If there’s something that my years of reading Curbside Classic have taught me is that Oregon is a veritable hub for all kinds of strange and interesting metal. Today’s featured car does absolutely nothing to dissuade me from that.
To sum up the whole “Edsel incident” in this article would really be a waste of time. The story of one of Ford’s biggest marketing blunders has been studied and re-studied by marketing majors for years and has been the punchline of every joke. Every inch of its original design has been analyzed and every joke that could be made out of it has been done. This is a good thing, after all the shots have been fired and the dust has settled you can sit down and look at things objectively. Take a look at this 1958 Bermuda, for example. Tell all the jokes you want about the front (that’ll be original) but it’s not bad-looking at all, at least in your author’s eyes. It was just different. The same way the E65 BMW 7-Series was hideous when released and car design just assimilated it as it evolved.
So what do we have? It’s a beautifully restored 1958 Top-of-the-line Edsel Bermuda six-passenger wagon finished in metallic brown/white with the extremely desirable wood-paneling two-tone with a brown and beige interior. And it’s quite special indeed because (according to the seller) this is one of only three out of the 892 Edsel Bermudas built in 1958 that ditched the finicky Teletouch transmission in favor of a more traditional three-on-the-tree. The odometer is showing an indicated 32,369 miles according to the picture of the (incredibly beautiful and ’50s-pulp futuristic) dashboard.
The seller makes note of the quality of the restoration; saying “The paint is a very high quality with straight panels and nice fit. The glass is original and in good condition for its age. The chrome is done to a very high level throughout the car. The stainless trim is excellent and also polished to a very high standard. Some of the rubber is original and some has been replaced and all the rubber is in good condition. The faux wood trim is all in nice condition.” I sincerely doubt circa-1958 rubber will be in all that good condition. Maybe it’s preserved to look nice but it’s extremely delicate, and if you blow on it or a fly steps on it it’ll disintegrate to dust. Also, and I think this is worth mentioning despite everyone else doing it already, the rear turn signals are the single most idiotic turn signal design ever to be put in a car. Turn right to indicate right? Or is it left? It must be left right? Right?
Well, if you’re not one to be bothered by those sort of things and want to own a very cool classic wagon that would get people talking. Take $45,000 and head here. Just be prepared to hear the same jokes over and over again.
This is absolutely my favorite wagon of the 1950s! I personally have never found the ’58 Edsel styling ugly, just highly unusual in a positive way. With that said, the Bermuda has always been my favorite, a combination of both its attractive wood-grain pattern and placement, and its extreme rarity. I’d love to own this one if I could afford to do so.
Just one thing about the production numbers. The Edsel website: http://www.edsel.com/pages/edsel58.htm states that 2,235 1958 Bermudas were produced (still an extremely low figure). Of that, 1,456 of them were six-passenger models and 779 were nine-passenger.
I thought the Tele-Touch was an option ~ I’ve only ever seen a few Edsels so equipped .
Nice to see this car being preserved .
-Nate
You would be surprised how well rubber trim lasts in the Pacific NW, the climate is very easy on these parts, especially if they are maintained.
And it’s probably on the fixed-glass anyways. Sometimes it’s better to leave well enough alone, and replacement rubber may not even be available.
It does remind me of what Car and Driver said of the Edsel Bermuda when penning an article about “poorly named cars”. “Edsel Bermuda – Two tone paint AND fake wood? That’s like wearing shorts, long black socks, and a blazer.”
I like it! I knew there was an Edsel wagon but hadn’t seen one.
I always thought the Edsel was a good looking design that was underrated. Liked how they had approximately the same dimensions as an 80s Panther Ford LTD. Even similarly sized engines.
I first saw one of these featured in a Hemming’s magazine a few years ago. While 2 toning and 3 toning would be available for a few makes, a wagon with wood sides AND 2 toning really stands out. I think Edsel….and maybe Ford and Mercury (?) were the only brands to do this. BTW, a neighbor down the street from us in the mid 60s had an Edsel Roundup wagon for sale for $700, I so wanted to get that car but I had neither a license (yet) or the finances.
A wagon like this, with 2 toning, wood sides, and a V8 with a manual transmission….it’s so 50s cool.
The only car that beats it, and it’s also built by Ford is a 57-59 Mercury 2 door hardtop wagon.
I SO want a Mercury 2 door hardtop wagon!!! Sadly it seems they had a very low survival rate. Have yet to see one in my 52 years on this rock.
Judging by the background of horse plank whitewashed fence, this is around the very proper Portland Country Club. I am mildly surprised one of the gentry would deal with all the rabble on eBay, instead of just selling to Mathews and letting him deal with the headaches. Imagine being an inheritor and attempting to sell a classic car these days. The logistics of getting the money and paperwork together with the vehicle to the shipper would be a challenge, at minimum. I have trouble finding all the slips involved with just license renewal. What registration? What does DEQ mean? Beautiful artifact of the Ford mentality of the day, no?
DEQ means Dept. of Environmental Quality, Oregon shorthand for emissions testing. Not necessary on vehicles this old. I believe there is a rolling 25 year exemption for vehicles but it’s been a while since I registered a car that old…….
If you’re going to get an Edsel, go all out on one like this. Especially since it’s a three-speed. Having an automatic in an old car simply ruins the driving experience; it’s much like going to a fine restaurant on the New England coast and ordering a cheeseburger – it’s just wrong! 🙂
Here’s something of truly CC Effect proportions….last night, I encountered pictures of a huge stash of late ’50s and early ’60s Ford and Mercury cars in a huge warehouse. Also included were many Edsel’s of all years and body styles. The best picture was of 6 1958 Edsels lined up in a row with a portion of them being wagons.
