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Car of the Day : February 28, 2013; Racing Champions '58 Edsel Corsair
Topic Started: Feb 27 2013, 10:29 PM (918 Views)
craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

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Today's car is from pjedsel's collection and is Racing Champions' 1958 Edsel Corsair.

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Wikipedia.com
 
The Edsel was an automobile marque that was planned, developed, and manufactured by the Ford Motor Company during the 1958, 1959, and 1960 model years. The vehicle was planned as both a “new” product; and, product line for Ford, which would help Ford to make significant inroads into the market share of both General Motors and Chrysler; and thus, close the gap between GM and Ford in the domestic American automotive market, allowing Ford to share that market more equally. But contrary to Ford's internal plans and projections, the Edsel never gained popularity with contemporary American car buyers and sold poorly. The Ford Motor Company lost millions of dollars on the Edsel's development, manufacturing and marketing.


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Quote:
 
For the 1958 model year, Edsel produced four models: The larger Mercury-based Citation and Corsair, and the smaller Ford-based Pacer and Ranger. The Citation was offered in two-door and four-door hardtop and two-door convertible versions. The Corsair was available in two-door and four-door hardtop versions. The Pacer was available as a two-door or four-door hardtop, four-door sedan, or two-door convertible. The Ranger was sold in two-door and four-door hardtop or sedan versions. The four-door Bermuda and Villager wagons and the two-door Roundup wagon were based on the 116-inch wheelbase Ford station wagon platform and shared the trim and features of the Ranger and Pacer models.

The Edsel offered several innovative features, among which were its "rolling dome" speedometer, warning lights for such conditions as low oil level, parking brake engaged, and engine overheating,[5] as well as its Push-button Teletouch transmission shifting system in the center of the steering wheel (a conventional column-shift automatic was also available at a reduced price). Other Edsel design innovations included ergonomically designed controls for the driver and self-adjusting brakes (which Edsel claimed as a first for the industry, even though Studebaker had pioneered them earlier in the decade). The Edsel also offered such advanced safety features as seat belts (which were available at extra cost as optional equipment on many other makes) and child-proof rear door locks that could only be opened with the key


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Yes, Edsel's were used as police cars! However they was never intended to actually be used as a police car so no police package was ever available on any Edsel model. This rather plain blue example is for the Allen Park, MI Police Dept. All of the cars in the Racing Champions Police USA series were based on actual police cars taken from the research and books by Edwin Sanow. Ames, IA also used the Edsel as a patrol car and a '59 Edsel was used by Jefferson County, CO (I have a picture of that one as a screen saver on my office computer). Back in my days as editor of the Northwest Edsel Beacon I had discovered that the Montana Highway Patrol had a couple of Edsel's in service but their service in police use is few and far between. Racing Champions also made a '58 Edsel Fire Chief Car for Milwaukee, WI - this is also based on an acutal vehicle pictured in Edwin Sanow's book, "Ford Police Cars 1932-1997". Like most Racing Champions models, the outside mirrors and hood ornament are very fragile.

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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yay! An Edsel!

Not one of RCs finest works, but it *is* an Edsel! For a long time this was the only Edsel around in 1/64 (other than maybe some obscure brand I might not know about).
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Stampede
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Team Canada
Interesting! I've never seen this as a police version before!
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
Police and Fire Chief versions
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
juantoo3
Feb 27 2013, 11:15 PM
Yay! An Edsel!

Not one of RCs finest works, but it *is* an Edsel! For a long time this was the only Edsel around in 1/64 (other than maybe some obscure brand I might not know about).
Siku had a plastic Edsel in approximate 1/60th and Roco made a "copy" of the Siku one - also in plastic.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

pjedsel
Feb 28 2013, 01:20 AM
juantoo3
Feb 27 2013, 11:15 PM
Yay! An Edsel!

Not one of RCs finest works, but it *is* an Edsel! For a long time this was the only Edsel around in 1/64 (other than maybe some obscure brand I might not know about).
Siku had a plastic Edsel in approximate 1/60th and Roco made a "copy" of the Siku one - also in plastic.
Siku would have been my first guess, but I sure wouldn't have thought of Roco (don't believe I've heard the name before!).
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh! THAT Roco! I know them best for their HO scale military stuff. I did find this:

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-EDSEL-GREEN-ROCO-SCALE-1-64-/321081135252?pt=UK_ToysGames_DiecastVehicles_DiecastVehicles_JN&hash=item4ac1ed5094
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
juantoo3
Feb 28 2013, 09:08 AM
Yep...that's the one - they are indeed much better known for the 1/87th military items but did do a series of cars including the Edsel - mine is red.
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
That Roco version looks a little bit sleeker than the actual car, almost like a phantom Studebaker design.
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
On 2nd look at the cool pix of the blue patrol car, do I see RC painted the wrong location (and shape) for the tailights? The molded area is correct, just below the deck lid. :rolleyes:
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rcarwd1
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Midsize
Nice car, good engine detail.
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JoeX
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Casual JDM enthusiast
Edsel police cars? Well, if they can make an Edsel ambulance, why not a police car?
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Billy Kingsley
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The Mad Documenter!
I got this one when new...but the fire chief car is news to me. You all know my love for Edsels, so that's now pretty high on my want list!
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