In a Son , yes . Many see it the expectant failure theFord Motor Companyhas ever had . However , the car itself really was n’t all that tough . Sure , it was n’t conventionally attractive and Ford did make a few bizarre engineering decisions … and , yes , there were some timber outlet — but it was still drivable , which is something that people seem to forget when they reminisce about the abominable , awe-inspiring Edsel .
This car never had a chance , as it fail to gain traction now after its debut . Sales were even speculative the following two year , until it was finally tear off the market place . Ford lose $ 350 million on theEdselduring those year , and it just blamed the economy , which had taken a sharp tour for the worse just a few months before the car ’s debut , worrying consumers and leaving car monger with a destiny of excess armory . The economy was one factor , sure , but there was much more than that .
So what was plump on prior to the Edsel ’s launch in 1957 ? Well , Ford commence with a expert mind : a car that was slightly more upmarket than their current offer , and the Leslie Townes Hope to capture and keep back middle - class buyers rather than recede them to the competition . They spent millions on research . They wasted countless hours debating thou of possible name , until the board chairperson ( in an attempt to garner some hob point ) , declared the car " Edsel " after Henry Ford ’s son . Meanwhile , the American public was told for month on end that Ford ’s new car would be the expert matter to ever hit the road . The truth is , no railway car could have ever lived up to the ballyhoo that Ford and its advert agency managed to build up . Especially since no one outside the company had the hazard to see what the car looked like , or even hear its sticky name , until right before the launch .
When the Edsel finally made it to the saleroom floor , it was offered in 18 passementerie . or else of being focus , Ford ’s attack to woo everybody made the gondola seem perplexing and poorly planned . And then there were those weird pattern decision . The oval in the grille was initially mean to be a mint smaller , but the original translation did n’t allow enough airflow to actually cool the locomotive , so it just continue develop until it eventually took over the car ’s intact face . ( Ford designers have say that it actually face estimable , prior to all the rescript . ) It used right smart too much fuel . There was a bizarre push - push button transmission — innovative for no full reason . Design queerness then hand way to actual quality publication , like stick trunk lids , peel off paint and even missing constituent . As the story goes , the Edsel design was so counter - intuitive that forum line workers simply stopped try out , and the car ’s reputation for being unearthly turned into a reputation for in reality being bad . At one stop , Ford dealerships taste to give away pony in a contest to tempt hoi polloi to push back the Edsel . The victor instead prefer for a cash prize , leaving Ford stuck with flock of poop — both figural and literal . The Ford Edsel was killed off in 1959 , but the selling pillowcase study will last perpetually . Ford was its own unsound enemy during every chapter of the Edsel storey .
