Video: Presenting The 1958 Ford Family of Cars

For 1958, Ford Motor Company adopted a fresh marketing message, presenting all its car brands united under one corporate umbrella. Here’s the pitch.

 

The observation may be a bit unfair, perhaps simplistic, but it’s been said that in the 1950s, Henry Ford II, supreme commander of the Ford Motor Company, had a serious case of General Motors envy. Many of his decisions at the time, critics say, seemed designed to make the automaker more like crosstown rival GM, whether it was for better or for worse. The Edsel, introduced for MY 1958, could be one example. Ford now had an Oldsmobile-like entry to broaden its product line, but whether Ford needed its own Oldsmobile was another matter. The car-buying pubic didn’t seem to think so, as things turned out.

In this two-minute promo from 1958, the full Ford Motor Company product line is presented, GM style, as one big, happy family of cars: Ford, Mercury, Edsel, and Lincoln, with the Continental and Thunderbird presented here as stand-alones as well.  This unified corporate approach was a recurring theme for the Dearborn automaker in its messaging that year, appearing in both the TV and print campaigns (as in the illustration above). In this broad, rich variety of FoMoCo models, went the sales pitch, buyers could find “more new ideas… more YOU ideas!” Video follows.

 

5 thoughts on “Video: Presenting The 1958 Ford Family of Cars

  1. From the Text above.

    ” The Edsel, introduced for MY 1958, could be one example. Ford now had an Oldsmobile-like entry to broaden its product line, but whether Ford needed its own Oldsmobile was another matter. The car-buying pubic didn’t seem to think so, as things turned out.”
    ——————————————————————————————————————–
    My observation was and is, that the Edsel was the next step up from Ford and not placed above Mercury. Also, it seemed that Mercury WAS in-between Pontiac and Olds.

    And the Video.
    The Video introduces the cars from Ford, Edsel, Mercury, Lincoln sort of proving what I thought all along.

    • The Corsair was the lower of the Mercury-based Edsels. In pricing, it sat above the Monterey and Montclair but below the gussied up Montclair, the Turnpike Cruiser.

      Montclair 2dr hardtop $3011
      Corsair 2dr hardtop $3066
      Montclair 4dr hardtop $3086
      Corsair 4dr hardtop $3139

      The Citation was above the Turnpike Cruiser.

      T-Cruiser 2dr hardtop $3210
      Citation 2dr hardtop $3242
      T-Cruiser 4dr hardtop $3284
      Citation 4dr hardtop $3316

      The Mercury Parklane had a longer wheelbase and was priced higher than an Edsel. It seems to me that the Edsel was supposed to be a step up from a Mercury.

      • The Mercury Parklane had a longer wheelbase and was priced higher than an Edsel. It seems to me that the Edsel was supposed to be a step up from a Mercury.
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        So Parklane was the most expensive Mercury. Doesn’t this indicate Mercury was a step above Edsel?

  2. They forgot the greatest, the barge Fairlane wagon,, winner of a LOT of demolition derbies. Some even managed to win a couple.
    Here in South Oz a collector of those cars had about a dozen burnt to scrap in a recent bushfire. lost his home and sheds as well.
    We seem to have had an influx of these full size cars here in recent times, Fairlanes Edsels and Mercurys are coming out of the woodwork. And some are even right hand drive meaning local cars. I thought they had all rusted out and then used for demos 25 years ago.

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