1958 Edsel Citation

It wasn't the first "wrong car at the wrong time," but the 1958 Edsel Citation was the biggest flop of them all. Indeed, the very name has become synonymous with failure.

The 1958 Edsel Citation is widely considered one of the biggest
automotive failures

Edsel was conceived in boom-market 1955 to bridge the large price gap between Ford and Mercury, part of Ford Motor Company's grand strategy for competing with General Motors toe-to-toe. But with the usual lead times, Edsel didn't appear until 1958, by which time the medium-price market was tanking. Worse, these "new" cars weren't that different from what wasn't selling already.

A '58 Edsel was either upmarket Ford (Ranger, Pacer, and station wagon) or slightly downmarket Mercury (Corsair and Citation). Styling was Edsel's own and not bad for '58, but a daring "horse collar" vertical grille prompted snickers, shock, or both. There were expected gimmicks like a revolving-drum speedometer and "Teletouch Drive" automatic transmission with pushbuttons in the steering-wheel hub. Otherwise, the '58 Edsels were familiar FoMoCo fare.

Convertibles were restricted to Ford-based Pacer and Mercury-based Citation models, the latter the costliest '58 Edsel at $3801. The Citation used a 410-cubic-inch version of Ford's then-new big-block V-8 with a healthy 345 horsepower; the Pacer a 303-bhp 361. All Edsels had plenty of go, but not the handling and braking to match. Add in frequently "casual" workmanship, and it's little wonder that only a little over 63,000 were sold. Ford had hoped for 100,000-plus. Among them were 1876 open Pacers and just 930 ragtop Citations.

The 1958 Edsel Citation suffered from gimmicky gadgets and drab styling.

With that, only Ford-based cars returned for '59, but sales kept sliding. For Edsel it was already too late.