Edsel Automobile - History
The Edsel was introduced by Ford Motor Company in 1958 with seven models available . The Corsair the , Citation the Pacer and the Ranger hard tops models and some in convertibles , the Bermuda , Roundup , and Villager were station wagon models . They were a car far ahead of their time . Features such as self adjusting brakes , push button gear shift and a rolling speedometer were new features . The push button gear shift was mounted in the center of the steering wheel . Steering mounted controls for options such as , speed control , radio and even paddle gear shifts , are a very popular today .
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Sales exceeded 68,000 in 1958 , which was the second best success ever for the first year of a new model up to that time . In 1959 sales dropped to about 47.000 . The 1960 Edsel was the final year of it’s production as sales were below what Ford had expected .
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Edsel is now a collector car with its own car clubs in many parts of the world .
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In total over 118,200 Edsel automobiles were manufactured .
Many of them are still on the road today . Some original and others restored by collectors and club members .
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