Edsel History

i read so much about the edsel i didnt know what to bevieve.a few years ago i got a chance to buy 2 edsels for parts,both types.by the time i finished stripping them i had it figured out as far as the cars themselves went.
 
The book about Edsel and E.T. (Bob) Gregorie is a good book to read. Edsel made the best out of life and even though it was cut short, he did a lot of living.
 
Basically a Ford or Mercury depending upon the small or large. The Edsel group has a bunch of history and data. They all moved to Facebook. I did get some info on mine from them before the move. I don't do "the book" so I miss those guys. According to them my car is a first day run build, the color is QER, discontinued in August 57, one of three Pacers with that paint code. I have the build sheet, matches the data plate.


Big mistake was having the Edsel produced on existing Ford and Mercury lines. This resulted in many quality issues (I'm going to build a competing auto on my line?), two of which I corrected on my car. Very interesting concept that was ahead of it's time in both style and innovation. Too bad a recession was happening in 58.
 
I think the main problem was launching a new car that competed with it's own Mercury line during a recession.

Sal
 
It was suggested by the executives after all the other possibilities were felt to be exhausted. The family was against naming it for their cherished family member. Henry Ford II finally agreed to it due to pressure to go ahead with the project. He regretted that decision for the rest of his life.
 
It was a shame how Henry treated Edsel, he continually brow-beat him on everything he wanted to do for the company. Henry was quite frugal and stuck in his own old ways.
 
Henry was a skinflint of epic renown. He had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the Model A. It's surprising how easily he warmed up to the V8 idea, but Chebby was really kickin' his behind by then so he had to do it. The rest is history.
 
I just thank God the there was an Edsel Ford. He & Bob Gregorie and their team designed some kick *** cars. Henry Ford would have kept updating the mode T if he could have but that would have put them in the history books real quick.

The Edsel cars were damn sure no car like Buick was to GM. The Teletouch transmission control was problematic but most everything else was average or good. I liked the 1960 models best but they came two years too late so they didn't make enough of them.
 
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If you want to learn about the Edsel, this book "The Edsel Affair" by C Gayle Warnock is probably the most accurate history of the Edsel ever printed. It was printed many years ago, but copies are still available from time to time on eBay. This book is great reading and highly recommended.
 
Dobie Gillis said:
Henry was a skinflint of epic renown. He had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the Model A. It's surprising how easily he warmed up to the V8 idea, but Chebby was really kickin' his behind by then so he had to do it. The rest is history.
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From what I've read, Henry was not "a skinflint of epic renown". He built a large hospital in Detroit which is still in operation. He raised wages to $5 a day, higher than other factories. He provided schools and gardens for his workers. He put profits back into the company to expand and improve operations. He lived on a large luxurious estate. He had a winter home in the south. He spent large amounts of money on various personal whims. These are not the characteristics of a "skinflint"!

He apparently did get set in his ways and felt that the Model T was good enough for his customers. By the time the Model A came about he was over 60 years old. Look at how many 60 year-olds today are "old codgers", set in their ways!
 
Henry couldn't stand waist so he always found ways to utilize every possible bit of material for every component that went into the vehicles. His way of saving money was to make as much as possible in house and farm out things that were less expensive to manufacture. Purchase of out source items could be contracted cheaply as long as he could promise the subcontractor high volume purchase. That way they made their money on the huge volume of production. When Briggs Body wanted to charge him more for the steel they were using, he nixed that and made them use his steel. Every penny saved could go into making the car that could be sold for the lowest possible price but still profit the company by volume sales. Most everything was still pretty damn good quality for the prices they sold their cars for. Ford Motor Co had one of the largest and cleanest auto production facilities in the world with the Rouge River plant. They made sure the other assembly plants were well constructed for production and well supervised by staff. Henry was no cheap skate.

Henry either liked you or he would have someone fire you. He couldn't fire Edsel though and that was the problem between he and his son. He just didn't realize that Edsel was the best kind of son he could have ever hoped for just the way he was. Almost all industrialists have some kind of weird quirk about them but you have to realize that that may be what made him who he was. Good, bad or indifferent, nothing could fix him and Edsel had to suffer for it.
 
Perhaps I should have said he was a skinflint when it came to product evolution. He was often behind GM and Chrysler when it came to innovation, the flathead V8 being a notable exception. His cars still had mechanical brakes through the 1934 models while others were going to hydraulic brakes.
 
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