A Gathering of Edsels!

We have a lot of visitors here at Coker Tire, and this week, we had a very special group of cars pay us a visit. A group of 11 Edsels rolled into our Chattanooga headquarters and wowed us with a great variety of the Edsel product line. It's hard to believe that these cars were regarded as "ugly" for quite some time, but they are super cool nowadays. They're also super rare, so we were excited to see a group of this many Edsels at one time! Since Edsel is a rare breed that didn't get much respect to begin with, these cars don't exactly reach the mainstream too often. Many of them were left to rot in junkyards, so to see a group of guys who have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into their Edsels shows you exactly how passionate they are about their cars. [caption id="attachment_3041" align="alignright" width="640"] How 'bout a cool '58 Edsel custom? We like it![/caption] [caption id="attachment_3039" align="alignright" width="640"] This '59 Edsel Corsair is flawless![/caption] Even though they were disliked many years ago, these cars get lots of attention because of their rarity and unique styling. If you noticed some familiar traits, it's because Edsels were built by Ford Motor Company, using Ford and Mercury platforms. The smaller cars, such as the Ranger and Pacer used a Ford platform, while the larger, Citation and Corsair used a Mercury platform. Edsel began production in the 1958 model year, and it didn't take long for things to go sour. By 1959, the production of Edsel automobiles had cost Ford a lot of money, so they pulled the plug, but went forward with the 1960 model production. [caption id="attachment_3040" align="alignright" width="640"] Now this is awesome! It's a Ford Ranchero with an Edsel front end! It also has the super cool Edsel dash in place of the Ford unit, and it has a fuel injected small block Ford for power![/caption] Looking back at the short lived Edsel production, it's hard to understand how these very distinct cars could ever be considered uncool. They have lots of interesting trim and a very cool interior, which includes one of the coolest speedometer designs ever! We thoroughly enjoyed have The Edsel Club join us this week, and we hope they have a great time at their National Event, which will be held in conjunction with the Cleveland, TN Cruise In this Saturday (September 22nd). [caption id="attachment_3042" align="alignright" width="640"] Edsels are rare cars, but a '59 Corsair convertible is VERY rare! Only 1,300 or so were built, and you can bet there's only a handful of them left. We also had a '60 Edsel wagon on hand and those are even more rare![/caption] [caption id="attachment_3044" align="alignright" width="640"] 1960 Edsels are seldom seen, and this four door sedan is a fine example![/caption] [caption id="attachment_3045" align="alignright" width="640"] Tour Guide, Raime Brown giving our Edsel guests a thorough explanation of the Coker facility.[/caption]