01
Origins
The Ranger was the affordable end of Ford's new Edsel division, launched in September 1957 amid the loudest marketing campaign the industry had seen. The car itself was competent — Ford underneath, with the division's push-button Teletouch transmission selector mounted in the steering wheel hub on many cars, and the vertical 'horse-collar' grille that comedians never tired of. What failed was everything around it: Ford launched a mid-priced brand directly into the 1958 recession that gutted the mid-priced market, priced it against its own Mercury, and promised a revolution while delivering a trim level. The Ranger actually outlasted the grander Edsels, surviving into the brief 1960 model year as the last car to wear the badge. Ford wrote off around 250 million dollars, and 'Edsel' entered the language.
Edsel Ranger · Brian Snelson · CC BY 2.0
