Ladiiiiies and Gentlemen...

That’s right, live from Television City — it’s The Edsel Show!

     posted 20 November 2009 by Michael Scott Moore

  1. In it’s historical context…(1) Ford was just rich with cash after going public. (2) bad price point when for a few dozen dollars more you could buy a decked-out ford or a dumbed-down Merc. (3) a recession hit in 1957 that clobbered the entire industry, (4) they never built a dedicated factory, and (5) the whiz kids at corporate didn’t listen to their designers and made the “birth canal” on the front end, instead of a “delicate” treatement.

    Hmmm…I could keep going.

    The thing was that historically, the biggest context was that Henry II failed and the country relished in it. I was actually at a presentation recently for the 50th of its demise that made the point of it’s only real problem was that it was a Ford product and people were dollar crunching in the late 50s with the recession and resented how many (today’s dollar’s) billions the family had made on the company and that they had the audacity to name it after one of their own family members.

    This particular person said it was the erquivilant of Windows Vista. It really does everything just fine, but it wasn’t perfect in the trades and it looked like just one more thing to milk money. However, it was pretty damn solid by version 2.0 (or whatever). Not sure I’d go that far, but it’s interesting.

    e

    — e    Nov 21, 06:49 am    #

  2. In retrospect a really bad name for a show, though.

    — Mike    Nov 21, 10:39 am    #

  3. Not when the Edsel was the hot car, it wasn’t. Well, “hot” is a bit strong, but it was distinctive. And well-made. we were shopping for a new car around then, and although it was a foreordained conclusion that my dad would get another Buick, he humored me by taking a test-drive in an Edsel. I got a model car afterwards, which I loved, because it was insanely detailed.

    We got another Buick, of course, the classic over-heavy ‘58 Special. At least it had tail-fins, so I was mollified.

    — Ed Ward    Nov 21, 02:22 pm    #

  4. That’s a great story. But the name — retrospectively — is still bad enough to be excellent fun.

    — Mike    Nov 21, 08:30 pm    #

  5. Ed: Driving a 58 Buick covertible scares the crap out of me everytime. It’s not only as big as a boat, it drifts all over the place like a boat. Hence my particular nostalgia to Springsteen’s “My Hometown” because he describes steering that big ol’ Buick. It really is a task.

    Mike: Edsel Ford was the unfortunate soul to be stuck under dad’s thumb. I agree that we should all be careful what we name our kids in the first place.

    — e    Nov 22, 02:56 pm    #

  6. Well, just imagine you were Henry Ford’s son and you had it attached to you…before and after the disaster of the car.

    — Ed Ward    Nov 22, 04:17 pm    #

  7. Yeah, that’s even worse.

    — Mike    Nov 22, 04:29 pm    #

  8. Edsel Ford had been dead for more than a decade. I think he died during WWII. I believe cancer. The sad thing is that he had all the smart kids and grandkids.

    I still drive our 58 Buick Special convertible and feel like I am pointing down the road and not steering. Cripes! Scariest SOB of the era I have ever driven. But the colors are cool…orange and white.

    — e    Nov 24, 12:57 pm    #

  9. I’m naming my kid “Edsel.”

    — Mike    Nov 25, 01:36 am    #

  10. Edsel Pinto Moore
    Edsel Pacer Moore
    Edsel Taurus Moore
    Edsel Maverick Moore

    So much to choose from! ;)

    — e    Nov 25, 11:11 am    #

  11. I’m not kidding, Mike…we actually debated that name for our kid if it was a boy. It had come down to street names, subway stops and car marques. Some people buy baby books…we hung out with maps and car catalogues for the last month of the pregnancy. I ended up being more of a proponent of “Ford” as a first name. But Edsel made at least the top-20 list on the “car” column. We wanted something that could be shortened…”Ed.” It lost. (Well, chromosomes won, I should say. But it was never going to happen. The various street names and subway stops were too good for the car names.)

    — e    Dec 1, 11:39 am    #

  12. You’re a cruel man, Eric.

    — Mike    Dec 1, 11:57 am    #