Wot they learned that time

The Edsel - late 1950s

Seen at a vintage car show recently.  A pink Edsel.  I love it, but the Edsel was Ford's greatest disaster, the wrong car at the wrong time and a marketing failure.  Ford promised innovation and all new ideas.  It turned out to be much the same as a Lincoln Mercury with a weird grille stuck on the front.  'Edsel' became a metaphor for 'big mistake'.

Among the many reasons cited for its failure was that people thought the front grill resembled a certain part of female anatomy.  Now, I don't know if some car geek with no life thought that up after the event and it has become part of the legend, or if it really was an idea in circulation at the time, but if it was, I can't really imagine any 1950s All American male wanting to drive around in it and once the idea got out there, the damage would be done.

Shame. I would drive it if it wasn't for the fuel consumption which was considered a bit high, even back then when we weren't paying £1.34 a litre.