right, especially after they added the “park” lever. I never especially liked the push button shifters, feeling them to be only a gimmick, but if manufacturers chose to do it, at least they should do it right.

“Back in the day”, GM never did the push button shifters, but some newer models use them.

@@sking2173 My 2017 Ford Fusion has a knob on the center console to select what "gear" you are in. Works the same way except a knob rather than push buttons.

@@67marlins My Mom's boss back at that time had an Edsel and my Dad said it was always in the shop getting fixed. I'd imagine that there would be some aftermarket wiring for the Teletouch that came out post-Edsel to correct the problems.

Merry Christmas =) I’ll look for 63 fairlane

Agree but I think the design has aged well some cars even from the 2000s looked great when they came out but look bad now

I agree that it’s aged well. Times have changed and people aren’t as prudish as they used to be …

It would have been interesting

Oh man that’s a hard one.. I really like the 37 packard 115 C it would be between that and 1959 rambler wagon.. I really liked this edsel too (just not crazy about powder blue )

That’s super interesting I never thought that they did and I had to stop and think about whether or not they actually offered a pushbutton transmission it was only offered by Ford and Chrysler.. and AMC as well as other Independent auto manufacturers

@@What.its.like. Weird but true 👍.

Yeah I read it both ways, I was always under the impression that for 1958 it was mercury Edsel Lincoln that’s why they named the engines MEL.. but then by 1959 they moved the Edsel down market to put it in between Ford and mercury.. unfortunately I couldn’t find the article that I read that in otherwise I would’ve shared the link..

@@What.its.like. at its conception (1952, when Mercury was a dressed up Ford) Edsel WAS supposed to slot in BETWEEN Mercury and Lincoln, kind of like the 49 through 51 Mercury based junior Lincoln. By 1957,when FoMoCo was readying the Edsel for release, they did not seem to know where to position it. I maintain that if Edsel had been released as a 1957 model and the pricing had been rationalized, then we might still have Edsel dealers today.

That’s an excellent question I don’t have the answer for

After 1958 it moved down market ( Mel engine is for mercury edsel Lincoln) or at least that’s what I read could be wrong

@What it’s like - I'm sorry to disagree, but I think Edsel was always the step above Ford, but just below Mercury. You're absolutely correct that the "M-E-L" engine designation for the 410 cubic-inch ( "E-475" for its torque rating just for the '58 Edsel Corsair & Citation ) was an acronym for "Mercury- Edsel - Lincoln", but please don't think that order implied market position.....I just think it was easier to say/write/relay in literature and marketing. As I'm sure you know, that "MEL" also served in Mercurys as a 368. 383, and 430-cid versions. The 430 also served in Thunderbirds and Lincolns. I think also the "MEL" was enlarged to a 462 just for Lincoln in maybe '67 and '68, right before being mercifully retired to make way for the new-for-1969 460 in Lincolns. The 429 and 460 were called the '385' series engine, for the 3.85" stroke. That new 429/460 was designed for lighter-weight, newer technology casting production and tightening emissions. The 429 was more powerful, clean and efficient than the old "MEL", and vastly lighter, too! I'll have to dig up the weight difference, but I recall being astounded how well designed and progressive the 429/460 was for that time. I own a '70 Marquis, and have achieved 17mpg with the 429 2-barrel. I also owned a '58 Corsair, and while the 'E-475' was certainly powerful, it was just as leaky and inefficient as a typical Y-block, sorry to say...... Also, the "FE" engine family originally stood for, "Ford/Edsel". That excellent engine of course came-in, 352. 390, 406, 427 and 428 sizes for Ford and Mercury, ( and also a one-year 410-cid variant only for the Mercury division in 1966 I think ), and of course also the 361-cid just for the '58 and '59.Edsels that you've described. I belonged to both the Edsel Owners Club and the International Edsel Club for decades. The International group were known to be much friendlier, but that could have changed in the many years since I belonged. Also, the International name didn't mean that overseas folks were unwelcome in the EOC, it was just an alternative name to separate themselves from the EOC. Thanks for the post, and keep in touch. Hope your family had a Merry Christmas.

