A good idea…that didn’t sell.
Introduced in the fall of ’57 for the ’58 season, the Edsel came into the world with a big fanfare and lots of hoopla. 2.5 million people rushed to showrooms to see it.
Trouble was, few of them bought.
The car, named after Edsel Ford, the only son of the company’s founder, Henry Ford, was different. Not everybody liked it.
Priced at $2300 for a 2 door Ranger Sedan to $3489 for a Citation Convertible, the design of Roy A. Brown, Jr. debuted in an economic recession. Car sales were down.
After three model years and just 110,847 Edsels later, Ford Motor Company threw in the towel, and went about trying to forget about the whole ordeal.
Today less than 6000 Edsels survive, and each one is a cherished classic. The 1958 Edsel advertising said it best – “Once you’ve seen it, you’ll never forget it. Once you’ve owned it, you’ll never want to change.”
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