I’ve put forth the argument that the Edsel’s problem was not its vertical grille, but simply because it was the wrong car at the wrong time. There were other concepts around at the same time, most notably the Packard Predictor. And Brooks Stevens was an exponent too, with this “All-Purpose Sedan” (aka: station wagon). It sat on a 1959 Chrysler New Yorker chassis, and the body was built by Reutter.
I concur. There were vertical grille concepts for the Continental Mark II that were tasteful and the ’55 Packard Request concept was well received. The Edsel was overly hyped and they were mocked and the whole thing snowballed. ’58 was a bad year to introduce a new medium priced car and Robert McNamara killed it prematurely I think, and he went on to give us the Vietnam war and the F-111 jet so his resume didn’t play out well.
I agree completely. There were all kinds of weird design elements out around that time, but people got used to them because the cars they were on sold fairly well. The 59 Chevy rear? Or the 58 Thunderbird rear? The entire 59 Cadillac?
Car styling (all of life, really) is like a grade school playground. If something is popular it is accepted and even praised, and if it is not popular it is mercilessly ridiculed and shunned.
Did AI finally cough up a V-shaped grille?
Wow that’s like a mash-up of Packard, Edsel, Pontiac, Rambler wagon, Nomad, and early ’60s New Yorker hardtop wagon all in one car. The front headlight eyebrows are a bit ’59 Dodge but better looking. Lower portion of grille is a bit ’58 Studebaker but better looking.
The Packard Predictor (and even more so, the drawings and clays of the aborted real ’57 Packards) had a tall, thin vertical grille – like the Edsel – but were better executed and more elegant and graceful. They were evocative of 1930s Packards, not of a toilet seat or horse collar. The Scimitar does it better too.
Any new medium-priced car in 1958 would be the wrong car at the wrong time, but the Edsel would have been the wrong car a few years earlier or later too. Pricing that bracketed the existing Mercury line, overhyped, gimmicky, redundant.
When constrained by a tight budget, Stevens created timeless classics. When working for rich idiots with infinite money, Stevens created grotesque monstrosities. He didn’t seem to sense that the monstrosities would pollute his legacy.
x2. Stevens had bad instincts toward neotraditional elements that the smaller budgets effectively constrained. For example, look at the design prototypes of the Wagoneer. A timeless design, but the hood bulge and tombstone grille were hardly improvements on the Malibu.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/design/design-capsule-1959-willys-malibu-and-1961-j-100-the-first-two-tries-at-styling-the-1963-jeep-wagoneer/
For some reason, I see a Plymouth Valet wagon from the early 60’s.
Surprised Brooks didn’t know the difference between a sedan and a station wagon.
Stevens made this car and 2 more variations; a 2-door convertible and a sedan with center division window that could be converted to an open front town car, or the entire roof removed for a dual cowl convertible sedan.
If I remember correctly, These 3 were built for the big chemical and metal conglomerate Olin. The convertible had doors that followed the curving black side sweep upwards, and it used the mechanicals from a 1959 Ford Skyliner. Yeah, a 1959 Chrysler New Yorker convertible using a Ford retractable top mechanism [but not the actual top or decklid panels].
Photo is of the car on display at the Amelia Island show
Here’s a shot of all 3 cars at Amelia Island.
And a view of the “All-purpose sedan” with the tailgate & roof open.
And a close-up of the front grill on the towncar/sedan. Note the copper center grill. Olin was a major processor and seller of copper, brass and aluminum so Stevens used them in this car. The lower grill slates are extruded aluminum, and the full wheel covers on this car were polished copper. [The copper accents were only on this one car, the other 2 had chrome accents.]
The towncar/sedan/phaeton is part of the National motor museum in Nevada [ex Harrah car museum]. The other 2 cars are in private collections.
Does the “A” on the hood ornament stand for anything?
I didn’t think the Edsel was that bad looking, compared to other cars of that same period but the Scimitar is strange. There’s something very sinister looking about that front end. On the other hand, given today’s badboy attitudes, it would probably evoke favorable reaction.
Vertical grilles went out of style when pontoon fenders came in around 1940, trying ti integrate one into a longer lower wider body style isnt easy as Ford found out the hard way but this kinda works, The roof treatment found a life at Studebaker.
I have to wonder what the good craftsmen at Reutter thought as they were shaping the bodywork. I’m sure they were too professional to say anything publicly, but….
Like Harley Earl, Stevens needed an editor.
Love the airy green house. Wasn’t a similar design proposed as a prototype for a new ’63 Studebaker named the Sceptre? The doors were to be identical on a diagonal, the right front door would be used as the left rear door. Brooks Stevens was the designer.
I’m not digging the full-width scoop above the windshield—talk about air brakes!—or the scoop/upkick at the beltline on the rear door. Other than that, I really like this!