Although Edsel’s were arguably one of the biggest design flops in automotive history, they have recently picked up steam as desirable collector cars. Named after Henry Ford’s son, Edsel B. Ford, less than 120,000 were produced during their three year run from 1958 to 1960, making them a fairly limited oddity. This car is a 2008 Crown Victoria and was customized as a tribute to the Edsel. It can be found here on RM/Sotheby’s, the car is up for auction on Friday, August 31st. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Michael for the tip on this unique car!
According to the auction information: “Edsel enthusiast Rob Cerame celebrated his favorite car’s 50th Anniversary by envisioning what would have become of the marque had it survived all these years. Cerame produced two 50th Anniversary Edsels, based on new Ford Crown Victorias.”
Here you can see the Edsel inspired taillights as well as the really neat embossed bumper. While this car is not the most desirable custom car, the auction estimate is only $10,000 to $15,000 and is being sold at no reserve. For that price, the new owner gets a neat conversation piece that may go up in value. What do you think? Is this car worth taking a five-figure gamble? Maybe you are an Edsel enthusiast and would love to own this car to keep? Let us know.
Actually a pretty neat looking car, if you’re an Edsel person. And not a bad price for a very rare two-off.
The builder should really cut back on his recreational drug use!
An elderly person’s car with a toilet seat, a dream come true!
Seriously, I never saw customizing that I liked. Leave it original.
April @*#!ing Fools!!!..this is a joke, right?
I like it. It’s not my type of car but, as far as a update for the Edsel goes it’s not bad. Other than the horse collar grill the original car wasn’t a bad looking car compared to the other Fords of the day. That’s what would doom an update version today if they kept the grill design. They got right with the 1960 but, it was too late by then.
Funny how everyone loves the piss ant Alfa Romeo grille but doesn’t like this one which is slightly bigger, better shaped and suits the style of the rest of the front, the Alfa grille looks like a little access cover over an odd shaped hole ??
Wow! Clearly designed to cause people to think the real Edsels were attractive in comparison to this abomination.
The 1958 Edsel was a good looking rig. I loved the grill. Ford jellied out in 1959 changing the grille to the blah-this is an old man’s car. Everyone harps about the horse collar nose on the 58 and yet the vertical style was used in later Pontiacs, Lincolns Eldorados et. seq.
The paint color choice is horrible. Pure white would dance it up.
Repeat after me: The word “rare” is not a synonym for “valuable”.
Apply as often as necessary (which in old car advertising may be wayyyyy toooooo frequently).
Those are 6 cylinder Mustang wheels.
Interesting choice.
If you can ignore the conversion (taste is subjective, after all) you might get a 20k mile Panther for 10 grand. That alone is not a bad deal.
That’s what I was thinking
You can always get a new front clip cheap and get that nose job fixed.
Awful taste, but great execution.
Not to always be negative. But. You’d think, for Southebys, they would straighten the right grille for the photo shoot. I’m not a fan of the faux porthole behind the front fender arch. Looks like auto parts store, aisle 12. And why install a partial landau top on a four door sedan? Steering wheel is uninspired too. I want to like this creation but I just can’t give a huge thumbs up to a Crown Vic.
As an Edsel owner I approve, good thing that he did not put push buttons on the steering wheel…
That would mess with the airbag.
A friend of mine has a 1958 Pacer I want to buy from him.
He says the push buttons work just fine.
I will have to test that theory.
I give it an A for effort but only an Edsel lover would have wanted/built a car designed around that horrid horse-collar grille.
As it sits, this car would be an ideal candidate for the TV show Botched -if only they worked on cars.
Had they used ’58 grill with its boldness, the car would attract more attention.
Leaving aside that I am of the “Edsel-lives-and-we-call-it-a-Crown-Vic” school, and leaving aside that even Edsel dispensed with the horse-collar grill by 1960, it seems to me that the customizer might have looked to BMW for inspiration as to how to handle that design aspect.
A Ford Taurus meets a really cute Alpha Romeo and this is the resulting love-child-car. Sad….
Err Alfa Romeo that is. 😎
OK… Wish there were some way to unsee this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85cL1HisrNc
Clearly this is high end, quality craftsmanship. I didn’t say I like the car either. Horse collar grille? Nope. More like a woman’s body part, and that description isn’t original to me.
I’m afraid whom ever gets this car, will be stuck with this thing for the rest of his natural life. : (
If they were going to all of the effort to design a split bumper around the Edsel grille, why in the world not have it follow the line of the grille? Makes it look like they put it on upside down.
I get shades of the Alfa 159 from this…
I really like Edsels and Crown Vics…but this mash-up would have to grow on me. Might look better in person?
