Of the scant 2,846 Edsels produced in 1959 for the 1960 model year, only 295 Ranger two-door hardtops like this one rolled off of Ford’s Louisville, Kentucky assembly plant. I saw this 1960 Edsel Ranger Two-Door Hardtop for sale on Facebook Marketplace and recognized it since it’s a local car. I’ve only seen it on the road once, but I’ll never forget it. From a distance, it looked like a 1960 Ford Starliner coming my way, but as it got closer, I recognized that ’59 Pontiac-ish split front grill and chrome pod fender-mounted turn signals. It wasn’t a Canadian Ford, it was a last-gasp 1960 Edsel. This rare Ranger is located in Stokesdale, North Carolina, and is for sale here on Facebook Marketplace for $21,000.
Sixty-seven days. That was the total number of production days for the 1960 Edsel before Ford pulled the plug on November 19, 1959. There’s a newspaper clipping showing the last 1960 Edsel about to roll off the assembly line. It was identified as a tan station wagon, and I wonder if it survived. The seller doesn’t give us any history or many details about his Edsel. It currently has almost 87,000 original miles, and the gold paint on it is described as custom. I checked the ’60 Edsel paint chart, and they offered an Alaskan Gold Poly (in honor of Alaska becoming the 49th state in 1959), but it’s darker than the gold on this particular Ranger. The gold-and-Polar White contrasting top looks shiny and very presentable, as do the chrome, trim, glass, and lenses.
I also like the matching gold fender shirts; they give the car an elongated, svelte vibe that accentuates the thin Starliner roofline. It’s ironic that the 1960 Edsel’s styling is the most conventional of its three-model-year run, but for 1960, it’s the rear end styling, not the front end, that raises many people’s eyebrows. The low, wide horizontal lines and fins of the 1960 Ford are interrupted by four protruding vertical taillights raised off the rear deck. And in a measure of cost-cutting, the ’60 Ford taillight area is plainly visible and covered with a piece of sheet metal. Bizarro.
The Ranger’s interior appears to be in good shape. Rangers were available in five interior colors, and this one has what the sales brochure describes as Medium Gold Moroccan Vinyl and Brown Pebblecloth. I spot a split in the driver’s seatback along the top edge, and I’m not sure what color the carpet is; it appears coral in the photographs. Everything else looks good, and there are color-coordinated seatbelts front and rear, and an aftermarket air conditioning unit under the dash.
Power-wise, the standard V8 for the 1960 Edsel was a 292-cubic-inch engine that was rated at 185 horsepower. That’s what I’m assuming is under the hood with 86,899 original miles on the clock. It appears to be paired with a two-speed Mile-O-Matic automatic transmission. The seller shares that the car has new carburetor gaskets, a new radiator, and a new fuel pump, and claims, “Overall, it drives well. The only thing it needs is a brake check and a carburetor tune-up.” Not surprisingly, we’ve only featured a few of these rare ’60 Edsel “Starliner Juniors” here on Barn Finds and this one is the nicest by far. I wonder how many survived and are on the road 67 years after the Ford Motor Company pulled the plug on the Edsel?
WAY cooler than most cars of that period,& if it’s as
good as it appears to be,a good deal.
It should sell quickly.Stokesdale is just over the Virginia
border,& just North of Greensboro.I was there last week.
Edsel Al Leonard, pick up the nearest white courtesy phone, please.
I’ve got a buddy who has one of these. It’s a white original paint Survivor. Those tail lights are wild.
Been an Edsel lover since I was about 5 or 6. At that young age, I often wondered why it died off not realizing the bigger picture and Robert McNamara’s hatred for the brand that killed it. This one looks very solid for being the same age as me. Q: I wonder if the seller has the lettering for the truck & ‘Ranger’ nameplates? I doubt those items are being reproduced.
If only they had toned down the styling in the beginning and that recession hadn’t occurred this marque might have survived awhile longer. It probably would have been axes along with Mercury eventually but it’s fun to imagine. Where’s Scotty with the Photoshop of the 2012 Edsel?
It was a case of analysis paralysis, while the Whiz Kids studiously applied the latest motivational research and marketing methods to every aspect of the development they missed record sales year after record sales year, only to launch into the teeth of the first recession since the war ended. If there’d been a 1955 Edsel there’d have been a 2010 Edsel.
The rear treatment is beautiful, but I am sure not everyone sees that. Those taillights!
I have always wondered if the 60 Edsel taillight lenses and maybe even the housing was used later on or at the same time as the newly introduced Mercury Comet ??
The Comet was not originally a Mercury, it was meant to be the entry level Edsel , like the Falcon was to Ford . the first Comets were just that- Comets. With Edsel gone they were orphans without a car line.
You can see the “C” emblems on the Comet are the same design as Edsel’s “E” with the center part of the E removed. Supposedly the 60 Edsel red tail lights are the same as Comets ‘ cat eye ” tail lights . Because Edsel was gone, Mercury ended up with them, but at First Mercury didnt want a compact line , figuring they were a high line car that needed no compact, but the Comet sold well, and got buyers into their dealerships.
