The Ford Edsel on This Day in History

This day in history: The Ford Edsel was released on this day in 1957, and it was an immediate ugly disappointment. The car was poorly put together. Many Edsels actually left the assembly lines unfinished. Uninstalled parts were placed in the trunks along with installation instructions for dealership mechanics, some of whom never installed the additional parts at all. Some dealers did not even receive all the parts. The Edsel's unique "horsecollar" grille has been frequently ridiculed for resembling a toilet seat, and later even the female genitalia. Famous sarcastic descriptions of the Edsel and its famous grille include that it looked like "a Mercury pushing a toilet seat" or "an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon". After 3 years the Edsel was discontinued and the company lost $350 million on them.

Ford had other disappointments as well, such as the Ford Pinto, the 1974–78 Ford Mustang II (which Edmunds.com ranked as the 2nd worst car of all time, describing it as "instantly appalling to Mustang lovers") and the 1990-92 Ford Escort MK V (European version).