The Edsel wasn't a lemon, it just didn't sell due to unpopular styling.
Now the uncontrolled acceleration rotting frame Toyotas, now THAT was a lemon.

Kurmudgeon: The Edsel wasn't a lemon, it just didn't sell due to unpopular styling.
Now the uncontrolled acceleration rotting frame Toyotas, now THAT was a lemon.

Click on the first scan and read it. It went way beyond styling. Everything about the Edsel was "wrong place, wrong time", and Ford knew it before the launch, but they fell prey to "sunk cost fallacy". Super interesting, and an excellent article with some neat scans. Nice find, Subby!

Toyota comment was way over the top, but you'll get some bites. 6.5/10.

My parents owned an Edsel. It was not a bad car.

oh_please: Toyota comment was way over the top, but you'll get some bites. 6.5/10.

No, it was DEAD accurate. I don't feel like posting the wreck pic again, just hit the search engine for the fine that Toyota paid.
There's a difference between a defective dangerous automobile and one with odd styling. If telling the truth is considered trolling, then everyone can easily stick their heads in the sand.
Spare me the rating nonsense, that went out last decade.

I have to be honest- looking at it with no sense of the era, it looks like about what I think 50s cars should look like. From the perspective of today, it's really hard to understand why it was so reviled.

Kurmudgeon: There's a difference between a defective dangerous automobile and one with odd styling the accelerator and the brake pedals which some drivers simply can't grasp.

FTFY

/Uncontrolled acceleration my ass

Prank Call of Cthulhu: /Uncontrolled acceleration my ass

32 Million of your ass.
Link (new window)

I can remember blinking my left eye with my mouth wide open and asking "What's this ??"

an Edsel making a left turn

yes I'm old AND fat

t3knomanser: I have to be honest- looking at it with no sense of the era, it looks like about what I think 50s cars should look like. From the perspective of today, it's really hard to understand why it was so reviled.

Well, the chrome vagina on the front didn't help much.

Earguy:
I wonder what one of those 1950s toy Edsels in mint condition would be worth.

Anywhere from $100 to $300, according to condition and color.

Ed Grubermann: t3knomanser: I have to be honest- looking at it with no sense of the era, it looks like about what I think 50s cars should look like. From the perspective of today, it's really hard to understand why it was so reviled.

Well, the chrome vagina on the front didn't help much.

Well that, the push button transmission (on the steering wheel where the horn usually was) that didn't work, horrendous reliability problems because of a lack of parts, and the lack of vertical styling on the front of any other popular car at the time.

But really, it was priced higher than entry level Mercury's of the same size, so it really just didn't make sense from a marketing perspective. It's like when Volkswagen made the Phateon - why would anyone buy a 90K VW when they could buy an Audi for the same price?

clancifer: 3/10

For you.

This car was way before my time but I think it looks pretty cool

I've seen worse - this one doesn't look too bad: Link (new window)

Most maligned car in US history: 66,000 cars in a year.

GM Volt: 5000 cars to date.

alywa: Because it was basically a 150+K Bentley Continental at 90K.

/really want a w12 Phaeton, but don't want to deal with the maintenance issues. Still tempted to bet one if I could find a single owner, low miles w12 under 30K. They are out there.

Don't get me wrong, I've been eyeing them since they came out. They're dropping in price pretty rapidly in the used market. But you're correct, the maintenance on them would be crazy expensive.

That doesn't mean the car wasn't a complete marketing failure, though.

Kurmudgeon: Prank Call of Cthulhu: /Uncontrolled acceleration my ass

32 Million of your ass.
Link (new window)

I hate feeding trolls, but this lie has to stop. They've proven time and again that no matter what may or may not have gone haywire with the accelerator (stuck on a floormat or electronic glitch) as long as you apply the BRAKES the car will slow to a stop. Brakes > Engine. So anyone who crashed due to "runaway acceleration" did so because they didn't put their foot on the brake.

My uncle was born in an Edsel. That's what he get for being the 14th (and last) kid.

I love the Edsel. I'd really love to have a pink one.

Prank Call of Cthulhu: Kurmudgeon: There's a difference between a defective dangerous automobile and one with odd styling the accelerator and the brake pedals which some drivers simply can't grasp.

FTFY

/Uncontrolled acceleration my ass

Oh look! The toyota fanbois have arrived!

GameSprocket: My uncle was born in an Edsel. That's what he get for being the 14th (and last) kid.

CSB. Any long term effects?

I ask because my daughter was born in a Saturn....

alywa:
/GM has sold every Volt that has rolled off of the production line.

...and Ford sold every Edsel, too, eventually.

On a side note, Yugo sold all of the cars they shipped to the US in 1985 - about 5000, incidentally.

You don't have to be a toyota fanboi to realize that (a) Toyota's fine was for being slow to report recallable safety defects, which is an institutional problem rather than a problem with the cars, and (b) drivers are farking retards.