What was unusual is the stash was found on the southern island of New Zealand.
It’s likely the rubber could still be original if this car was stored half-way properly. My Ford is only five years newer and has only seen proper storage for half its life. The rubber is all still passable and there are no air leaks around the doors.
Nicely recycled 1957 Ford wagon body, right down to the taillights.
Wagon week is fun. This pic brought up memories of a 1957 Ford wagon model from childhood that I found stashed away – I think it is a Jo-Han. A friction model with typical pre-1961 warpage. Station wagon versions of promo models/toy cars must have been somewhat less common. I have a surviving 1956 Ford tin toy wagon and I recall distinctly having a black tin toy version of the 1957 wagon as well. A tin toy version of this Bermuda would be a great find if such exists.
The Edsel wagons (the Bermuda in particular) would have looked better if they’d shared the Mercury body and longer wheelbase. The detailing is too fussy for the short Ford body.
Imagine a Citation 4 door hardtop wagon… wouldn’t THAT be cool?
A truly spectacular specimen!
I went to the estate sale of a gentleman in the town that I grew up in who specialized in restoring old Edsels and owned close to a dozen of them at one time.
Restoring an Edsel is one of the easiest ways to spend $80K on a car that you will be lucky to get $20K for when you are done. This example may be an exception to that but time will tell.
When I was growing up, there were still a few Edsels parked here and there (semi-abandoned, usually parked out in the street near the owners house but obviously not regularly driven). One day I got into one (kids, sheesh) and witnessed the pushbutton transmission selector in the middle of the steering wheel for the first time – egads, what a mechanical clusterbomb that has to be inside the steering column (even as a kid I was amazed that such a thing was even possible).
Would that be Medina, Ohio and the legendary Charlie Wells?
Nope. A guy in Richland, WA whose name I don’t remember (he has I’m sure passed on by now – I went to his moving-out-of-the-house/shop pre-estate sale about 20 years ago). He was very active in a PNW Edsel club (or a chapter of the national club, I’m not sure which).
Great find! I always love high-trim cars with a 3 speed! Of the big 3, I think FoMoCo buyers opted for a 3 speed manual more frequently than any others.
My only gripe with this car is the color combo. If you are going to do an outlandish 50s car, such a shame that it is nothing but multiple shades of brown and white. That said, if this was the original color combo, kudos to the owner for restoring it in the same colors. Just because I would not have chosen it new, doesn’t make it any less cool now in its own way.
It’s an Edsel and a woody,count me as a fan.I’d take an Edsel over the much more expensive 58 Lincoln
That instrument cluster is amazing, rivaling an early Citroen CX for weirdness.
It may be my age but 50s cars don’t interest me as much as later cars so I’d rather have a CX Familiale in all it’s bizarre 8 passenger hydropneumatic glory than any 50s tinselmoblie.
Makes me want another Edsel that much worse. Had several some years back, had to sell them all as I had lost my storage.
Even more fascinating is the tachometer (!) located in the far left instrument nacelle, as well as the HVAC indicators in the far right.
In fact, does anyone know what is located in the near right nacelle? I guess it could be the high beam indicator. It sort of looks like some sort of trident, or maybe an upper case ‘W’ with a lower case ‘w’ to the left of it, but I can’t really make it out.
Regardless, those rear tail-lights are truly bizarre and definitely fall into the ‘what were they thinking’ category. I mean, how difficult would it have been to make the them face in the proper directions? It’s almost like someone really misread the specs.
Still, it’s a pretty cool car and, as stated, if you’re going for an Edsel, this would be high on the list of the one to have.
Its because they had to use the rear fins from the Ford body shell. The funny thing is, I never saw them as arrows until this article. They’re just typical Googie-style design from the era.
I agree – they could have just as easily been turned 90 degrees with the V-shape pointing up.
In the days when we saw lots of customized cars, those Edsel station wagon taillights were seen on a lot of 1957 Fords of all body styles. The station wagon trim was often slightly different, like for instance the shorter bumper guards on 55 and 56 Ford wagons that were also often seen on customized coupes and sedans.
You are bringing back memories – car customizers loved them.
Redmondjp:
Ford put the steering wheel hub transmission pushbuttons in Edsels AND Mercurys. In Edsels the buttons were arranged in a circle while Mercury had them in a vertical column.
Rudiger:
I’ve “studied” that dial to the right of the steering column and concluded that:
A.) It’s a compass, “W” being due west and “w” being southwest or northwest.
B.) It’s a “dummy” dial…perhaps an optional clock went there. Oddly, there are no markings in the dial face like there are for the tach, fuel, and HVAC dial (?).
I’ve also noticed what looks like a stub of a gear selector at the 2 o’clock position of the steering column.
I never gave those taillights much thought, either, until recently. Perhaps they should have put the lens/light on the outside of the “arrow”?
Ah, a compass. Geez, those upper-tier Edsels were really well-equipped, getting both a tachometer and compass in the dash.
Did the Bermuda Triangle inspire its name? So wierd, its cool.
Old ads in Sports Illustrated would have us believe Bermuda was one very classy holiday destination. Like Nassau. For classy people with cars like this. CC Wagon Week just keeps getting better.
I love the “opposite day direction indicators” and to this day they remain a mandatory option on most cars sold in the state of Victoria, in one form or another.
Wagon Week on CC FTW. That Edsel owns the internet.
Superb…..where do I sign?
Sweet Jesus! You Ugly!
Wow. I marvel that the 1950’s cars had dies that were typically hand made and not done using computers – and all those complex shapes that actually fit together in the end.
Such a sweet Edsel. I’ve always loved them as well.