It would have turned 61 today: the Edsel

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Edsel



1958 Edsel Corsair

Designer Roy Brown Jr.

Edsel is an automobile marque that was planned, developed, and manufactured by the Ford Motor Company for model years 1958–1960. With the Edsel, Ford had expected to make significant inroads into the market share of both General Motors and Chrysler and close the gap between itself and GM in the domestic American automotive market. Ford invested heavily in a yearlong teaser campaign leading consumers to believe that the Edsel was the car of the future – an expectation it failed to meet. After it was unveiled to the public, it was considered to be unattractive, overpriced, and overhyped. The Edsel never gained popularity with contemporary American car buyers and sold poorly. The Ford Motor Company lost $250 million on the Edsel's development, manufacturing, and marketing.

The very name "Edsel" became a popular symbol for a commercial failure.

The Edsel Proved Why You Should Never Design a Car by Comittee

Ford had big ambitions for Edsel. Unfortunately, they were too big.



BY CHRIS PERKINS
JAN 23, 2017

Ford in the 1950s was nothing if not ambitious. Unfortunately, this ambition gave birth to the Edsel, whose name became synonymous with abject corporate failure after the nascent brand was killed in 1959. The Edsel's short history makes a fascinating cautionary tale for anyone in business–not just the car industry. ... Our pals at Regular Car Reviews got into the history of Edsel in a new documentary podcast. It's a great listen for anyone interested in the car business.

Under the leadership of Henry Ford II, the Ford Motor Company hired some of the brightest minds in America as executives. This group, dubbed the Whiz Kids, wanted to increase Ford's market share in the U.S. with a new brand to slot between Ford and Mercury. ... Only trouble is, they couldn't come up with a good name. After literally thousands of names were suggested, they eventually settled on Edsel, the first name of Henry Ford's son, Henry II's father–"settled" being the key word here. They threw lots of new technology at the Edsel too, but no one really had a clear vision for what the car was supposed to be. To make matters worse, the first Edsels built were plagued with production problems, enraging dealers.

The public didn't really understand this bizarrely-styled, badly-named, poorly-conceived car either. Whatever small chance of success the Edsel had when it debuted in 1958 was killed by an economic recession. To their credit, Ford executives realized how much of a failure they had on their hands, killing the Edsel brand at the end of 1959.

Bad circumstances played a big role in the Edsel's demise, but in hindsight, it seems the car was doomed from the start. Ford had a wealth of smart executives at the time, but with too many hands working on the Edsel, the project had no direction. ... It's no coincidence that world's most successful cars–the Model T, the Beetle, the Mini, and others–were conceived by individuals or small groups. The more people working on a car, the more its intent gets muddied. Even if you have the brightest, best-intentioned minds in the business.

That explanation sounds simplistic to me. Other car brands disappeared in the same era -- Packards, Desotos, Studebakers within a few years.

I suspect that people couldn't think of a reason to buy an Edsel. It was a Ford with a different grille and tail fins. Or a Mercury. But it was not distinct enough to make people want one rather than something else.

I'll bet every car that hits the market today is the result of work done by a lot of committees.

As long as we're here:

Roy Brown Jr.

Roy Brown Jr. (October 30, 1916 – February 24, 2013) was a Canadian-American car designer and engineer, best known for creating the first Ford Edsel automobile model in 1958 and the exterior for the Ford Zephyr.

Automotive career

Brown was born in Hamilton, Ontario, but his family moved to Detroit when he was in his teens. His father was an engineer for Chrysler.

Following his graduation from Detroit Art Academy in 1937, he was hired by General Motors as a designer in its Cadillac division, working alongside Bill Mitchell. "The first thing he designed was an instrument panel for the 1939 Cadillac," his son Reg told The Los Angeles Times.



1955 Lincoln Futura, the later Batmobile

After a stint in the U.S. Army, he was hired by Ford Motor Company, where he was assigned to oversee design of the 1955 Lincoln Futura, the model that would be transformed into TV's Batmobile a decade later.

[safeinOhio]

1. I retired from the plant that built them.

They were gone 14 years before I got there. But we built some models that didn't last as long. Lincoln Versaille and the Granada. The Lincoln lasted about a year. Ford paid for my degree and the last 16 years of retirement. They were good to me.

[Sancho]

2. My father had a lime green one....

ugly, uncomfortable.

I drove it a couple times.

[Harker]

3. My old man had one when it was new.

He said the two biggest mistakes he made were buying it and selling it.

[SkyDancer]

4. Damn this is sexy!

Came across this one for $16,550 on Hemmings

'59 Edsel Corsair.
That color! Damn....

[Rhiannon12866]

6. Wow! That is one impressive looking car!

We have a lot of vintage car shows/gatherings in my neck-of-the-woods and that would sure get attention!

[CanSocDem]

5. In 1965...

...a friend of mine purchased one for 'next to nothing'. It looked like the ticket to escape our small western Canadian town and take us out to the west coast, where jobs were plentiful and the streets "were paved with gold".

We corralled a couple of friends (who had gas money) and set out on our 2000 mile road trip. That old '57 Edsel did real good until we got into the mountains and the canyon highway. Lots of power for going up and down but seriously hard on tires. We started spending all our reserve cash on used tires (as long as they held air) that we found along the way. We had to slow down some....

However...just about 300 miles before our destination, a blown head gasket stopped us in our tracks. We spent the night sleeping in and around the car on a 'scenic pullout' 30 miles from a small city. By morning we had concluded that we had to sell the 'old girl'.

We hitchhiked into town and pitched every car lot and dealership they had. Strangely, nobody wanted an Edsel. Finally, in desperation, we approached the local auto wrecker. They said they'd go fetch it, buy it and give us $400 if we would pull the head off and expose the blown gasket. We did this, bought bus tickets and finally arrived at our destination only to find it less than advertised; just like the Edsel.

Road trips and life in general got much better after this.

.