Ford Edsel....
 

The Corvair thread got me thinking about old cars. I would not kick one out of my garage though. Just thinking about old cars so was the Ford Edsel as bad as its reputation?

As a car yes and no. The first models were plagued with problems. But worse was the bad timing, a nose only a mother could love and incredibly poor marketing.

Here's one of the better articles I read on it:
Can't Win with a Losing Hand: The Story of the Edsel

The Edsel is one of the most used examples of mistakes in marketing 101. I do think it is the first mass-produced vehicle where the manufacturer tried to pull the 'ol Oky-doke on John Q Public with simple style and badge change with higher price tag. They were trying to emulate GM's success with the multiple car lines but failed with excution.

The best Edsel line I've seen...."It's grille looks like an Oldsmobile sucking on a lemon".

At the time, the Edsel was considered an ugly car. Horsecollar grille and all its mid fifties styling cues didn't fit the changing market of the late 50's. Today they are somewhat collectible but more for its shortcomings and mistakes in the market than any form of market success. They were also unreliable and seemed to need more repairs than other similar cars of that era.

Growing up I used to get an auto trader mag called auto round up. There was always one or two Edsels for sale for what seemed ridiculous money back then. Like most antique cars, the passing of time has made them more valuable. To my eye they just don't seem like a car that I would spend serious money on to be part of a collection.

Old cars in this case fall into the category of "It was a POS when it was new and is a POS now".

A friend of mine built this '58 Pacer in the 90's and it was very popular. He chopped the top considerably, swapped the roof panel for one from a Ford that had flutes molded into it, molded the bumpers, and deleted all the trim and door handles. I had a big block Ford 427 in it at the time.

http://www.edsel.com/pages/e58mod1.jpg

My dad had one it was not that bad. Styling did not go over big.The troubles are small compared to some of the recalls today that eventually get corrected. It was the gadgetry that gave Ford the troubles such as electronically operated transmission on the steering wheel and self adjusting rear brakes electric trunk opener. These were actually easy corrections. The 352 engine were good engines. There was a 410 ci available for the higher models. Ford did eventually got rid of the push button trans.;)