THE COLOSSAL FAILURE OF THE FORD EDSEL
Named for founder’s son and former company president, it was the wrong car at wrong time
Edsel Ford was the only son of auto magnate Henry Ford. He had been named president of the company, and was well-liked by employees. He’d been the driving force behind some of the automaker’s most important products, including the Ford Model A, Lincoln, and Mercury. But years after his death in 1943, the company put his name on an all-new model that ultimately became its best-known failure.
Ford and Mercury were the company’s two mainstream nameplates. That didn’t sit well when rivals GM and Chrysler each had four, giving them models for which Ford didn’t have a direct competitor. Edsel was originally planned as two separate lines within the brand: a smaller car that would slot between Ford and Mercury, and a larger one between Mercury and Lincoln. Although this distinction never really played out as well as the company intended — the car came in two sizes, but the difference was minimal — Edsel was set up as its own division within Ford.
The name wasn’t actually the company’s first choice. Its advertising agency sent in some 18,000 suggestions, and Ford even hired poet Marianne Moore, who came up with such doozies as Intelligent Bullet and Utopian Turtletop. Eventually the list was whittled down to Ranger, Citation, Corsair, and Pacer. All were rejected for the brand’s name, but would become trim levels. A board chairman finally suggested Edsel, and Henry Ford II, who was the company’s president and also the late Edsel’s eldest son, agreed to it. Even so, the Ford family was reluctant, and the company’s public relations director warned that the unusual name would probably turn many buyers away.
The Edsel’s original sketches weren’t quite as outlandish as the final design. But the better-looking design’s solid front end and hidden vents didn’t supply enough air to cool the engine.
“An Oldsmobile sucking on a lemon” was one of the more polite descriptions critics gave to the car’s horse-collar grille. Still, it was one of the few cars without upright tail fins when it debuted for 1958, and while it might be a stretch to say Edsel kick-started a styling trend, most automakers began toning them down after 1959.
The smaller Ranger and Pacer models were built on a Ford chassis and used a 361-cubic inch (5.9-litre) V-8 engine, while the larger Corsair and Citation cars sat on a Mercury chassis, and carried a 410-cubic inch (6.7-L) V-8. Horsepower was rated at 303 and 345 respectively, in the overly optimistic measuring methods of the day.
Coupes, sedans, and convertibles were available, as well as the Roundup, Villager, and Bermuda station wagons. The lineup’s prices ranged from $2,484 to $3,766. Options included power steering, air conditioning, seatbelts, and on the larger models, a driver-activated automatic chassis lubrication system. Cars with automatic transmissions used a push-button gear selector in the middle of the steering wheel.
The national unveiling was made during a television special starring Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Louis Armstrong, and Frank Sinatra. All had been given Edsels, and legend has it that when Clooney opened the door of her car, the handle came off. Quality was a major issue during the Edsel’s first year. It was built in six plants alongside Ford or Mercury vehicles, and the lines went faster to accommodate the extra production. Workers had to switch tasks when one arrived, usually every tenth car, and mistakes were common.
Even so, Edsel set a record for pre-production orders, with customers placing 4,000 on the first day. But it didn’t last long, and partly for reasons beyond Ford’s control.
In August 1957, just a month after full-scale Edsel production began, the U.S. fell into a sharp recession. Overall, the country’s car sales dipped by 31.4 per cent throughout 1958. Dealers were already giving deep discounts on in-stock Fords as the pricier Edsel started arriving in showrooms, and customers who did have money weren’t willing to spend it on an odd-looking model with questionable quality.
The separate Edsel division was quickly reorganized and rolled into the company’s regular operations. For 1959, only the Ranger, Corsair, and the Villager station wagon were offered, and with smaller engines than before. Production was scaled back to one factory in Louisville, Kentucky. The car’s quality improved, but sales still dropped by 29 per cent from the year before.
Only the Ranger and Villager were released for the 1960 model year. Ford’s full-size models had all-new styling and that’s what the Edsel used, with different trim and a split grille that made it look like a Pontiac. On November 19, 1959, three years to the day that Henry Ford II had first announced the Edsel, the car was officially cancelled.
Ford had originally forecast selling 200,000 Edsels a year, but the final tally came to just 110,847 over three years. While the cost was never revealed, it’s estimated the company lost $250 to $350 million on the venture. While it might have done better under different circumstances, the Edsel that was supposed to be Ford’s crowning achievement was basically the wrong car at the wrong time.