Photos from the Cohort by Slant Six, captured at Rose Enterprise Motors in Greigsville, Piffard, NY.
If you have ever read the least bit about Edsels, you pretty much know all there’s to be said about me. That I was Ford’s biggest fumble and butt-ugly (subjective!) to boot. That I arrived at the worst possible time. And that there wasn’t much reason for my existence. Was I an upscale Ford, or a lowly Mercury? And so on. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
But look, let’s put whatever assumptions you’ve about me aside. Yes, I’m an Edsel, no way around that. But a convertible, and as such, there can be little argument that of all Edsels, I’m the coolest of ’em all.
Yes, being a droptop does help a great deal in making me cool; or nifty. The term I would have used back in the day.
But as I was saying, droptops of any kind are just the coolest. Even those weird-as-heck Exner cars from ’60-’62 look mildly passable as convertibles. What other body style can do that to a car?
So, as long as that soft top doesn’t leak, we’re just the peachiest of rides. I doubt many will disagree with that. Now, I admit enthusiasts bring quibbles about chassis flex or some nonsense like that… But, geez, enthusiasts! Does anyone really care what they think?
So, who am I and what are my credentials, exactly?
I’m a Corsair, a convertible nonetheless. One of 1,343 units built in 1959. And should you care to know, the Corsair line was at the top of the Edsel world for ’59. And being a convertible, I was the priciest model of all Corsairs. In keeping with that idea, I carried a 332 V-8 under the hood, with 225hp of force.
Gosh, my engine revs with excitement just thinking of it all!
Now, the cynics out there may say that many other Fords could be had with a 332 in 1959. True, but that 332 did carry that “Thunderbird” cachet, you know?
Some could also say that I basically rode on a stretched Ford platform; from 118″ to 120″. Still, 4″ less than a Mercury. And didn’t Olds and Buicks share bodies and platforms? No one got on GM’s case over that. So there! I was more than a Ford, less than a Mercury for ’59. Clear as day.
I’m making a case for myself?
Now, I won’t deny that I, as a brand, arrived at the very wrong f*$%& time. Wait, who let such language out of me? So rude on my part. I almost sound like that foul-mouthed good fer nothin’ Lenny Bruce I heard about…
Then again, you understand my frustrations, right? I mean, when I was conceived, the world was for me for the taking! I was this towering monument to 1950s modernity! Bold and unabashed! Break the mold I was told, and so I did. A confluence of compound shapes and forms, playing against a body filled with brutalist straight-line severity. The glitziness of Broadway against the austerity of a 1930s Bauhaus building. Bold!
Incongruous you say? If you think so, I’ll just say, how conventional of you to expect something as quaint as harmony.
The Ford Nucleon concept of ’57. Just think, a future with a nuclear powered Edsel!
But yes, the timing for such boldness was lousy. Who would have expected I would arrive amid the worst recession since the war’s end? Who knew bonanzas come to an end? I surely didn’t!
And to top it all, who knew people would get simultaneously fed up with modernity and glitz? I mean, after WWII, everyone LOVED the future. And we sold it year after year, with everyone loving it. Plus chrome, lots of chrome… And then, it all came to a stop!
Talk about a perfect storm! A cold market, and a public fed up with novelty, the future, and glitziness. Is like the whole book was thrown away all at once!
Who knew buyers would ever tire of getting more of the same year after year?
So yes, by ’59 Ford was quickly retreating on their commitment to me. You know the old trick; that corporate uncommitted full-commitment: We at Ford, are ready to go mano a mano with GM… unless it doesn’t pan out.
To start with, many of my futuristic options from ’58 fell under the corporate axe. Mainly, the Teletouch transmission, one of my main attractions. Also, the myriad minor instruments that made the ’58 feel like a fighter plane’s cockpit; the rotating speedo, the warning lights for oil, overheating, and the parking brake. I had so much future for the future in me!
Some critics also mention many of those options came with reliability issues, but please. What about Mopars? Heck, even Buicks were lousily screwed together (I’ve read period user reviews, and they were just as lousy. Trust me!).
After all, it was Detroit in the late ’50s. Who worries about tightly screwed panels when novelty is so much sexier?
Still, if you had issues with me in ’58, you had to admit that by ’59 I had adopted a more tasteful and restrained take on the same themes. And I made for a rather attractive Ford model. If you look carefully at my more sedate lines, you can sense that I’m already embodying the spirit of the more formal ’60s.
Not that I was throwing away all my penchant for the late ’50s modernity that defined me in ’58. That Edsel logo, was one nice looking piece of design, and I proudly wore it. Why get rid of a non-tradition in the making?
Well, my futuristic ’58 doodads may have been gone for ’59, but the layout was still full Googie and Jetsons-ready. Not that I can deny the cost-cutting. As you can see, the Teletouch is gone for good, and instead, I’m making use of the corporate Cruise-O-Matic. Of course, rechristened as Dual-Power-Drive for me, Edsel. Oh, and I also had a choice of a low-cost Mile-O-Matic, plus the corporate manual stick shift.
