let's try this again

I was a little surprised that anyone else owned some uranium, but I wasn't surprised that it was Hilltop.

Here's something that I bet nobody else has...

( see it )

Edsels

My first car was a 1959 Edsel Ranger. Two-door hardtop. 292 ci V8, 2 speed automatic transmission. Swimming pool blue. Brown and white interior.

The interior was in reasonable condition. The dash was good, though all that metal would never really go bad. There was a lot of room. Only a very low transmission hump on the floor. It could seat six, without anyone touching one another. The radio used tubes. I bolted a cassette stereo underneath the dash, and put speakers in the back. I loved the wraparound windshield, and the trunk could sleep three.

The exterior was not so good. it was twenty-seven years old when I got it, and it showed. The entire lower half of the body was filler. The frame was rusting out. I could break pieces off of it. I'm surprised the car didn't break in half at some point. I'm pretty sure the car had been resting in a field for a decade or more.

It got a lot of attention. I'd be driving down the street and some old guy would yell, "hey, Edsel!"

Here's a picture of one very similar to mine.


Notice the fancy outside rear view mirror, and the wheel covers. These were optional items, which my car had. Another option I had was sun visors. Yes, they were optional.

Here's an article with photos. Same year and model as mine, different color.
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120227/entlife/702279979/

When I got rid of mine, it was driven to the junk yard. I don't know what it looks like now, but I suspect it looks better than this one.

Edsel was a brand name. It was like Ford, Lincoln or Mercury. The model names were Ranger, Corsair, etc. A lot of people made fun of the name, and this upset the Fords because they named it after their son, Harry Edsel Ford.

The line was in business for three years - '58, '59 and '60. In 1958 Edsel released seven models. The Citation, Corsair, Pacer and Ranger, were the two and four door models. The wagons were the Villager, the Bermuda and the Roundup. The Bermuda was the same as the Villager, but had wood-grain paneling. The Roundup was a two-door wagon. In 1959, the line was reduced to the Rangers, the Corsairs and the Villagers. In 1960, it was only the Ranger and Villager. Here's a handy spotter's guide

The Edsels never did well. They're often referred to as "lemons," but there was nothing really wrong with the cars, except maybe their looks. I don't think the '58's looked very good, but the '59's looked fine, and the '60's seemed to have a very modern look. Their biggest problem was the amount of fanfare they had building up to their unveiling. The public expected something remarkable, and were disappointed. The line never recovered from the shock, as the public never let them forget it.