Incredible! Edsel 1950s Classic Car Commercials - rare vintage entertainment
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- The Ford company might want us to forget the Edsel, but these amazing car commercials give us an entertaining reason to remember it. Which of these is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
The Edsel story is one for the history books - produced by Ford Motor Company from 1957 to 1959, it is one of the most famous failures in automotive history. Named after Edsel Ford, the son of Henry Ford, it was intended to be a mid-priced car that would fill the gap between Ford's regular line and its luxury Lincoln and Mercury divisions.
Ford envisioned the Edsel as a competitor to brands like Buick, Oldsmobile, and Chrysler, aiming to attract middle-class buyers who wanted something more upscale than a standard Ford, but not as expensive as a Lincoln. The car's design was unique, with its most distinctive feature being a vertical, horseshoe-shaped grille that set it apart from the conventional horizontal grilles of the time. However, this design choice was polarizing, with many critics mocking the grille as resembling a "toilet seat" or "horse collar." The Edsel was offered in various models including the Ranger, Pacer, Corsair, and Citation, with a range of body styles like sedans, convertibles, station wagons, and hardtops.
One of the Edsel's selling points was its advanced features, which included the Teletouch transmission - push-button controls for shifting gears located in the center of the steering wheel - a rolling dome speedometer, self-adjusting brakes, and an electric trunk release. Despite these innovations, the car struggled to find its place in the market. Priced between $2,500 and $4,000, it was meant to compete with mid-range brands, but it ended up positioned too close to other Ford products like Mercury, causing confusion among consumers and internal competition within Ford.
The marketing campaign for the Edsel was one of the most extensive of its time. Ford generated enormous anticipation by keeping the car under wraps until its official unveiling on September 4, 1957, which was dubbed "E-Day." The commercials and advertisements leading up to this day were filled with mystery and excitement, designed to create a sense of wonder and curiosity among potential buyers.
These ads featured slogans like "The car you’ve been waiting for," and they promised a revolutionary new vehicle that would change the automotive landscape. However, this massive build-up led to unrealistic expectations. When the Edsel was finally revealed, it failed to live up to the hype. The car’s design was not as innovative as advertised, and the public reaction was lukewarm.
Several factors contributed to the Edsel's failure. The over-hyped marketing campaign set expectations that the car could not meet. Additionally, the Edsel was launched during a 1957-1958 economic downturn in the United States, a time when consumers were more cautious with their spending particularly on mid-priced cars.
The car's styling, particularly the controversial grille, did not resonate with the majority of car buyers, further dampening its appeal. Moreover, the Edsel faced stiff competition from within Ford’s own lineup, as it was positioned too close to the Mercury brand. Production issues also plagued the Edsel; many early models had quality control problems due to hurried production, leading to issues like parts not fitting correctly. This further tarnished the car’s reputation.
Despite Ford’s extensive market research, the interpretation of the data was flawed, and the car ended up being a product designed by committee, which resulted in a disjointed and unfocused final product.
The Edsel sold poorly from the outset. In its first year, Ford had hoped to sell 200,000 units but managed only around 64,000. Over the three years of production, only about 118,000 Edsels were sold. Due to the poor sales and the damage to the brand’s reputation, Ford decided to discontinue the Edsel in 1959, with the last models being sold as 1960 models.
The project cost Ford an estimated $250 million, a staggering sum that makes the Edsel one of the most expensive failures in automotive history.
Despite its commercial failure, the Edsel has become a collector’s item, and is now a significant piece of automotive history. Its unique design and the story of its spectacular failure have given it a cult following among car enthusiasts. The name "Edsel" has since become synonymous with failure, often cited as a prime example of how even a powerful and well-established company can misread the market and fail to deliver a product that resonates with consumers.
Today, the Edsel is remembered more for its impact on the automotive industry and its marketing missteps than for its brief presence on the road.
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I've been watching Edsel videos for 25 years and this is the first time I've ever seen this film! Thank you!
In edsels defense, pontiac did afterwards copy the tail lights, split grille, and central nose decorum....and edsel paid them back in the last model year,1960.
Ps: don knotts in," the ghost and mister chicken" opening scene....gold 58 edsel screeching around corners!
