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HomeEdsel

Edsel

Readings

Thomas Bonsall’s Edsel book is nuanced but suffers from groupthink

March 17, 2026 Steve 15

(EXPANDED FROM 9/27/2021) Disaster in Dearborn: The Story of the Edsel is paradoxical. On the one hand, this is a serious history book. That’s the opposite of so many of the coffee table books that […]

1976 Plymouth Volare 2-door coupe
Drive-By Musings

Splashy new cars often were the biggest disasters during the postwar period

March 3, 2026 Steve 5

One of the biggest assumptions of U.S. automakers in the postwar period was that they desperately needed splashy new cars. Yet when I think about the biggest disasters of that era, they often involved expensive […]

1958 Edsel retractable convertible
History

1958 Edsel with retractable roof hints at why the brand failed

October 24, 2025 Steve 5

(EXPANDED FROM 5/5/2023) One of the curious things about American cars is that even the most ridiculed models will invariably develop a dedicated fan club. As a case in point, some collectors of the infamous […]

1958 Edsel
Quotes

Thomas Bonsall defended the 1958 Edsel against Consumer Reports

August 23, 2025 Steve 11

The late Thomas E. Bonsall was one of the better American automotive historians, but some of his takes could be rather “old-school.” For example, in his book about the Edsel, he concluded that the 1958 […]

Parody ads about the auto industry and media
Our Sponsors

Why I shouldn’t have decorated my bathroom with an Edsel grille

June 21, 2025 Steve 2
1956 Mercury Montclair 4-door hardtop
History

1956 was an odd transition year for Ford’s Mercury brand

March 27, 2025 Steve 9

(EXPANDED FROM 3/3/2023) The 1956 Mercury represented the end — at least for the next four years — of Edsel Ford’s original conception of the brand. Since it was introduced 1939, Mercury had been positioned […]

1958 Edsel Pacer
Media Analysis

Review of Thomas Bonsall’s Edsel book mischaracterized Robert McNamara

August 23, 2023 Steve 2

Indie Auto appreciates when readers give us a heads up about interesting content elsewhere on the web. In a recent comment, John Sutter pointed to an eye-opening review of Thomas E. Bonsall’s (2002) book, Disaster […]

1960 Comet 2-door sedan
Quotes

Could the 1960 Comet have saved the Edsel?

September 30, 2022 Steve 6

“Then, in a postscript — and as if adding insult to injury — the most successful Edsel of all, the Comet, was built as a Mercury. The Mercury Comet was virtually indistinguishable from the Edsel […]

Lexus model is given a real name
Current Events

Lexus should ditch its ‘retronyms’ and hire a poet

April 29, 2022 Steve 0

(UPDATED FROM 1/8/2021) Did you know that the alphabetical names for Lexus products actually stand for something? As a case in point, the IS means “Intelligent Sports,” the CT is short for “Creative Touring,” RX […]

Quotes

John Najjar on how the 1958 Lincoln and Continental were designed

January 26, 2022 Steve 5

“Our mission with Ben Mills [division general manager] and Will Scott [division plant planner] was to develop a 1958 Lincoln. Then, in that era, bigger is better, longer is better, wider is better, shock the […]

Posts pagination

1 2 »
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    June 2, 2026 15
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    Three videos: The death of car culture, rich people’s cars and the 1957 Nash
    May 29, 2026 6
  • 1963 Mercury Marauder
    1963 Mercury Marauder: Ford tries to do a premium-priced car on the cheap
    May 27, 2026 11
  • Did 1964 Ramblers share more parts between size classes than competitors?
    May 26, 2026 1
  • Patrick Foster shows how International Harvester failed to adapt
    May 13, 2026 5
  • Internet problems reminded me of U.S. automakers in the 1970s
    May 2, 2026 1
  • 1956 Buick hood scoop
    Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
    October 14, 2022 141
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