In a sort of corporate out-the-door jab, the Comet scored higher sales in its first model year than the Edsel had sold in all three of its model years combined.
@Don: After 1960 the plan was for the Comet to be THE Edsel, there were never any plans for a full size 1961 or beyond. Wisely, they chose to give the luxe Falcon a fresh start.
Whoa, all 60 Edsels are rare but this one’s also pretty-darn sexy! I’d call her my (gold) Nugget. Lofty price but try finding another for sale that’s this decent. I thought they were made at the Louisville KY assy Plant, not in Missouri…
D’Oh! My geographic error, David, the plant was in Louisville as you said. I was probably enjoying too much Kentucky Bourbon whilst typing up this article. Cheers!
Hehe, thanks Ron. Btw, no such thing as too much good KY Bourbon :o)
I’m struggling for a comment.
It’s on Craigslist, not FB.
Some years ago I read a magazine article on a convertible 1960 Ranger, built in San Jose as I recall. The restorer had all of the pertinent documents from the sale, one of which stated that the tonneau cover for the conv top mechanism was missing on delivery to the dealer. When the car was disassembled for a complete restoration in the 90’s they found the original tonneau in a black bag which had been shoved so far forward (right up against the back of the rear seatback) as to be hidden underneath the convertible top well liner. It had not seen the light of day since final assembly in the plant.
The 1960 model year would be the only Edsel I would be interested in owning.
Always loved the 1960 Edsel, particularly after that dog-ugly 1959! The ’58s were “different”, but they very quickly “grew” on me. Wish I could afford this one!
Can I please win the Lotto now! Always a 1960 Starliner fan, This Edsel would fill all the boxes.
I think this Edsel is as nice as a Starliner and less costly than one in this condition. Same lines without the stars. Nice color too.
The 1960 Edsels were a standout. Almost had one once.
Critics tended to say the 1960 Edsel grille looked like a Pontiac. I always said
who had the split grille first, 1958.
The1959’s, then all Pontiacs through the 1960s and beyond, had the split grille which looked increasingly like an Edsel as the decade progressed into the 1970’s.
I never wanted an Edsel,until I saw this one!
you really got to love it to buy it.
The first Edsel I saw in 1968 I was 14 and it was love at first sight. I have only seen one ’60 Edsel, a 4door sedan and loved it too. I passed up two chances to own a ’59, Both road ready sedans and both went for reasonable prices at auctions. The red one was owned by an old friend that ran a restoration shop but was retiring around 1995. That Edsel was their honeymoon car and he had kept it in pristine condition. I still regret that decision.
In High School a local Ford dealer had a red ’59 Edsel convertible for sale.It had been order special for the owner’s wife. It was loaded and pristine.
My Mom and I loved it but my Dad said no Edsels and no convertibles.
It sold in 1966 for $500.00
Your dad was right about no convertibles. Too bad about no Edsels.
It was 1958, not 68. Can’t even blame spellcheck for that one.
I like it. It it a bit ugly, ugly enough to look beautiful. Love the tail lights, perhaps a nod to the prior horse-collar grille? I think I could sleep on the back seat in more comfort than my bed. The price seems in line as well. Another parade queen.
Rare because nobody bought them. The 58 was a nice looking car, the 59 was kinda ugly, and the 60 was godawful ugly.
Most of us go the other direction. The 60 the best looking, 59 # 2, 58-well that one is really ugly.
I like them all, as unique as they are, but this one is beautiful to me though the most mainstream.
I was 3 when the 58 Edsel was introduced with all of its hype and mystery. Called the smart car with a teletouch transmission, I thought it was the coolest car on the road. In 1960, our neighbor bought a red Edsel convertible. Talk about a rare car.
My favorite was the 58 first year which had nothing in common with other ford models.
Yeah, back in the early ’70’s in the very robust salvage yard in my home town I spied a severely picked-over black ’60 convertible. You and I together have probably seen a decent percentage of total production of same . . .
Today even totally picked over it would be worth trying to save it , if it still had a body!! Years ago I found a perfect clean rust free 1955 DeSoto Fireflite 2dr HT that had been totally stripped just for parts. It was a sad moment.
Seller says all it needs is a brake check and a carburetor tune up. The first is no big deal, just tedious perhaps. But if only a carburetor tune up is required, why not do it yourself or hire someone before sale? Take that off the table as a possible cause for performance amongst other possibilities. So at least a compression test along with an inspection to confirm that engine is okay.
What a rare find although not the convertible which only 76 were produced. This car was a time capsule and just as good if not better in what was offered in 1960, although I personally prefer the 58- I own a 58 pacer hardtop- with the rarity of this model alone speaks for itself… although I believe the 59 was the most ugly of the years, through the years there have been a lot of negativity and bad jokes concerning these cars and ford lost lots of money on them but today they have become quite a collectors find and also very valuable. They were good cars either you love them or hate them but cannot deny there distinction…