The government report on Toyota UA (new window) You especially want to check pages vii and viii.

UA happens all the time, to all sorts of (inexperienced) drivers in all makes and models of cars. Usually it doesn't make the news. In this particular case (similar to the Audi 5000 case of the mid-'80s) the whole thing just got whipped up into a media frenzy.

The problem wasn't the car as much as it was all the hype leading up to it. It was a pretty average car with some random bits put on it to make it different. But at this time car makers were taking more risks than they are now, hence the push button steering wheel mounted gear shifter. They needed quirks to set them apart since everything pretty much looked the same.
Take a look at a 1958 Impala - looks a lot like an Edsel. The only difference is the grille.


But you can't build something up like they did and then not deliver something truly remarkable. What they delivered was an average car with an odd grille. And if they hadn't hyped it up so much before they went on sale, you'd never give it a second thought.

I think the 1960 model was pretty darn attractive. But by then it was too late, it was already a running joke.

My brother has an edsel

He was trying to sell it not sure if he did

loonatic112358: My brother has an edsel

He was trying to sell it not sure if he did

Aren't they ironically worth quite a bit today?

KarmicDisaster: Aren't they ironically worth quite a bit today?

I doubt my brother is a hipster, he's more of a redneck with questionable taste

Example, he bought a suzuki samurai and put a lift kit on it.

loonatic112358: KarmicDisaster: Aren't they ironically worth quite a bit today?

I doubt my brother is a hipster, he's more of a redneck with questionable taste

Example, he bought a suzuki samurai and put a lift kit on it.

Because the center of gravity on those needs to be higher.

This is what blew me away:

Ford spent $250 million to develop the car and lost another $200 million during the three-year existence of the car.

Adjusted for inflation, that's more or less $3 BILLION in 2010. No wonder the car has such a bad name. Also, I always thought the Edsel was a Ford model, not it's own brand with it's own dealerships.

The universe is laughing behind your back: You don't have to be a toyota fanboi to realize that (a) Toyota's fine was for being slow to report recallable safety defects, which is an institutional problem rather than a problem with the cars, and (b) drivers are farking retards.

The government report on Toyota UA (new window) You especially want to check pages vii and viii.

UA happens all the time, to all sorts of (inexperienced) drivers in all makes and models of cars. Usually it doesn't make the news. In this particular case (similar to the Audi 5000 case of the mid-'80s) the whole thing just got whipped up into a media frenzy.

Actually it isn't younger/inexperienced drivers; it's Grandma and Grandpa getting confused and hitting the wrong pedal. (Link) (new window)

The Edsel failed for a lot of reasons not just because of the horse collar grill. It was too big and too underpowered. Its push button gear shift system caused problems from day one. Not surprisingly it is a feature that was NEVER repeated on any other auto manufacturers designs.

If you want to know about a great car from the 1950's and 60's that gets no love look no further than the DeSoto Link (new window)

By Far the BEST car my family ever owned was a snow white 1961 DeSoto with a sky blue interior. Ran like a champ forever until a truck back into it while my mom was at work. All five kids in our family could sit in the back seat in comfort. They really don't make 'em like that anymore.

cig-mkr

There were a FEW cars that had the push button transmission around the time of the Edsel fiasco but Edsel's version had so many problems that manufacturers have pretty much steered clear of it ever since. That was one feature of the Edsel that truly seemed futuristic. It probably WOULD have been had
Ford been able to get the technology right in the 1950's

Nothing wrong with a pushbutton transmission. People just liked the lever better.

Putting the pushbuttons where the horn goes, though...

Delawheredad:
Its push button gear shift system caused problems from day one. Not surprisingly it is a feature that was NEVER repeated on any other auto manufacturers designs.

I know the 1959 Ramblers had them, but they put it on the dashboard.

loser0: GameSprocket: My uncle was born in an Edsel. That's what he get for being the 14th (and last) kid.

CSB. Any long term effects?

I ask because my daughter was born in a Saturn....

Not that I have noticed. He was the last kid my grandparents had, so it may not have impressed them much.

cirby: Delawheredad:
Its push button gear shift system caused problems from day one. Not surprisingly it is a feature that was NEVER repeated on any other auto manufacturers designs.

I know the 1959 Ramblers had them, but they put it on the dashboard.

The early Tiptronic?

loser0: Nothing wrong with a pushbutton transmission. People just liked the lever better.

Putting the pushbuttons where the horn goes, though...

really? then where did they put the horn? Where the shift lever would go?

I remember eating at the White Plains Diner with my mother just before the Edsels came out. The Edsel dealer was across the street and the windows were covered in paper to build up the suspense. Lots of hype on TV as I recall. Of course at that age all I really cared about in a car: was it easy to fall asleep in on the way home from relatives.