Disaster in Dearborn: The Story of the Edsel

by Thomas E. Bonsall

Few cars in history have grabbed the public’s fancy as much as the ill-fated Edsel—the Titanic of automobiles, a marketing disaster whose magnitude has made it a household word. Remarkably, there has never before been a book that tells the whole story—how the Edsel was planned, created, produced, and marketed. This richly illustrated book is the result of years of research by an award-winning automotive historian with access to the dark reaches of the Ford Motor Company’s archives. The author also interviewed most of the original key Edsel design team stylists, who have supplied additional archival material. The result is a unique history of the Edsel program from the initial discussions in the late 1940s, through the first sketches in the mid-1950s, to the last, unlamented 1960 models. The Edsel story, however, deals with much more than a new brand of car. It was a key component in a deadly serious corporate undertaking at Ford Motor Company following World War II. Ford wanted to remedy years of mismanagement and return the company to parity with General Motors by dramatically expanding Ford’s presence in the burgeoning medium-priced field. The Edsel was the most spectacular failure in that effort, but was only one pawn in a complex, high-stakes chess game that was a thoroughgoing disaster from start to finish. In the case of the Edsel, the failure was the result of almost too many factors to poorly conceived marketing, contentious internal corporate politics, bad quality control, and, ultimately, lack of support at the higher reaches of the corporation. The greatest irony of all, though, is that the Edsel—as this book demonstrates in its surprising conclusion—was actually a modest success that deserved continued management support.

242 pages, Hardcover

First published August 9, 2002

Reviews

[Steven Geiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy read. sums things up nicely.

[Sage Gaska · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The real failure in the Edsel saga had little to do with the car. It was a failure of Ford Motor Company to management on almost too many levels to count. The greatest of these failures, however, may have been the inability to realize that the 1958 Edsel was actually a modest success that deserved continued support."

Disaster in Dearborn is a fascinating account of the rise and fall of the Edsel, a brand of automobiles launched by Ford in September 1957 only for production to end by November 1959 and for the brand to become one of the most famous failures in American business history. Thomas Bonsall tells a great story of the Edsel and Ford then succinctly summarizes a handful of points that he believes explains the Edsel's failure.

The quote above best sums up Bonsall's defense of the car itself. The Edsel line didn't sell all that poorly considering the recession at the time and the challenges of launching an entirely new car brand with a brand new dealer network. But, Ford put so much money into marketing the car initially that anything less than an incredible success would be counted as a failure. On top of that was classic Ford office politics and a lack of patience from executives, including Mr. Robert McNamara, who wanted to can the whole brand before the first car rolled off the assembly line.

Disaster in Dearborn is a great read for those interested in the automotive industry and fascinating tales of business.

[Well · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book that I highly recommend for any car enthusiasts. It actually taught me things about a car in the production and sale end that I was not aware of. It was very interesting in that fact. The book contained a lot of GM facts and figures that was not necessarily relevant to the story, but added to the content in a positive way.

[Joe Keefhaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are into history, and especially automotive history, this is a difficult book to put down. The author begins with a brief biography of the Edsel car's namesake, Edsel Ford. Edsel Ford, the talented son of Henry, served as president of Ford Motor Company for many years, but was thwarted at almost every turn by his domineering father. The chaos of Henry Ford's later years set the stage for the decisions leading to the Edsel car and the company's other plans for rapid expansion. Bonsall highlights the toxic atmosphere at Ford, both during Henry and Edsel's time and even after Henry II took over. This infighting, economic conditions at the time of Edsel's launch, and the company's failure to give Edsel time to become established ultimately led to the car's quick demise. The wrongheaded decision to move Mercury upscale and fit Edsel between Ford and Mercury in the heirarchy of makes and establish a complete new dealership network were also major factors.

[Jongroth52 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great history refresher for a car buff.

[Angel Valenzuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A riveting book