page_title: Edsel
section_title: 1958
hierarchical_section_title: Edsel / History / 1958
caption_attribution_description: Edsel Pacer 2-Door HT 1958
context_page_description: Edsel is an automobile brand that was planned, developed, and manufactured by the Ford Motor Company for model years 1958 to 1960. With the Edsel brand, Ford had expected to make significant inroads into the market share of both General Motors and Chrysler and close the gap between itself and GM in the domestic American automotive market. Ford invested heavily in a yearlong teaser campaign leading consumers to believe that Edsels were the cars of the future – an expectation they failed to meet. After being unveiled to the public, they were considered to be unattractive, overpriced, and overhyped. Edsels never gained popularity with contemporary American car buyers and sold poorly. The Ford Motor Company lost $250 million on Edsel development, manufacturing, and marketing.
  The very name "Edsel" became a popular symbol for a commercial failure.
context_section_description: For the 1958 model year, Ford produced four Edsel models: The larger Mercury-based Citation and Corsair, and the smaller Ford-based Pacer and Ranger. The Citation was offered in two-door and four-door hardtop and two-door convertible versions. The Corsair was available in two-door and four-door hardtop versions. The Pacer was available as a two-door or four-door hardtop, four-door sedan, or two-door convertible. The Ranger was sold in two-door and four-door hardtop or sedan versions. The four-door Bermuda and Villager wagons and the two-door Roundup wagon were based on the 116-inch wheelbase Ford station wagon platform and shared the trim and features of the Ranger and Pacer models.
  Edsels offered several features that were considered innovative for the time, including the rolling-dome speedometer; warning lights for such conditions as low oil level, parking brake engaged, and engine overheating; and the push-button Teletouch transmission shifting system in the center of the steering wheel (a conventional column-shift automatic was also available at a reduced price). Other Edsel design innovations include ergonomically designed controls for the driver and self-adjusting brakes (which Ford claimed for Edsel as a first for the industry, even though Studebaker had pioneered them earlier in the decade). Edsels also offered such features, advanced for the time, as seat belts (which were available at extra cost as optional equipment on many other makes) and child-proof rear door locks that could be unlocked only with the key.
  Unlike Ford and Mercury, the Edsel division never had any dedicated manufacturing plants. All Edsels were built in Ford or Mercury plants on a contract basis.
  In the first year, 63,110 Edsels were sold in the United States, and 4,935 were sold in Canada. Though below expectations, this nevertheless represented the second-largest launch for any new car brand to date, exceeded only by the DeSoto introduction in 1929. There was one four-door Citation model purchased and delivered in October 1957 to the United Kingdom for the Duke of Bedford. Its current whereabouts are unknown.
caption: A 1958 Edsel Pacer 2-Door hardtop
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