![]() ![]() What wasn’t a failure was the engine that powered that car. If you want to get an idea of the scope of the loss, that amount of money in today’s market would be well over $2.8 billion Total car sales were 116,000 less than expected with a company loss of $350 million. Thanks to pricing and styling concepts that the public just could not understand, Edsel came to an end on November 19, 1959. However, the Edsel car production went down as one of history’s biggest marketing disasters. Other features included self-adjusting brakes, seat belts, and childproof rear door locks. It also incorporated Push-Button Teletouch transmission in the center of the steering wheel. The new vehicle employed such innovations as “rolling dome” speedometer, warning lights for low-oil level, parking brake engaged, and engine overheat. The car-buying public at the time was demanding innovation and technology, and Ford was sure that the Edsel would deliver. With an automobile code named “E” car for experimental, the car that was introduced became known as the “Edsel” in honor of Henry’s son. ![]() So Ford Motor Company decided to upgrade the Lincoln Continental and introduce a new automobile to compete in the medium car. Ford’s research team and found that, although the purpose of the Lincoln was to compete with the Cadillac, the public actually believed that Lincoln competed with Oldsmobile and Buick instead. However, in the early 1950s, Ford became publicly traded and was no longer owned by family members of Ford. After a battle with stomach cancer, Edsel died in 1943 leaving a legacy to his four children. The Model A was a huge success with over 4 million in sales in four years of production.Įdsel went on to introduce the Mercury brand and was responsible for the production of the Lincoln Zephyr and Lincoln Continental. Edsel helped design the body and introduced such features as four-wheel mechanical brakes and the slide-gear transmission. However, due to declining car sales, Henry agreed to let Edsel introduce the Model A. The Model 40 has since been restored and is on display in the museum at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House.Īfter becoming president of Ford, Edsel pushed to replace the Model T but Henry would not hear of it. In 1934, Gregorie built another speedster named the Model 40 with more styling and lower ground clearance. Some of these features haveappeared on Ford vehicles throughout history. It was aluminum, boat-tailed V-8 powered automobile that incorporated features that no other automobile had. He bought the first MG motorcar that was imported to the U.S and, having a passion for styling, in 1932, Edsel and Ford’s chief designer E.T. Gregoire built in 1934 doesn’t bear much resemblance to the vehicle ultimately built to honor Edsel’s memory.ĭestined to take over the family business, Edsel became the secretary of Ford in 1915. Where did the Edsel name come from? Yes, it’s most often known as the car that was noted as the biggest marketing disaster from Ford, but where did the name come from? Edsel was Henry and Clara Ford’s only son born in 1893 and named after one of Henry’s closest childhood friends, Edsel Ruddiman. It’s still considered one of Ford’s most versatile platforms and continues to offer engine builders and their customers creative opportunities. The FE stands for “Ford Edsel” and was produced from 1958 to 1976. We’ll discuss the rebirth of this iconic engine after a brief history lesson. So, we took this opportunity to take the engine out so we could explor e an FE engine. The engine was supposedly rebuilt when my friend had purchased the car, but something was definitely wrong with this power plant. With the 390 and a four-speed, the car was fun to drive and garnered a sort of nostalgic celebrity status from local fans, but the engine did smoke quite heavily at times and did consume quite a few quarts of oil and would foul several spark plugs on some very short trips around town. Several years ago, we had the opportunity to build a 390 FE for a customer’s 1962 Galaxie. I had always heard about and seen some of the more popular FE engines such as the 390, 427 and 428 but never had a chance to dive into one. ![]() Many of us who have been around awhile have heard the term FE, but not a lot of people of today’s era know much about the engine family this is associated with. ![]() How Ford’s FE Engine Rose from the Ashes of Disaster to Become a Versatile Veteranį ord’s FE engine has had a rich history that, today, is often overlooked or at least misunderstood. ![]()
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