Congratulations on an excellent piece. This documentary tells the entire story; why it failed in the marketplace and why it is an icon today. This film does not take "cheap shots" of the car, but instead shows the Edsel in a respectful manner. As a former President of The Florida Edsel Club and an Edsel owner, I can tell you that this is a car much admired. C. Gayle Warnock, who appears here, was a good friend and is sorely missed. Thanks again for a terrific look at the Edsel.
In the 1990's I used to drive my Edsel convertible all over the "side road" highways in Central California, and everywhere I stopped, people were wide-eyed gawking at it. People in their teens & 20's loved it, most of them had never seen one in person before. It didn't look any better or worse than most US cars from 1958.
"Today, it feels a million dollars." Well, that beautiful Edsel Citation way back in 1958 that people were making fun of, and those who did their share of making fun down through the years, wish they could eat their words. The car in the blue metallic color is simply "stunning" and to have been cruising around in that Edsel Citation lead sled would have been a joy for this driver. It is funny that the Edsel was picked on, but if you look at the designs of the cars out back then, the Edsel looked tame. The 59 Cadillac, or 58 Imperial were a bit over the top in designs, and how about the 58 Buick! The Edsel was a unique automobile and now after all of these years, the car is finally getting recognized as a great classic, no better or no worse than anything else on the road. America has finally fallen in love with the Edsel! What a turnaround after all of these years, long overdue. Period! End of Story! What a terrific presentation by Quentin Willson, and his last statement regarding the 1960 Edsel, "this car is as ugly as Marilyn Monroe!" Thank you Quentin for a great video on the truth about the Edsel.
I wouldn't trade my '58 Pacer convertible for anything, and as far as I'm concerned it stands out from every other car at every show I go to. The ones that are left are very highly prized by enthusiasts like me, so keep in mind that beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.
My father in law has a forest green Edsel in the early 70's that still ran fine and never gave him any trouble, he claimed. It was still a homely car. I had a 66 Olds Dynamic 88 at the time and that was a much nicer looking car.
I drove a 58 Citation 4 door hard top with a 3 on the tree during high school as a "loaner" from my grandpa back in 1980 with the promise that I would return it when I finished college. He never really to asked for the car back. In 1989 he asked if I wanted to give it back. I stammered..He told me to keep it. He liked his Escort better.
That was not a cheap shot, and by the way, I am also British. I grew up in Detroit and got to experience all the new models brought out by Ford, Chrysler, GM, AMC, Plymouth, Dodge, Mercury, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, Buick, Lincoln, Cadillac every year. It was a great place to grow up if you were a motorhead. Not to mention all the great music coming out of Detroit at the time.
If you think the Edsel was over the top, take a close look at the '58 Buick and DeSoto. BTW- That continental kit, rear wheel skirts and dark blue paint were aftermarket add-ons that Edsel didn't offer.
+Taerial I honestly believe all old cars look good out of nostalgia, the fact that the edsel was considered ugly in '58 and is now considered a class makes me think 50 years from now, Camries and Civics will be classic cars.
Meanwhile, Britain was still experiencing food rationing still after WW2 and in the midst of a depression. I can't think of one English car that had an automatic transmission, air conditioning, power windows and brakes or was able to accommodate a maximum of eight people. The Ford Edsel was an exercise in what American car companies were able to do.
It wasn't ugly at all, it simply had a different style of the rest of the cars, but it's wrong saying it was ugle, remember that in the late 50's the cars style was developing extremely fast and many car producers tried to show their best designs, ones more succesfully than others, nothing else, for example the Plymouth. I'm not american and i've hardly ever seen american classic cars (i'm from spain and here classic cars are different) but it's simply a question of understanding this cars.
if you wanted to study the auto year 1958 you will find the sputnik launch put every one in America's nerves on edge and made car buyers shy away from newer designs.In fact causing most likely the recession of 1958. maybe even the liberal media helped because a election year for President was just around the corner.
The lower two lines of Edsels were identical to Fords (cheaper) and the upper two lines identical to Mercurys (more expensive) except for some unique features and styling. And Fords and Mercurys were mechanically mostly the same besides. So to say they were junk and bits fell off is ridiculous unless Fords and Mercurys were junk also. The failure was merely in style specifically the grille, and the lack of space between Ford and Mercury, and like the guy said the name.
The "bits fell off" comment Wilson made referred to the 76 or so Edsels that were given away to prominent US automotive journalists as part of a promotion prior to the car's launch. They drove them home -- often many hundreds of miles -- from a big Detroit press event, but -- DESPITE SPECIAL PREPARATION the factory had done to ensure each car was ready to go -- several of them broke down enroute. Door handles fell off in at least one case; several had balky Teletouch setups that meant the car refused to move, or that it got stuck in Reverse. Some cars were driven through a rainstorm and their trunks filled with water. One guy sailed through a highway toll both at speed when his brakes failed.
Little late, but Mercury did not do as well as the competition in the middle. And people who had Fords were skipping Mercury for GM and Chrystlers much large middle line.
+Bunny Biedenharn It was the look, the name, and the economy. Plus there was confusion of where it was in Ford's lineup, was it upmarket or downmarket from the Mercury?
+Bunny Biedenharn Named after Henry and Clara Ford's only child, Edsel. He was a brilliant designer in his own right. The 1939 Lincoln Continental, the last of the 30's classics was an Edsel Ford design. It's a shame his name was connected with this.
+Bunny Biedenharn Named after Henry and Clara Ford's only child, Edsel. He was a brilliant designer in his own right. The 1939 Lincoln Continental, the last of the 30's classics was an Edsel Ford design. It's a shame his name was connected with this.
The American public took the edsel as offensive! Would not have bothered me, but the center grill look like the female vulva genitals even down to the major labia and minor labia. Whoever designed that had exactly that in mind. They were sexual in their styling. As for as the mechanical of the car it was as good and same as Lincoln and Mercury drive train
It was ugly to look at and it had a funny name - and that was not a good way to introduce a whole new car. 1958 was also the year that Americans began to buy foreign cars in substantial numbers, which mostly were the opposite of the Edsel (and other American cars): they were small, not huge; they got better gas mileage, and they didn't look so extreme.
