| . To call a car or any product an "Edsel" is to provide | | | | built. To further corroborate this viewpoint it is now |
| the worst of insults. The Edsel was a car designed | | | | known that the actual workers building the Edsels |
| and manufactured by the Ford Motor Company of | | | | were none too happy building this model. The Edsel |
| Dearborn - in the late 1950's. 157, 1958, 1959 to be | | | | was not built on its dedicated Ford Division production |
| exact. The debacle of the Edsel was both one of the | | | | line but rather the Edsel was built (or shared space) on |
| most spectacular and worst failures to befall the | | | | Ford Mercury Division production line. These Mercury |
| vibrant American automobile industry of that day. To | | | | Division employees considered themselves as the |
| call a car or any product an "Edsel" is to provide the | | | | luxury end of the Ford Car company entities and |
| worst of insults. Some authorities will state that the | | | | indeed saw themselves as a cut above the run of the |
| reason for the Edsel's failure was just poor market | | | | mill Ford employee and workers. They both resented |
| timing, not a poor product. Timing can be said to be | | | | the intrusion into their turf as they say it and as well felt |
| most everything - vital for the success of failure of | | | | that a Ford product was muscling into their terrain - |
| any product. In those days, before computerization | | | | that of more prestige vehicles. In the end the marketing |
| allowed for rapid sharing an interchanges of design | | | | and sales failures of the Ford Edsel can be said to be |
| and the car design process - everything was done on | | | | a combination of both factors. Interestingly enough the |
| paper. It took great amount of physical logistics and | | | | unspoken order from the Ford family was that the |
| delays for the paperwork and blueprints to be sent | | | | new product - the "1958 Edsel" was to be named |
| and coordinated among the various players in the | | | | anything but Edsel. The late Edsel Ford was the |
| automobile design process. On top of that it seemed | | | | founder Henry Ford's only son and the grandfather of |
| that "everyone "seemed to despise and those further | | | | the then current patriarchs commanding and directing |
| down the line. The designers disliked their bosses and | | | | the Ford Empire. The senior Ford even stated that he |
| the engineers. The engineers hated the parts people | | | | did not want to see his late grandfather's name |
| etc etc etc. On top of that the name "Ford "was on | | | | spinning around on hubcaps. The design development |
| the door signifying the ultimate authority in the car | | | | process had worked with the "E" or "Experimental" |
| designs and marketing process. The Edsel project | | | | Car. Since it was such a major and revolutionary |
| was initiated during a time of big cars - from G.M. the | | | | product of Ford many assumed that the designation |
| market leader , yet introduced many years later when | | | | "E" car had of course stood for Edsel. How better to |
| the concept of a second car , a compact car, for the | | | | honor such a major figure in the Ford family and |
| wife to drive the family and kids around was beginning | | | | empire. Imagine if the name had not stuck. Would it of |
| to be established in the automobile marketplace Other | | | | made a difference in the ultimate success or failure of |
| authorities will state that the reason for the poor | | | | the sales and marketing of this automobile product. |
| market showing and demise of the Edsel was that it | | | | Buy Car Vancouver Import U.S. |
| was just a poor product - poorly designed and poorly | | | | |