Why did Edsel fail? Common answers include overwrought, hideous or generally gynecological styling, poor assembly quality and a lack of identity in the Ford hierarchy of brands. Clearly, it’s for absence of a car-truck. Luckily, through the beauty of interchangeable parts, we can create our own from a like-year Ranchero.
This seller’s gone ahead and started us down that road, offering a ’57 Ranchero with an Edsel clip retrofitted in place. It’s a rolling chassis with no engine (though the seller states/asks that he can provide one with a mysterious question mark?). This one’s a true field find, as it’s been sitting for 20 years and the CA DMV has no record of it. Luckily, you can still get Ford FE motors (guess what the “E” in FE stands for?) on Craigslist for a few hundred bucks. Similarly, there’s decent aftermarket support for late-50s Fords, so long as you don’t need some year/trim specific interior trim bit.
Anyway, the seller gives us just this one picture, minimal info and a price of $2500 for the whole thing (and $500 more for the original Ranchero front clip). Surely there’s a joke about paying that much for…that…grille, but we’re too classy to make it.
1957 Edsel Ranchero – Sacramento Craigslist