1958 Edsel Ranger

The Edsel was conceived as an affordable marque, positioned between Mercury and Lincoln models, wearing Ford and Mercury bodyshells with unique front and rear sections and infused with technology, prestige, and luxury. It was named after Henry and Clara Ford's only child, and the father of the three brothers, Henry II, Benson, and William Clay. It was a fitting tribute to an individual who had brought forward-thinking and style to Ford Motor Company on numerous occasions. The company's introduction in 1958 was made with unprecedented fanfare and promotion and Ford had set up a completely new organization to handle its sales and marketing. Over a thousand dealers had signed up in advance, eventually reaching 1,187 dealerships, expanding Ford Motor Company's network of dealerships between its three divisions to approximately 10,000. This brought it closer to Chrysler, which had around 10,000 dealers across its four brands, and General Motors, 16,000 dealerships across six brands. The September 4, 1957, public launch featured Edsel ads on all three broadcast television networks simultaneously.

The company's existence was brief as sales were dismal throughout its existence. Lengthy lists of reasons have been given for its demise, from steel shortages, the economic recession that catastrophically affected sales of medium-priced cars, mismanagement, competition, poor production quality and reliability problems, radical styling concepts, and positioning it in a market segment that did exist - pricing it both below and above Mercury as both a lower-middle and upper-middle priced car. Ford had failed to test market the vehicles or its styling ideas with potential buyers prior to initial development or shipments to their dealerships. They gave the public what they wanted without asking what they wanted first. Since they were priced within Mercury's pricing territory, the public was unable to figure out its purpose, as it directly competed with Mercury rather than bridging the price gap between Ford and Mercury. The least expensive Ranger model, upon its debut in September of 1957, was priced within $74 of the most expensive and best-trimmed Ford sedan and $63 less than Mercury's base Medalist model. Other Edsel models, notably the Pacer and Corsair, were more expensive than their Mercury counterparts and only the top-of-the-line Edsel Citation hardtop sedan correctly competed with Mercury's mid-range Montclair Turnpike Cruiser model.

The Edsel marque never had a stand-alone factory; rather, they were assembled in both Mercury and Ford factories. The Citation and Corsair, resting on the longer-wheelbase, were built alongside Mercury products while the shorter-wheelbase models, the Ranger and Pacer, were produced alongside Ford products. Workers used different tools and parts bins to assemble the Edsels, which was burdensome and cumbersome. Edsel owners frequently complained of faulty welding, power steering failure, leaky trunks, finding uninstalled parts in the trunk, or lacking trim or mechanical components altogether.

The original chief designer of the Edsel project was Roy Brown who championed the idea of a slender opening in the center. The initial designs were vetoed primarily by engineers who feared it would cause cooling problems, so a ring design was suggested. This eventually led to the 'horsecollar' grille that would become a hallmark of the marque. While admired by some, the popular joke at the time was that Edsel vehicles with its vertical 'horsecollar' grille 'resembled an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon.' Other elements were creative and visually stimulating, but functionally deficient, such as the rear boomerang-shaped turn signals on the 1958 station wagons placed in reverse fashion, which - at a distance - appeared as arrows pointing in the opposite direction of the turn being made.

While remembered for its controversial styling, low quality, and commercial failure, Edsel vehicles introduced multiple advanced features for its price segment such as the rotating dome speedometer, a speed warning on the speedometer if the driver exceeded a preset speed limit, the Teletouch push-button shifting system mounted in the steering wheel hub, and warning lights for parking brake engaged, engine overheating, and low oil level. Several elements from the Ford Lifeguard safety package were sourced including optional seatbelts, double-latch doors, childproof rear door locks, and a deep-dish steering wheel. The Edsels were among the first to incorporate a remote-operated trunk opening and self-adjusting brakes.

The Teletouch pushbutton transmission was convenient but also extremely complex and problematic. Placed in the traditional location for the horn, some drivers inadvertently shifted gears when they intended to sound the horn. The unpredictable movement of the selector mechanism, sometimes resulting in failure, was caused by the Teletouch control wires being routed too close to the exhaust manifold. In order to avoid overloading the Teletouch motor, drivers had to shift from Park to Reverse to Neutral to Drive. Additionally, the motor lacked the power required to bring the car out of Park while on a hill.

