Tag: edsel

Too much money. Too much hype. Too much of the same old thing. Designed to ride alongside Mercury between Ford and its luxurious Lincoln line, Edsel debuted with high expectations on September 4, 1957. Despite all the glitz and glam, including an hour long TV special featuring mega celebrities of the era, the car failed to hit its mark. The press and the public were quick to shrug it off, many left gawking at its odd vertical grill. Above: 1960 Edsel Ranger. By Fletcher6 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sharing numerous cosmetic and mechanical components with other Ford models, Edsels did little to stand out. Aside from their pillarific front end, that is. The 10 years of development and $250 million spent on planning, marketing, manufacturing and distribution did nothing for Ford but...

While most prefer to go out with a bang, Edsel, Ford’s new mid-priced car line, did things a bit backwards. On this day in 1957, automotive journalists were invited to Dearborn for the press introduction of the new car. What they got was a spectacle unlike any automotive introduction that preceded it. Much to the irk of division head Richard Krafve, a full on stunt show was performed, demonstrating capabilities of the car that most people would never need. At the end of the event a number of the pressmen were provided with an green and white Edsel Pacer of their own to drive home and evaluate. The journalists had come from across the United States, so a fair amount had long drives to make. One automotive writer, Floyd Clymer, suffered a breakdown in Wyoming. Ford replaced the car f...