1958 Edsel Corsair 332 V8

Summary:

Love is blind!

Faults:

Nothing yet for me, but the car had an extensive renovation in 1990-1991, and there aren't many miles on the car since then. I'm going to have to replace some of the original wiring - the insulation is so old it's cracked, and short circuits happen in damp weather. I was told the push-button transmission was problematic, but it works fine for me.

The engine is strong, and is so quiet I ground the starter once by accident thinking the car wasn't running.

General Comments:

Ford actually would have had a winner with their new line of cars if the styling hadn't been so weird. The '58 is schizophrenic... the front motif is vertical (especially that hideous grille), while the rear motif is horizontal. By the time the '59 came out - much cleaner design - the ridicule was too much to recover from.

Ignore the styling (somehow) and mechanically the car is very well put together. This car is 47 years old and is solid and quiet, even at 80 mph.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 12th June, 2005

26th Oct 2005, 12:06

The '59 may have cleaner styling, but it is much less distinctive than the '58 (or even the low-production '60 with its weird Pontiac-looking grille). The '59 Edsel doesn't look a whole lot different from a '59 Ford. The reviewer neglected to mention the comparison made at the time between the first Edsel grille and a part of the female anatomy. Probably just as well.