The Ford Motor Company marketed the Edsel vehicles from 1958 to 1960. Approximately nine years of planning preceded the public launch on September 4th, 1957, and public sale on October 15, 1959. The official announcement of the end of the Edsel line was made on November 19th, 1959. The 1958 model line-up comprised, in ascending order, Ranger, Pace, Corsair, and Citation models, and was slimmed down after 1958 and the last-gasp 1960 models used full-sized Ford bodyshells with different badging and trim. During its first year of production, Ford management had predicted 200,000 sales yet fewer than 65,000 units were built that first year. Although production was much lower than anticipated, they did set an all-time record for deliveries of a brand-new medium-priced automobile.

The 1958 Edsel Model Lineup
For its inaugural year, 18 models in four trim levels were offered. The Edsel Ranger and Pacer rested on a 118-inch wheelbase platform of the Ford Fairlane, with the Ranger representing the value-leading, entry-level position. This included both the Roundup and two Villager station wagons; the Pacer included the two Bermuda wagons. On the other end of the spectrum was the top-of-the-line Citation and its little sibling, Corsair, both based on the Mercury chassis with a 124-inch wheelbase. All station wagons had a 116-inch wheelbase platform. The Ranger, Pacer, and station wagons were fitted with a 361 cubic-inch, overhead-valve FE V8 engine with five main bearings, hydraulic valve lifters, and a four-barrel carburetor and delivered just over 300 horsepower at 4,600 RPM. This engine was an overbored version of the Ford 352 CID V8 with yellow painted block and heads, and white painted valve covers, and air cleaner. The 410 cubic-inch MEL V8 powering the Corsair and Citation had five main bearings, a four-barrel carburetor, and 345 horsepower at 4,600 RPM.

The Ranger and Pacer were offered as a two- and four-door sedan, a hardtop coupe, and a hardtop sedan. The Pacer was also offered as a convertible. The Corsair and Citation were offered as a hardtop coupe and hardtop sedan, with the Citation also available in the convertible configuration.

1958 Edsel Ranger
The Ranger was the only Edsel model produced for the company's entire existence, from 1957 through 1960. During the first and second years, they represented the base trim model for Edsel and were available in two-door coupes, four-door sedans, and two- and four-door hardtops. A convertible body style was offered in its final year of existence.

Although the base trim model, the Ranger was well appointed and luxuriously equipped considering its market position, with two coat hangers, black rubber floor mats, a cigarette lighter, three ashtrays, white vinyl headliners, front and rear armrests, and a rear-view mirror. The sedans had green cloth, blue cloth, or gray and black cloth. The hardtops had white vinyl with either black, green, or blue cloth.

A three-speed manual transmission with column controls was standard, and a three-speed automatic with a standard column-mounted gear selector was optional, along with the Teletouch automatic ($231 option). The 410 CID MEL V8 was not optional.

An estimated total of 21,301 Ranger vehicles were produced in U.S. and Canada during its inaugural year including 7,414 four-door sedans (838 Canada and 6,576 U.S), 4,615 two-door sedans (all U.S. built), 3,667 four-door hardtops (190 Canada and 3,077 U.S.), and 6,005 two-door hardtops (459 Canada and 5,546 U.S.). The two-door sedan was priced at approximately $2,485, the four-door sedan at $2,560, the hardtop coupe at $2,555, and the hardtop sedan at $2,645. Ranger production increased the following year to 30,258 units with the most popular body style being the four-door sedan with 14,063 units built, followed by 7,7798 of the two-door sedan, 5,966 of the two-door hardtop, and 2,451 of the four-door sedan.

The styling of the Ranger and the Pacer were similar, distinguished by the model signature script located ahead of the front wheel openings. The Rangers had less exterior brightwork and were devoid of the front fender and rocker panel trim, and the upper body edge reveal moldings. The interior of the Pacers added four built-in armrests on the sedans, a one-third/two-thirds design front seat, chromed inside rearview mirror, and color-keyed rubber floor mats.

The Ranger's existence stretched the entire length of the Edsel line and during its final year, just 2,571 units were built including 76 convertibles, 59 Villager 9-passenger wagons, and 295 hardtops. Throughout its existence, a total of 54,530 Rangers were built. Although the Edsel brand would be retired, Ford would revive the Ranger name for use on multiple model lines of pickup trucks sold worldwide.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2022