Speaking of EDSEL...

I think if Ford had found a slot for this car relative to the Ford, Mercury and even Lincoln lines and not gone with the hideous 1960 model they might have been able to make it work.  I suspect the executives didn't want to individually gamble with their careers/reputations on such a "tainted" name.  Too bad really.

@jack-dodds, yup, no doubt there was a lot of people unwilling to take the chance to let the car gain in popularity.  I mean, they killed practically during the '58 model year, and in '59 had eliminated most of the series that '58 offered.  

Considering all the research and planning that was put in to the Edsel as early as 1955, it's just a shame that the panic button was pushed so early.  If for '59 Edsel could have still had its own unique look, with the "Horse Collar Grille" tamed down a notch, and put some additional money in to marketing it as "the car to have", maybe, just maybe its life wouldn't have been so short.  

Well, I appreciate the Edsel now, but I think Ford doomed the brand from day one. The design was just too outrageous for the market and climate of the times. Somehow with all the research, they missed the mark miserably, and I believe they knew that before the brand was ever introduced. Since they began toning it down almost immediately, that had to plan that before the Edsel came to market. I believe they hoped they were wrong, but that became evident very quick by the start the 1958 model.  I think the '59 & '60 models were brought out just to appease the dealership network and all the investments that had been made by Edsel dealers.

But hey, this is just my opinion, the Edsel came and went before I was even born. They were practically non-existent on the roads when I was growing up.   

I've always wondered if there were a market share between upper end Fords and opening Mercury sectors that the Edsel was intended to fill? Further, most people object to the horse-collar grille and yet if we take that away we're left with very little.

@jcarnutz,

I like to think (or maybe dream) that after immediately realizing that the '58 Edsel styling was deemed wrong by the public, that the Ford folks could have put a little effort in to correcting it for 1959.  But they didn't do that!  My thinking is that it really wasn't the public that doomed the car, but rather Ford itself.  And like you John, that is only my opinion.  Truth is, the car failed and none of will ever really know if it been given just a little more of chance by its creator, if it could have maybe made it.  

@georgeschire Hello George, I wonder if you've seen these images? 

Yes, this car was an enterprising little "What if?" exercise. Only two were built, the blue/green (which I think was the original) and a second example in very light beige.

To quote from an article I wrote back in 2009:

Back in 2008 a gentleman called Rob Cerame, the president of the Florida Edsel Club, decided to build a real 50th anniversary Edsel. He took the practical view that if there was still an Edsel division, it would be building badge-engineered Fords and, as with Ford’s Mercury division, the corporate bean-counters would severely limit the changes that could be made to the donor car - grille, bumpers, tail lights, badging and exterior and interior trim. So with the help of a couple of talented body men he built the required changes into a Ford Crown Victoria (apparently some detail pieces from a Mercury Grand Marquis were also incorporated.) The centre grille is from a ‘58 and the side grilles are also cut down from ‘58 side pieces. The rear lights were designed to echo the gull-wing units on the original cars and the Edsel name was embossed into the back bumper. The interior was extensively retrimmed and detailed.

My reason for writing the article was that I was intrigued by the end product, and wanted a 1:43 version to complete my Edsel collection, so just like Mr Cerame I set to work on a Crown Vic (a Road Champs police car) and turned it into a fictional Edsel. It came out OK, it was duly published in Model Auto Review, and Mr Cerame approved of it, so I was quite happy with that.

Nice work, Graeme.

@graeme-ogg Many thanks for giving us all this information on the car, and showing us your own coach built 50th. anniversary Edsel. It looks exactly as the original.