Now, quiet. I hear again some snickering about me being nothing but a glorified Ford. Do I have to remind you that I have an extended wheelbase?
So, no, I’m no Ford. Just look at that lovely E D S E L font on the hood.
Regrettably, as nifty cool as I am, time hasn’t been kind to me. As you can see, I’m suffering from some worrisome tin worm on my underside. Pity.
To think there can’t be many surviving Edsel convertibles like me; such a shame. Then again, if I must go and become a donor to keep some other Corsair rolling and the Edsel legend alive… I know I would have died for a higher purpose.
With 1960 being the last year of Edsel, there’s little to dispute that I was the coolest of ’em all ever. Then again, you may think it was the ’58 Citation convertible. I’ll leave that discussion to you all. But there’s no way to deny that of all Edsels, I’m pretty high up there in the niftiness factor.
So, I’ll leave you with one last view of the Edsel experience with this shot of the interior. Once again, I hear some snickering about this looking a hell of a lot like a lowly Ford interior. But look at that instrument panel! That’s just sooo futurist Edsel!
Related CC reading:
QOTD: 1959 Edsel–How Did Ford Ever Sell 40,000 Of These Things?
Curbside Classic: 1959 Edsel “Eco-Boost” – Reversing Old Habits
The idea is not new or mine.
But, what if….
The Edsel debuted in the 58 T-Bird body.
Same roof and sides, but the 58 Edsel nose and tail…
After all, the pre-introductory hype said it was “all new”.
The actual product was not.
The two seat ‘Bird could have soldiered on, with a bullet Bird nose and rocket ship tail. Maybe a fastback roof.
I am quite sure that I could count on one hand the number of 59 Edsel convertibles I have seen since I began paying attention to such things. Most 59 Edsels I have seen were lowly Ranger sedans, one of which I remember having a 3-speed.
I also wonder how many Edsels got this red paint. By 1959 I would presume that most buyers of Edsels would not be trying to stand out in a crowd. But then again, trying to blend in with an Edsel was probably an impossible task.
Anyway, thanks for dropping in, Mr. Corsair. It is not often we get a car’s story from the car itself. It is usually those tiresome translators who try telling your stories for you. It is nice to get this one straight from the horse collar’s mouth. 🙂
“I also wonder how many Edsels got this red paint.”
Great question. I wrote up a red ’59 Edsel a few years back, as did Eric703 (I believe). Shortly after the one I found, another crossed my path but in a condition comparable to this convertible. Both of the ones I found were within two miles of each other.
Perhaps it is coincidental, but I know of a handful of ’59 Edsels around, three of which are parked in a field north of the small town of California, MO. The ’59s seem to be a much more frequent sighting than the ’58.
An odd realization…the dashboard from the ’59 Edsel seems to have heavily served as the inspiration for the dashboard for right-hand drive large Fords. Somebody once showed us the interior of a RHD ’63 Ford Galaxie in either the UK or Australia and the dash was the mirror image of the ’59 Edsel.
Here’s some pictures: https://car-from-uk.com/sale.php?id=102168&country=uk
Quite possibly they built more ’59 IP parts than they sold cars? One way to use them up.
Ive hardly seen any Edsels at all, they were never imported new, as usual some have come in privately and I can see why people didnt like them, I dont, the regular Fords were ok but theres something really disjointed about the styling of these, a rag top should be collectable by those that do like them though and of 1343 how many survivors are there it could be worth saving not by me though
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an Edsel in the metal. I do wonder how they were received and perceived at the time by ordinary people. We have the car magazines of the era with the often critical reviews but not the grocery store or barber shop gossip Like the AMC Pacer in my lifetime the Edsel may have been perceived as new and cool for a few years, before becoming a joke.
While convertibles make most cars look better, the Nissan Murano provides an excellent counter example. One wonders what future enthusiasts will make of some of our cars
There is a blue “Murano convert” rolling round the streets of my “western PA”, hometown.
At least it was “lurking about”, in late “April”.
Your reference to a soft top with no leaks; no such thing.. Even the various “hardtop, converts” that started appearing after “2000” leak..
My own thought is that the front end of the ’58 looked nicer than the ’59. It seemed a bit cleaner, the ’59 was busier, and made that much more FoMoCo like, Ford or Merc, I’m not sure which. True, both sported the horse collar, but the ’58 seemed to me to wear it better.
Just for a fleeting moment, the side spear trim reminded me of a ’59 Galaxie. Just for a moment mind you, since this more than a Ford. Just ask the Corsair to be sure.
Thoughtful writeup!
Wonder if the designers of the Moskvich 412 were influenced by that Edsel dash (with additional cost-cutting). Nifty.
Interesting and rare car, I hope the rust out isn’t so bad it precludes the saving of this intact old gem .
-Nate