Automobile Enthusiasts

mahatmakanejeeves

(60,919 posts) Sun Sep 4, 2022, 12:08 PM Sep 2022

On this day, September 4, 1957, the Edsel was introduced.

Founded: 19 November 1956
Founder: Ford Motor Company
Defunct: November 19, 1959; 62 years ago
Fate: Dissolved after the "Edsel" model was discontinued
Headquarters: Allen Park, Michigan, US

Edsel is a discontinued division and brand of automobiles that was marketed by the Ford Motor Company from the 1958 to the 1960 model years. Deriving its name from Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, Edsels were developed in an effort to give Ford a fourth brand to gain additional market share from Chrysler and General Motors. Established as an expansion of the Lincoln-Mercury Division to three brands (re-christened the Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln Division), Edsel shared a price range with Mercury; the division shared its bodies with both Mercury and Ford.

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E Day introduction

Edsels were introduced amid considerable publicity on "E Day"—September 4, 1957. They were also promoted by a top-rated television special, The Edsel Show, on October 13, but the promotional effort was not enough to counter the adverse initial public reaction to Edsel styling and unconventional build.

After the launch date, Edsel was described as a "reborn LaSalle," a General Motors brand that had disappeared in 1940.[7] For months, Ford had been telling the industry press that it "knew" (through its market research) that there would be great demand for the vehicles. Ford also insisted that, in the Edsels, it had built exactly the "entirely new kind of car" that Ford had been leading the buying public to expect through its pre-introduction publicity campaign for the cars. In reality, however, Edsels shared their engineering and bodywork with other Ford models, and the similarities were apparent once the vehicles were viewed firsthand.

Models

1958

(Left): A 1958 Edsel Pacer 2-Door hardtop; (right): Edsel Pacer interior, showing the Teletouch system and Rolling Dome speedometer {and air conditioning}

For its inaugural model year, Edsel introduced a seven-model product line, including four sedans and three station wagons. The lower-trim Edsel Ranger and Edsel Pacer shared bodies with Ford Fairlane sedans (118-inch (300 cm) wheelbase) while the higher-trim Edsel Corsair and Edsel Citation shared bodies with the Mercury Monterey and Mercury Montclair sedans (124-inch (310 cm) wheelbase). Sharing its body and 116-inch (290 cm) wheelbase with Ford station wagons, Edsel offered the two-door Edsel Roundup and the four-door Edsel Villager and Edsel Bermuda.

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