1958 Edsel Corsair Walkaround

A while ago I posted "Making 1958 Edsels from 1957 Fords and Mercurys."  Ford Motor Company's Edsel brand was marketed only 1958-1960, and very few '60 Edsel's were built because production was halted very early in the model year.

Ford intended Edsels to fill some mid-range market gaps in its Ford, Mercury and Lincoln hierarchy.  For '58, there were four Edsel models.  From entry-level to top, those were: Ranger, Pacer, Corsair and Citation.  As noted in my post, Rangers and Pacers were based on bodies shared with Fords, and the others were Mercury-based.

My post "1958 Edsel Pacer Walkaround -- A Rather Pleasing Design" (link here) features a Ford-based model. And now it's probably time for a Mercury-based Edsel.

Rangers and Pacers came in six or seven (depending) body types, whereas Corsairs and Citations were available only as hardtop (pillarless) coupes and sedans.  The car featured below is a hardtop sedan, the best-selling of the lot.

Images of the 1958 Edsel Corsair hardtop sedan shown below are of a car listed for sale.

Gallery

The famous (in late 1950s USA) Edsel grille.  Most grilles had horizontal layouts, and even more traditional grilles such as Mercedes-Benz's were more square than strongly vertical.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, Edsel front end design would have been improved with dual, not quad, headlights.

1958 Edsel Ranger hardtop sedan, photo via Ford.  This is the Ford-based, entry-level equivalent to today's subject car.

Ford Motor Company cars (save 1955 Lincolns) had panoramic windshields model years 1955-1959.

No fashionable tail fins.

The backlight window is panoramic, but the C-pillar zone seems, fussy, awkward to me.

The curves dropping towards the center of the car are a consistent theme.  But they are not well-related to one another from top to bottom.

Bold, two-tone areas are consistent with flamboyant late-1950s American car stying fashions.  At least the dark area's chrome outlining ties into elements at the rear.

There is also some sculpting around the dark paint area, which is why the forward chrome strip does not touch the two-tone framing.  The sculpting also echoes the slight fenderline profile flow point.

A busy design with many elements seemingly "tacked on" rather than integrated.