The Edsel - A Commercial Failure

America's most famous automotive flop is the Edsel which was parented by the Ford Motor Company on Sept. 4, 1957. The car fell short of consumers inflated expectations. In the end, even a giveaway of 1,000 ponies — intended to get children to bring parents to showrooms — was a failure.
Despite several features that were not necessarily innovations — a vertical grille, self-adjusting brakes, Teletouch transmission buttons on the steering wheel and a floating speedometer that glowed when a preset speed was reached — the Edsel was panned by the public. Among other things, it was rediculed for having a grille that looked like a toilet seat. Time magazine popularized the wisecrack that it looked like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon. HaHa...that's funny.
There are a number of factors for the Edsel's failure:
The quality of early Edsels was poor the workers were unaccustomed to the different parts and processes. Some parts ran out; incomplete cars went to dealerships.
The car came out as a recession was starting.