Silver Gray Metallic '58 Edsel Citation 2 door hardtop
Thanks King Rose I have never seen these Edsel commercials 😊
I thought the Edsel looked dowdy until I saw one at a car show. They look much better in person. It's too bad Ford wasn't successful with the Edsel line. It would have been interesting to see how the design evolved through the 60s.
Funnest line in the first 2 minuets "with the higher trade in value tomorrow". Not after December 19, 1959 when Edsel was officially cancelled as automobile line. The short production 1960 model would be the last of Edsel.
Too bad the Edsel line failed. It was a good idea.
Rarely see one these days. Younger people probably wouldn’t know what it was.
I've always found it tragic that Edsel Ford, the man, had this disaster named after him. Edsel Ford endured a lifetime of abuse by his father Henry, dying an early death. The Edsel car would have embarrassed Edsel Ford, the man. He had impeccable taste and had a great eye for design. Rest in peace, Edsel (the man).
Were there any commercials filmed for the 1960 Edsel? (This would be something to see!)
Had it not been launched into the 1957-'58 recession, the Edsel might have been successful.
On these vintage new cars commercials from years ago they have the ads with with sleek, slender and attractive models around the cars . In the recent cars shows they show the old vintage cars fixed up looking like in yesteryear but the women that are accompanying the men are old thick grandmotherly types .
Thank you for uploading! Some of these are very rare! Good find!
"And now at many Mercury dealers, too." The '59's turned up at Mercury dealers because so many Edsel shops had shut down literally within months of the car's introduction.
We own a 01 Ford Excursion V 10 in a previous life it was an Edsel.
"The car that makes history by making sense" They really had given up in year 2.
Actually, I think the ‘59 was the best looking of the three.
For 1960, I’d prefer a Ford Galaxie.
@@michaeldemarco9950 Don't disagree, I really like the 59. Ford shat the bed and panicked way too early imo.
@@Davids_DC-10 , yes. In hindsight, the Edsel was no more odd than a lot of late ‘50s cars.
I don't think Edsel gave up so much as Robert MacNamara didn't want another competitor for Ford. It is well reported that, on the night before the public introduction of the Edsel, he mentioned to several people at what was supposed to be the car's send-off that he "had plans to phase out the Edsel." You'll notice that Edsel Division was merged into the Lincoln-Mercury division in January 1958--and that the Mercury-based cars were scrapped, so the '59 and '60 models were gussied-up Ford Fairlanes
@@gcfifthgear McNamara was a Class-A jerk.
The public was just not ready in 1957 for a vertical grill which hadn't been seen on cars since the late 1930s. However, by 1967 they were. Just look at the 1966 Lincoln Continental Mark III. Then, by the mid 1970s nearly every make was sporting one.
Stop with the flowery internet revisionism- Sack up, grow a pair and use FACT: public had no desire to buy a vehicle that was marketed as an upper medium price vehicle as THERE WAS NO MARKET FOR ONE IN 1958. And there was no market for a vehicle that could prove its identity in the marketplace- it competed and overlapped both Ford and Mercury. The competition- Buick and Oldsmobile suffered, and Desoto went into its death throes.
The grill had nothing to do with it. Remember, read, educate yourself, think, then write. In that order.
@peteness9550 The grill had everything to do with it as a sales flop.
The grill was the main focus of attention from the moment it was introduced. Firstly, by Ford itself in its initial advertising promotion and then more intensely at the hands of its many critics.
There were constant and relentless jokes made about the Edsel on television.
Milton Berle famously said " the Edsel looks like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon". It was ridiculed as looking like a " horse collar", and worse.
Imagine having your product slammed that badly in a comedy routine on a national broadcast. The Edsel was essentially shamed out of existence.
Perhaps you weren't alive at the time.
In fact, negative criticism of the front styling is the very reason the grill was so radically diminished with each model year until it vanished entirely with the final 1960 model.
Regardless of what you think of my conclusions, your response was oddly and unnecessarily aggressive, in fact viciously so. Do you routinely respond in that manner? There is room for opinions other than yours.
