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101 Cars: 1958 Edsel Pacer
The Icon of Ugly
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SPEED Staff  |  Posted August 11, 2008   Charlotte, NC
The Edsel never approached the 200,000 total sales anticipated at its conception. (Photo: 365 Cars You Must Drive)

Pity the poor Edsel. Thrust out into the cold harsh world in 1958 with a face only, well, Ford Motor Company could love. Yet the Edsel was the most-market-researched car in history, Columbia University’s Bureau of Applied Social Research performing 1,600 in-depth interviews with car owners in Peoria and San Bernardino. A quarter of a billion was spent in development. Why did it fail? In truth, it was no uglier than many of its equally garish competitors, even if it did look like an “Olds sucking a lemon,” Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” or even lewder suggestions. Ford specifically aimed the Edsel at the Buick-Oldsmobile market, with two basic model lines, Ranger and Pacer based on the Fairlane body shell, and the larger Corsair and Citation based on the Mercury. Both were given performance oriented powertrains, 361-ci and 401-ci respectively. But despite promotion and hype, Edsel never approached the 200,000 total sales anticipated, clocking a mere 60,000 overall—yet still matching Chrysler’s 63,000. But internecine sales cannibalism with Mercury and a badly timed recession spiked Edsel’s chances. Too bad for Edsel. All everyone remembers is that face. You shouldn’t have yawned.


Specifications
Engine: 361-ci OHV V-8
Horsepower: 303
0–60 mph: 10.2 seconds
Top Speed: About 105 miles per hour
Price New: $2,735 (four-door sedan) up to $3,028 (convertible)
Value Now: $6,000 (sedan) to $25,000 (convertible)
Edsel Pacer Photos



Claim to Fame

Forever tagged one of the ugliest cars in history.


Soundtrack

“Just a Dream” by Jimmy Clanton & His Rockets?


Perfect Passenger

Dad, Mom, 2.5 kids, a hula-hoop, and a cocker spaniel!


Behind the Wheel

The Edsel Owners Club offers a national organization with local chapters for support and, no doubt, commiseration.


Did You Know?

The Edsel Show, a live TV special staring Bing Crosby with Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, and Louis Armstrong, to introduce (and hype) the new Edsel, was the first use of videotape (instead of kinescope) to “tape delay” broadcast for the West Coast..


The Perfect Drive
The road to heck is paved with good intentions..



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