1958 Edsel Ranger
The Edsel Division from Ford was an attempt at cornering the market from GM and Chrysler by adding a 4th brand under Ford’s belt. Using market cues to design a car from scratch all while sharing a platform with existing brands Mercury and Ford. Ford’s "whiz kids" believed a new kind of middle market car would be popular by the end of the 50s. While they were right about a middle market car they were wrong about the timing, a short recession hit in 1957 through 1958 causing many automakers to rethink their strategies when it came to manufacturing and selling. It was not until the early to mid 60s that the compact middle market car would be popular.
Sharing a price range with Mercury cars, Edsel offered a 7 car line up in its first year in 1958. It included four sedans/coupes and three station wagons. They were called the Ranger, Pacer, corsair, Citation, Roundup, Villager and the Bermuda. Edsel offered some fun innovations and some safety features as well. You could find a "rotating dome speedometer", push button optioned transmission within the steering wheel, childproof rear locks, automatic climate control, optional safety belts and even a remote opening trunk.
While research showed Edsel had a market to carve out, they obviously did not last. With design cues straight out of a horse barn, quality issues galore, a short recession and internal company strife; The Edsel car was gone by 1960.
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