Yahoo Autos Junkyard Gem: 1958 Edsel Citation 4-Door Hardtop
While General Motors gets some well-deserved mockery today for the hilariously Cavalier-like Cadillac Cimarron and hideous Pontiak Aztek, no debacle of the American car industry will ever approach the notoriety achieved by Edsel. Edsel was a new brand developed according to the most cutting-edge market research the Ford Motor Company could buy, but it proved to be an immediate and humiliating failure in the showroom. Still, more than 100,000 Edsels were built during the 1958 through 1960 model years, and I've found this first-year example in a self-service yard just south of Denver.
Ford wished to emulate GM's "Ladder of Success" sales model, in which a new driver's first car purchase would be a Chevrolet, after which he'd move up through Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick as he became more prosperous, finally reaching the top of the prestige ziggurat with a new Cadillac. The idea with Edsel was that Lincoln and Mercury would be pushed upmarket, while the new Edsel marque would slide in between Ford and Mercury.
The Edsel name was taken from the given name of Henry Ford's only son. Edsel Ford was instrumental in designing the exterior of the iconic Ford Model A, as well as creating the Mercury Division and the Continental. An automotive legend, of course, but perhaps not the best choice of name for a futuristic new car model.
The build tag tells us that this car was built at Wayne Stamping and Assembly in Michigan, and that it's a Citation hardtop with the big 410-cubic-inch V8 engine and steering-wheel-shifter-equipped automatic transmission.
It has been sitting outdoors for many decades.
