How many years were edsels made

Edsel was to strike a happy medium. A Taste of Lemon. The flaw in all the research was that by , when Edsel appeared, the bloom was gone from the medium-priced field, and a new boom was starting in the compact field, an area the Edsel research had overlooked completely.

Write to Lily Rothman at lily. A Edsel convertible made by Ford. By Lily Rothman. At the 2nd meeting in Feb. The club grew rapidly, and Edsels name always was good for publicity in print, radio and TV stories. By , plans were underway for our 1st convention, held in August at the Indianapolis Speedway! Here we are , 50 years later getting ready to celebrate a half century of Edsel fun, and life long family friendships that have been formed because of this club and the Edsel…….

For many of us this is truly a family reunion, and the family members all own Edsels! As we start our second half century, we look back at all of our dear friends no longer with us, and when we gather we still talk fondly of them, and in many cases their children and grandchildren still own and attend our meets! Ford also pioneered several business practices with the Edsel that are now commonplace: Market Segmentation; Market Research; Virtual Manufacturing; and, Quality Metrics.

These are among the business practices pioneered by Edsel. Through salary growth and career advancement these customers could eventually be Mercury and Lincoln owners if only Ford could keep them from trading their Ford or Mercury on a Chrysler Corporation, Studebaker, Packard, or GM car.

The young professionals were looking for a car that was identifiable from any angle even looking down from their high rise office buildings. What the Market Research missed in its early days was the importance of focus group feedback on the outcome of the creative process before building and launching the product.

There were no Edsel assembly plants. And there were too many autos in the fairly large Edsel's size and medium-price class. Even Ford Motor's established Mercury could be bought for about the price of an Edsel, which was designed to bridge the gap between Ford and Mercury models. Indeed, the Edsel was a Mercury or Ford depending on the model under the skin. It had a substantial steel girder chassis and could be had with powerful V-8s of up to horsepower--and every power accessory known to man.

It was a solid performer. And those who think the Edsel's flamboyant styling was too offbeat, they should consider the gaudy, hugely overchromed models from General Motors. The car's grille was criticized, but most weren't aware that the famous s Bugatti sports car also had a "horseshoe grille.

The Edsel was criticized for having gadgets, but it only had a few unusual items such as automatic transmission pushbuttons in the steering wheel hub and a rotating drum speedometer that changed color as speed rose. Workmanship left something to be desired, but that was typical of the times. The Edsel resulted from marketing studies done by Ford in the early s. It was meant to compete as two complete car lines--one priced under Mercury with Ford components and one priced between Mercury and Ford's top-line Lincoln that mostly shared parts with Mercury.

The Edsel would have its own dealers and compete directly against medium-priced General Motors and Chrysler autos.