@@peteness9550 Good points. The Edsel was introduced at the height of the 1957 Eisenhower recession--when all makes of medium-price cars suffered from sharp sales drops. For 1958, only the Rambler sold more cars than it did in 1957. Nash and Hudson were dropped after 1957; Packard was dropped in mid-'58. And, as you mentioned, DeSoto went into its death spin after the 1958 models. There were even plans afoot to merge Pontiac and Oldsmobile divisions (which happily were scrapped and the '59 Pontiac started the wide-track make's "winning streak"). Oh, by the way, the 1960 Edsel front end was reworked to look like a clone of the '59 Pontiac--and, with the exception of the Grand Prix--the 1968 full-size Pontiac had a front end that looked remarkably similar to the 1959 Edsel!
The closest I ever saw to Edsel styling was the 1970 Bonneville front end.. not Pontiacs best styling coincidentally 🙂
"Tele-Touch Drive Puts the Shift Buttons Where They Ought to Be". I wonder how Edsel explained the relocation of the transmission shift for the '59 and '60 models because they obviously weren't "where they ought to be".
Higher cost to build Teletouch and removing it was a huge cost savings in manufacturing for 59 production.
Not to mention that the electrical connections for the Teletouch Drive were extremely sensitive to engine heat and road splash. The design was originally intended for the 1958 Lincoln, but Edsel engineering needed another distinctive feature (as if self-adjusting brakes and a three-stage thermostatic system weren't enough)
@@gcfifthgear no they were not extremely sensitive. There was one weak point to the Teletouch system, and it was a wire on the shift motor, which was easily fixed. The Teletouch systems on my 58s work fine in all conditions.
The watermark makes this unwatchable. Dammit.
Do you notice there are no commercials for the 1960 line of Edsels??
Lots of magazine ads but no film. They only built 2800 of them to satisfy the 3 year contract with remaining dealers.
@@benscovil I have seen what may have been the last magazine ad. Eerie that the copy read "In the weeks to come you'll be seeing more Edsels on the road....so don't miss seeing it at your dealer's now." (Saturday Evening Post, November 1959)
Why is it so important to be able to keep both hands on the wheel while changing gears ? I don't change gears too often while in motion (with an automatic anyhow)
Not sure that leaving so visible all that splattered oil leakage atop the test hill (1:14 & 15:06) was a good idea there, FoMoCo.....
I don't know your age but 50 or so years ago, every highway in the US had a black stripe in the center of your lane. You don't see it anymore.
In spite of the mechanical problems, with the grill to boot, I think that the name is unfortunate. Edsel.
Nope. Your watermark is still terrible . I was hoping you’d find a way to improve it.
Not like you’re copyrighting your own work either. Just buying up films and slapping your label on them. Periscope is similarly obnoxious but not as bad.
Oh, that's what it was called - a jet grill. Now I know the official name for the рussу grill 😂
Wow, did they get their predictions wrong!
I heard someone say when they first came out that it was hard to tell if the car was coming or going, as the front end looked like a rearend.
You are probably confusing it with the Studebaker whose rear end looked a lot like it could be the front end.
That could be..
I don’t see any resemblance between the front and the back of these cars. The 1950 Studebaker was another story.
The Ford Pretzel. One of the biggest disasters ever.
Edsel might have been a hit in 1955. By 1958 it looked chunky and dated.
Haha it looked like most other 58 cars other than the grille. Look up a 58 Buick, you'll think that's the chunkiest car youve ever seen
In 1955, when the Edsel was green-lighted by Ford management, the economy and the mid-priced car market were booming.
In the Fall of 1957 when the Edsel was introduced, the economy was in the tank. For example, 1958 Buick sales were one-third of their 1955 level.
The timing for the Edsel could not have been worse.
Whether deliberate or accidental, the subliminal image of the front grill was likely more offensive, whether consciously aware, especially to women, than space age suggestive. Virtually anyone under thirty who's seen this front end sees the gynecological connection.
This car company made the top 10 worst looking cars of all time- if not even more than that. These old commercials are better than the cars ever where.
Me thinks it was overhyped - brand was cancelled within 2-3 years 👀😱
Edsel couldn't justify or explain its pricing...it was also unproven...combine that with quality control issues - goodbye Edsel! 😢😮
Wow. That first ad was just annoying with the singing.
Why was ford Edsel a failure past automobiles were made with features on them some good bad or so so life is taking chances as I did in meeting senoritas dating love relations but remember some volks fail not because of what they do it is how they do things
It wasn't a Ford, it was its own Division like Mercury. It failed due to a recession and that the head of Ford, Robert MacNamara hated it.