Edsel Division (of Ford)
Edsel is famous as one of the most disastrous marketing episodes of all time. Launched for 1958 the Edsel range was named after Edsel Ford and intended to be a premium brand alongside Mercury. However, the smaller Edsel Pacer and Edsel Ranger were based on current Ford cars, and the larger Edsel Citation and Edsel Corsair were based on Mercury models and the public were not deceived. Furthermore the public did not get premium build quality for their premium dollars. There was controversial styling by Roy Brown but in fact the bodies were used by other Ford brands and just trimmed differently. By chance 1958 was a recession year for US cars and sales ended at only 66 per cent of 1957 figures; the new Edsel came at the wrong time.
aa Edsel Pacer 1958 2-door hardtop badgee
aa Edsel Pacer 1958 2-door hardtop badgee
Edsel Pacer 1958 2-door hardtop - badge on rear wing.
aa Edsel Ranger 1960 2-door Sedan badgef
aa Edsel Ranger 1960 2-door Sedan badgef
Edsel Ranger 2-door Sedan 1960 - badge on flanks. 'EDSEL' is named after Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford. It was largely due to vision and efforts of Edsel Ford that the Ford Motor Company thrived. Sadly he died of Cancel aged just 43. The Edsel cars were named to commemorate him; sadly the product rather undersold its visionary
ab Edsel Ranger 1958 2-door hardtop grille
ab Edsel Ranger 1958 2-door hardtop grille
Edsel Ranger 2-door hardtop 1958. The Edsel was designed by Roy Brown, and one of the most controversial aspects of the design was what was termed the 'horse collar' grille, although there were many worse opinions of it. Jim Sipple is credited with designing this grille.
ac Edsel Ranger 1958 4-door sedan head
ac Edsel Ranger 1958 4-door sedan head
Edsel Ranger 4-door sedan 1958. A 5,911cc (361) ohv V8 303bhp engine was fitted to the entry level Ranger. 6,576 Edsel Ranger 4-door sedans were sold in 1958. Sales were much lower than intended, with only 110,000 Edsels produced in 3 years when the plan called for 100,000 in each year. However, 1958 saw a big recession in American car sales, with many brands selling less than 60 per cent of 1957 figures.
ac Edsel Ranger 1959 2-door Sedan head
ac Edsel Ranger 1959 2-door Sedan head
Edsel Ranger 2-door Sedan 1959. For 1959 the Edsel tail was tamed, the 'horse collar' grille transformed into a simple 'spear' shape which was then used as an emblem all over the car to denote 'EDSEL'
ac Edsel Ranger 1960 2-door Sedan head
ac Edsel Ranger 1960 2-door Sedan head
Edsel Ranger 2-door Sedan 1960. For 1960 the Edsel took the new body of the Ford Fairlane, gave it a slightly longer wheelbase and overall length, and then restyled by Bud Kaufman to give it the 'Edsel look'. At the last minute the 'horse collar' grille motif was removed and this split grille resembling a 1959 Pontiac was given.
Edsel Pacer
Edsel Pacer
Edsel Ranger 1958
Edsel Ranger 1958
Edsel Ranger 1959
Edsel Ranger 1959
ranger60
Edsel Ranger 1960
AMC Pacer 1975 front
AMC Pacer 1975 front
AMC Pacer 1975, designed by Richard A Teague.
Range Rover 1969 Velar 5 front
Range Rover 1969 Velar 5 front
Range Rover 1969 Velar 5. 28 pre-production Range Rovers were built, the 'Velar' name being given to disguise the manufacturer
American CarsFord (USA) IndexSimon Cars
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