Edsel Ranger History

The Ranger was the base Edsel, sharing the shorter 118-inch-wheelbase Ford Fairlane body for its 1958 debut — priced from $2,484, a mere $74 above Ford's most expensive sedan. It sat below the pricier Pacer in the junior tier, and far below the Mercury-based Corsair and Citation, making the price-value case for the whole brand confusing from the start.

When Ford collapsed the four-car passenger range to just two names for 1959, the Ranger became the volume Edsel. Now riding a 120-inch Ford-based platform, it gained a convertible and additional body styles; the exotic Teletouch steering-hub transmission selector was dropped and the grille was toned down. Prices and specifications were simplified in an attempt to arrest the sales collapse, but 1959 sold only about 44,891 units — down roughly 30 percent from the already-disappointing 1958 run.

The 1960 Ranger was the last Edsel ever offered. Built on the new Ford Galaxie body, it wore a conventional horizontal grille that bore an accidental resemblance to the 1959 Pontiac — a fitting irony, given that Pontiac had been one of Edsel's intended targets. Ford announced the cancellation on November 19, 1959, partway through the 1960 model year; only 2,846 total Edsels were produced that final season.