The Ford Edsel Failure on This Day in History

This day in history: The Ford Edsel was cancelled by Ford on this day in 1959. The Edsel, when it was first released almost three years earlier 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 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).

According to Edmunds.com the Edsel is number 7 on the 100 worst cars of all time list. The other 9 worst cars in the top 10 list are:

(1) 2001 Pontiac Aztek - a car that killed Pontiac.

(2) 1974 Ford Mustang II

(3) 1955 BMW Isetta

(4) 1987 Yugo (Communist Car)

(5) 1971 Chevy Vega

(6) 2003 Saturn Ion

(8) 1982 Cadillac Cimarron

(9) 1957 Trabant (another Communist Car)

(10) 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Diesel

The Street has the 1989 Eagle Premier as the worst car of all time.