While tripping merrily through the mail, John DeMott was overheard
 
 DD> No it's not a typo.... (I still have the dream of someday owning
 DD> a '58 Edsel too )
 JD> Did you know that the 1958 Edsel out-sold DeSoto, Studebaker, Lincoln,
 JD> Imperial, Metropolitan and Packard? It is believed by many that it
 JD> could have survived if it wasn't for Robert McNamara's ego. 
I believe it.  From what I've been able to glean from reading and talking 
to people who own or have owned them, they were a very well-built, extremely
reliable car, far from the "lemon" they were depicted as.  In fact, about
the only complaint I've ever heard is that the "push button" transmission
controls, being mounted in the hub of the steering wheel, weren't as 
reliable as Chrysler's dash mounted ones.
The only real problem with the Edsel was America's taste was changing from
"Big" cars to "Small" cars, and there was just too much competition in
the same price/quality bracket.  Hence, the Edsel died for probably the
same reason as the DeSoto, and almost the Pontiac and/or Buick (I understand
GM in 1959-60 was VERY close to dumping one of those two, I forget which).
On the other side of the same coin.....
My Dad sold the "Aero Willys" in the mid 50's, and we always felt that if 
hey
could have held on for another five years, they would have been VERY
successful in the early 60's "compact boom".
Don
... Why can't they build them like old Fords?
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