Edsel History: The Edsel was produced in 1958 in honor of Henry Ford's son, Edsel Ford, who was president of the Ford Motor Company from 1919 to 1943. The Edsel started out as an experimental car and was finally introduced on 'E-Day', September 4, 1957. Ford stock had just gone public and it was the first new model under the new corporate regime. It was supposed to compete against the Oldsmobile and they created a new division and dealer network in anticipation of success.
Ford offered four Edsel models - Citation, Pacer, Corsair and Ranger - and the classic cars offered many new innovations, such as an automatic transmission with a push-button shifting pad in the center of the steering wheel. However the Edsel line was never well accepted and after selling only 84,000 vehicles over three years, and losing what amounts to billions of dollars today, it was folded into the Lincoln-Mercury division until the last car, an Edsel Ranger, was built in 1960.