Ford Motor Co. had high hopes for the Edsel. Innovative for the times, market research told them there was a niche for a new car sandwiched between Ford and Mercury and yet another between Mercury and Lincoln. So, the Edsel Division was launched in 1958 with the expectation of selling 200,000 cars the first year. They ended up selling only one-third of that number, so Ford regrouped for 1959. This first-year Pacer, based on Ford underpinnings, is covered with dust in Cynthiana, Kentucky, and looking for someone to bring it back to life. It’s available here on Facebook Marketplace for $5,000.

The Edsel got the jump on its perceived competition by going on sale two months before everyone else did in 1957. They were attempting to carve out another niche for themselves which was really two market segments. Segment #1: Between Ford and Mercury, they launched the Ford-based Ranger and Pacer built at Ford plants. Segment #2: Between Mercury and Lincoln, they launched the Mercury-based Citation and Corsair built at Mercury plants. $250 million and years of planning told them this was the right thing to do. Apparently, they were wrong as just 68,000 cars saw the light of day for 1958. With red ink flowing everywhere, Edsel scaled back in 1959 to just the Ford-based models, yet the downward spiral continued. Just two months after announcing its 1960 models, the Edsel wake was over. If you want to know all there is to know about the Edsel, go to Edsel Club for a history lesson.

The seller’s 1958 Pacer 4-door sedan is one of 7,100 made that year. All Pacer body styles totaled 21,000 units out of division tallies of 68,000. While these numbers might sound good to most, they were bad compared to expectations and what Ford and Mercury sold individually. We don’t get told much about the seller’s car other than it’s said to have 60,000 miles on the odometer, but we don’t know how long it’s been living in this barn which has a dirt floor and open access, or why it’s there in the first place. Given the layers of dust and dirt, years may have easily turned into decades.

Assuming they’re original colors, the exterior is off-white which would be set off nicely by the blue interior. Under the hood is likely a 361 cubic inch V-8 with 4-barrel carburetor that was rated at 303 hp. That would have been more than ample power to move this machine along back in the day. This car looks to have the “Tele-Touch” automatic transmission with the shifter buttons in the steering wheel (shades of George Jetson; they would jettison that for 1959 as being expensive and not always reliable).

And there ends the seller’s input. Does it have any rust? Well, the lip on the hood appears to, but we can’t attest to anywhere else. The body looks generally straight, with no obvious dents or craters. The infamous horse collar front grill looks no worse for the wear, but the chrome is so dirty that who really knows. The interior may be intact, but the one close-up photo provided is fixed on the dashboard. What’s there looks mighty dirty and the carpet has likely seen better days. Because of their history and the limited supply of surviving Edsel’s today, nice originals or restored examples can command big bucks, but less so for project cars.