1960 Edsel prototype 2-door hardtop

As you all know, the short-lived 1960 Edsels came off the line with a pretty uncontroversial split-grille front end that is often described as being (vaguely) similar to the ’59 Pontiac nose.

 But the stylists originally had something entirely different in mind – a new interpretation of the  trademark Edsel vertical grille theme.

This design was eventually rejected, ostensibly on cost grounds but more likely because some senior Ford executives who hated the whole Edsel thing right from the start decided the much-criticised “nose” just had to go.

However, two rolling prototypes were knocked together, a 4 door hardtop and a 2 door hardtop.

JK posted the 4-door as a “What if?” in the Lounge in September last year, so rather than me repeating the whole back story you can check it out here.

What if… – The Lounge – The Diecast Zone Forums

The thread includes my link to an article in Hemmings about a Canadian enthusiast who spent a lot of time and effort converting a standard 1960 Edsel Ranger into a replica of the 2-door.

 But I just checked and for some reason the article has “expired”.

Anyway, I decided I could maybe do the same (make a replica, that is, not expire) and made a tentative start more than two years ago, then completely ran out of patience and enthusiasm and put it aside. I thought I would never look at it again, but it was the silly idea of building a model of the horse-drawn Trabant – just a joke project, so no pressure - that got me back to the workbench . . .  and back to the Edsel.

So this one has been a bit of a bit of a personal saga, but for better or worse it’s finally done.

Here it is alongside the donor Brookin

and the Canadian replica

Of course you may prefer the production version. Or you may be indifferent to both. But it’s nice to finally have a one-off model of a unique (if ill-fated) design.

Oh, and if you are wondering if this might be just a Photoshop job, I will shortly be posting a “build report” in the Geeks’ Gallery (a.k.a. the Handicrafts forum). It could make you sorry you even posed the question.