Edsel Pacer Convertible

All kinds of new technologies, such as a speedometer that turns red when you drive too fast and a transmission that can be shifted using push buttons on the steering wheel, cannot prevent the Edsel from becoming one of the biggest marketing blunders in automotive history.

The Edsel, named after Henry Ford’s son who died in 1943, was launched in 1957 by the Ford Motor Company as a new marque in the higher-middle range, just below the high-end Lincoln. The marketing campaign generated high expectations. However, the styling, with its grille resembling a horse’s bridle (the ‘horse collar’), was not appreciated by many. Contemporary motoring and consumer magazines reported that the quality also left something to be desired, as did the performance. Furthermore, America was in crisis at the end of the 1950s and interest in large, gas-guzzling cars such as the Edsel waned. Ford lost millions of dollars on the Edsel and officially pulled it off the market in 1959. The cars were produced until 1960.