Muscle Car of the Week: '58 Edsel Citation

The Edsel was a car before its time. Ford made a big deal out this one. Throughout its development it was known as the "E-car" as in "Experimental." The company splashed out tons of money on marketing and TV spots. Following the success of the Thunderbird the Edsel was supposed to be Ford's next big thing. It failed...hard. At the time the body design was considered ugly and many of the enhancements were considered superflous.

Today in muscle car restoration circles the Edsel is considered BEAUTIFUL. The '58 Edsel had a sticker price of $3500 and restored showcars have been known to sell for near triple digits!

Riding on a 124 inch wheelbase with a 22 degree approach angle the Edsel pumped 345 bph out of a 410 cubic inch 6.7 liter MEL V8. This is one old school ride we would love to hook-up for an in-house chassis dyno test!

The Edsel came with a lot of bells and whistles. And a good number of the standard features were revolutionary for the time. For instance the "Teletouch" shifter, which controlled the automatic transmission selection electronically from push buttons in the center of the steering wheel hub.  (A series of planetary gears in the column keeps the buttons stationary as the wheel turns.)  Many other Edsel-original ideas are still found on today's cars. 

Oh, and the Edsel's Chief Designer was Roy A. Brown, Jr. whose 1955 Lincoln Futura went on to become the original Batmobile, so thats cool. 

Photo Credit: Edsel.com