Relive the final days of Edsel Ford in this beautiful video presented by the Ford House.
First, we owe a big thank-you to automotive historian Bill Munro, who shared the link to this video with us. (See our review of his excellent book Traction for Sale here and check out all his books at his Amazon author’s page here.) Next, we thank the Ford House, the caretakers of Edsel and Eleanor Ford’s beautiful home in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan for producing this moving video. .
The only son of auto tycoon Henry Ford, Edsel Ford has often been portrayed by automotive writers as a sad and pathetic figure who never managed to step out of the shadow of his bullying father. That depiction is all wrong, we believe. For one thing, while his battles with his difficult father are famous, the truth is Edsel won many of them. The beautiful Lincolns of the Classic Era, the Lincoln Zephyr, and the Mercury were all his projects. The exterior design of the Model A and Ford’s styling leadership of the low-priced field all through the ’30s are the work of Edsel as well.
What’s more, it’s clear that Edsel never allowed his life to be defined by his father or by the Ford Motor Company. That was only one aspect of his remarkable life, which he successfully compartmentalized. His greater focus was on his wife Eleanor and his own beloved family, the magnificent home he and Eleanor built together, the arts, countless charity efforts, and the community at large. Sadly, Edsel died on May 26, 1943 of stomach cancer. This insightful video is devoted to the final days before his death, and in our view, provides a more accurate view of what Edsel Ford was really all about.
Perhaps Edsel’s best obituary came from Charles Sorensen in his book, ‘My Forty Years with Ford’. he said, “Edsel Ford was a gentleman in the finest, fullest meaning of the word. He was gentle, considerate of others, unsparing of himself – and he was a man.”
Great quote. Thanks again, Bill.
Hmm . . . Some similarities. I grew up on the shores of Lake St. Clair, where you believed that if you could see the other side, that isn’t a lake, that’s a pond. My father, beloved by many as an unselfish person, passed when he was 49, one week after my 16th birthday, my mother also 47 at the time. Leaving my mother to raise three sons and a daughter, who was the youngest in the family home. Not having the Ford name, but always having Ford cars and trucks.
The one major difference was my dad was a road grader operator for the City of Mt. Clemens. Even though, I felt a richness of family as valuable to me as anyone else.