Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

The September 1957 issue of Popular Science magazine touted the brand-new Edsel by Ford Motor Company. In a few short years, that would be "all she wrote" about this much-hyped and much-focus group tested automobile. While the name "Edsel" has since become synonymous with "lemon" or failure, there was really nothing wrong or even out-of-the-ordinary about the Edsel except for they styling of the front grille and a couple over-the-top features. One such feature was the location of the "PRNDL" buttons; they were in the center of the steering wheel hub, the horn's customary position. They weren't built any worse than any other car in 1958, and they weren't any more prone to rust or mechanical failure. BUT, they were introduced during what has become known as the Eisenhower Recession, and it was just the wrong time for an upper-middle class car to be introduced. Car sales for the entire domestic industry were down by about half compared with the year before. Edsel's weren't "all new" either, as much as the press seemed to believe they were. The lower two series of Edsel shared inner structures with the Ford, and the upper two series were based on that year's Mercury. All images clickable to see larger.

Also new for '58 was the 4 seater version of the classic Thunderbird, featured here on the cover of Popular Mechanics' February 1958 issue. Everyone that reads my blog regularly knows I am a Tbird junkie, and I'll leave it at that, lol.

Hard to see, but here I am at the age of 5, in 1962, sitting behind the wheel of Hoohoo's '58 Silver Mink Thunderbird  coupe. The only reason I've blanked out the license plate is that I have the same number on my Infiniti today. That license tag number has been on a family car since the mid 1920s.