The Short-Lived and Expensive Tale of Ford's Edsel 

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!

I remember it being described as looking like "An Oldsmobile sucking a lemon!"

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.

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.

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.

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 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!

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?"

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.

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.

I have a neighbor that has an Edsel. It looks like it's been restored and its beautiful

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

I had a 2-door '58 Pacer in the UK from 2000-2003, loved it, and wherever I went people loved it.

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.

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.

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.

"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

"I don't want my fathers good name spinning around on thousands of hubcaps." - Henry FORD II 🤷‍♂️ The irony of that statement.

The pony idea was unbelievably hilarious and was truly aimed at families only.

Love that singing group at 24:04 - Hi Fivehead and his Four Backups

I search far and wide just to own a Edsel model car. Because of its notorious history and I just love it.

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.

I think the 1958 is absolutely beautiful. I would love to own one.

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.

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 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

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. 💀

The Edsel sounds like something built by British Leyland, especially with the quality problems

It's like the old adage: a camel looks like a horse designed by a committee.

Moral of the story, you shouldn't hire a company called "Foote, Cone & Belding" to come up with a snappy product name.

I’ve always liked the looks of the Edsel. I designed a hot rod coupe around the grille and wagon taillights.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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... 🤷🏻‍♂️🐴

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.

I’ve always loved the Edsel and hope to buy one someday

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.

The '58 Edsel is one of the most beautiful cars I have ever seen.

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.

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?

A great and comprehensive documentary!!

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.

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.

as Boy in Germany I was fascinated of that EDESEL Model... ...

This is by far the best narrated video I have ever seen. Well done.

Very interesting, thank you. Would love to see more stuff like this.

Bring back the EDSEL! 📣 A free pony🐴 with each purchase. ( hurry, while supplies last )

They should have got Homer on the design team.

Excellent video in both script and visual. Kudos.

This documentary is very informative, comprehensive, interesting and entertaining !

My Jr. high music teacher, Mr. Flick drove a completely rusted-out one in the mid-60's

He mentions every GM brand of the time but somehow forgets Pontiac

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.

The grille isn't bad in itself, it's distinctive. There is an old corvette with that grille that looks awesome

WAIT! Edsel wanted to work with the UAW, it was Harry Bennett and Henry Ford that caused the problems with the UAW!

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.

Edsel was the very definition of corporate group-think. A cautionary tale for designers and marketers. Know your customers!

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.

My brother in law had one. Great beautiful car. Convertible. And it was always breaking down, always being towed.

Chrysler had the pushbutton transmission. But the buttons were on the instrument panel.

Brilliant, the depth which you covered it with. 👍

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.

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.

Thanks for the history lesson on the letter “E”.

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.

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.

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.

Too bad McNamara couldn't see as clearly when it came to running the war in Vietnam.

An incredibly knowledgible video. Who on earth had heard of all these things? Well done!

Fabulously done documentary... Superb work.

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.

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.

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.

All Ford products of that era suffered quality problems. The real disaster were guys who bought Edsel dealerships. Many were wiped out.

OK, so it was much misunderstood at the time, but the Edsel is now a desired classic. I think they look great.

I enjoyed this video immensely!

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.

I958 was my worst year.I got married and bought an Edsel😂😂😂

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.

Still love the doing the "back spin"so much fun !

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!"

When they were making them, they couldn't give them away. Now, they are classics worth big $$$.

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.

Excellent documentary!

After my father passed in 1975 my mother told me about him purchasing a new Edsel back in Milwaukee, i don't remember which year. Maybe 56-57, she probably told me but i don't remember. Anyway, he took it to a local sevice station to have seat belts put in. After a week my mother pushed him to go see if it was done. The mechanic and the Edsel were both gone. It wasn't insured yet and they never found the mechanic or the car.

I love the urinal shaped grill!

Peggy Sue laughed when her dad bought one and said "you bought an Edsel"

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 took around local car shows in a Edsil estate wagon. Freaking sweet ride!

What a beauty!