Thank you so much for all of that insight I know that they want to produce more than just the 410 edsel was supposed to be a staple instead it was a very expensive dud.. =) I had a great Christmas I hope you guys had a merry Christmas as well

@What it’s like Ford actually came close to building the 1961 Thunderbird as front-wheel-drive: one working 'mule' test prototype was built. Some Ford engineers also almost convinced management to develop and import a front-wheel-drive V-4 powertrain from their European arm to power what was to be the 1960 Falcon..... My point is, it's amazing how cutting edge Ford could have been, possibly wresting the #1 position from GM. If their Continental and Edsel divisions had been profitable and gave them the financial courage, emboldening them to step forward with ideas like the above.....who knows? At that point, Edsel division could have been what Olds was to GM - the 'experimental car' that led the Ford family with the newest technology and engineering. A recession and accountants like McNamara kept Ford from possibly being successful with the multi-division family setup like GM had built.....it's a thought.

@@67marlins - That 429 was a fine engine. And the 2-V version was my favorite “385” engine in the full-size Fords. And you’re right, the 385 was far superior to the MEL engine family.

=)

I did it was a good balance the thing that sucked was this is the 2nd Version.. I did the whole episode and software editing program glitched and lost the whole thing I had to redo to whole episode everything all over again.. it’s nice because I did it twice =D

Was that also 58 Ford market position that’s what I’ve read and then a 1959 Edsel moved down Market

@@What.its.like. Yes, the MEL came out in 1958. Edsel was suppose to try and fit in the "Buick" market slot, but didn't quite get there.

I think they were always underrated I would have loved to take this one for a drive I’ve driven 57/58 fords before this just getting inside felt better then both of those fords

IMO, the ‘58 Edsel was a bit “frumpy”, but it lived in a sea of frumpy models. To me, 1958 was a styling low-point for Ford and GM. The Edsel was one of Ford’s more attractive offerings that year. But you hit it on the head, the winner of the style award for ‘58 was the Plymouth Belvedere. I had been no huge Chrysler fan to that point, but the Belvedere opened my eyes. And they had modern 3-spd. automatics (TorqueFlite 466 cast iron trans in ‘58), and they had the A-block 318 that was a fine engine. The B-block was introduced in ‘58, and that proved to be one of the best engines of the era.

It was the torque rating, not the horsepower.

It was the torque figure =)

@@What.its.like. exactly

@@What.its.like. thank you for the clarification. i forgot, but I did know it wasn't cubes like all the other manufacturers.

@@stephenholland5930 thank you for the clarification. i forgot, but I did know it wasn't cubes like all the other manufacturers.

I knew about the mercury marauder makes like 400 hp super underrated engine I didn’t know about the super marauder I’ll have to see if I can find one this year to review that would be really cool i’ll have to see if I can find one this year to review that would be really cool =)

@@What.its.like. It was one of Ford's early muscle cars along with the "F code" cars. I'm not sure if production numbers... They're similar to the big Turnpike Cruiser with a little less bling and the big Lincoln 430 with the 3 carbs. I stumbled on an article about them. I guess they could be had with a stick or auto and other things like a continental kit.

I would love to review a Bermuda wagon this year or any ads or wagon in general.. =)

You got it someone bet you to it

Totally agree =) I will say though teal and white is my favorite color combination for this car or black and white

Some people actually found that vulviform grille quite attractive. It’s very subjective …

@@sking2173 it's definitely a love it or hate it type of grille. I personally never really cared for the looks of it but one thing was for sure. When you saw that either coming at you or in your rear view mirror, it was no doubt whatsoever what car it was.

What peach we all say things different.. bless your heart =)

I agree. It’s a shame that 1 design feature ruined the car line. Certainly the economy played a part, but other expensive cars sold well enough. It was ugly then, it’s ugly now. It doomed the car.

That’s my thing though it’s about as polarizing as this car some people love it others hate it..

Toodle-loo.

Some think the ‘58 Edsel’s grille is a bit TOO groovy …