“Just because you can,doesn’t mean you should”.
$10-15K is what they’re paying to someone to haul it off???
Well? you know what they say, don’t ja? There’s an ass for every seat. lol.. sorry.
Looks like lady parts on a cop car. I’m emotionally confused
You could use this car for an “Edasil” commercial.
I jes’ crack my own self up. Obviously, easily amused.
Someone performed the same unnatural act to a Taurus some years ago and the results were similar…
As some of you know, I went with my family to the local Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln dealer on E-Day, but even that doesn’t inspire me to want to own one of these 50th Anniversary cars.
I will confess that I’m sorry that I didn’t buy the ’60 Ranger bubble top coupe that I had the chance to own around 18 years ago. It was solid, the price was right and I thought a hot FE/four-speed would make a cool period-correct Super Stocker/streeter.
As others have said, the work’s well executed.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH for posting this, “abomination.”
I really did need a good laugh today. 😂
What has been seen cannot be unseen…
Love it. Looks great. Have always loved the horse collar grille from the start. I like something that’s different. Who wants to buy a new car that looks like all the others?
The person who drives this will be laughed at just like the original edsel drivers way back when where 😂
This creation is a very interesting touch to a very bland sedan.
Well done.
Okay anyone elas see gray seat backs and tan bottom seat parts? To me I don’t think this car is ever go up in value unless you waited 10 to 15 years. That’s like taking a 2016 Impala and putting fins on it and say it’s a tribute to a 59.? Dont get me wrong those cars ride like a lincoln and have just as much stuff to them as do a Lincoln. But myself I’ll pass.
Well done.
It looks stupid .
some kind of UUUUUGLY …. looks worse than the original
Why would anyone go to this trouble and expense?
One man’s treasure……..
CJ, because they can, it takes all kinds to make a world, as well as being interesting, we all have different likes and dislikes, otherwise it gets boring!
Yea, well, what’s old is new again I suppose. ha ha
Well, I think it looks cool. Just the time and craftsmanship that it took to modify this Panther (not to speak of the $$$), makes it a fine example of American ingenuity. I would be proud to drive it.
Wow–what a lot of negativity to the Edsel. I was a teenager when it was introduced & the vertical grill is what I really liked. Guess I was too young to imagine it as a “toilet seat-female fun part -or an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon” I suppose the toilet seat gang have a stomach problem, the female gang are HORNEY ( I like that) & the sucking gang I will not go into ( I’straight)..
Yeah, you pissed off an Edsel owner, 58 Pacer Convertible Stuff It!!!
Lax pal, lax. It is for sale, after all.
Do not understand your reply. Elaborate please
Chuck, I’m with you, I like all of the ‘different’ stuff, why have something that everyone has, stand out from the boring crowd and do your own thing, not disappear in with the rest of the herd. People laugh and point at the old Edsels, but at least they notice them, not like all the other stuff that never gets noticed because there are thousands of them, and they all look ordinary.
Why did you remove / censor my incredibly funny and non obscene comment??
Personally, I like Edsels but this is one retro-tribute that should have remained within the confines of the creator’s imagination. It’s beyond the limits of good taste! Just horrendous!!!
So much effort, time and money would have been better served saving or even customizing a REAL EDSEL
It’s a flop like the original Edsel it’s not worth much! & I can say the same about new thunderbirds they are just wanna be’s they will never be worth much I have a relative that bought a new thunderbird in 2002 paid 45 for it I seen ones just like it on Barret Jackson auction sell for 20 so not a very good investment unless you like pissin money away foolishly!
Beauity is in the eye of the beholder
Sold for $9000.00 about 3 grand higher than my guess.
Maybe the buyer will tuck it away for several decades out of sight
If you set out to please everyone you end up with Dull !!… To me a good design will hit people between the eye’s & they will either smile with joy or puke. This is getting close to the hit ’em between the eye’s category. I love it & would happily drive it. If people laughed that doesn’t matter it would make me smile. It’s far more interesting to look at than the original car, that’s not criticising the original but there are thousands out there & where’s the fun in that. I give the designer 10/10, it’s never going to be worth big money but that’s not the point. P.S. i love the original Edsel & Alfa Romeo’s so there’s no accounting for taste!!
taxijohn, when I see the TV ads for the latest Alfa, the first thing that strikes me is the appearance of the front, it looks like something is missing, the size of the grille compared with the overall size of the car just doesn’t add up, there’s almost no grille at all, it’s like an oversized badge stuck on the front. Weird.
And they think their going to get ten to fifteen grand for this?
I would buy it for fifteen hundred dollars, and the first thing I would do is to replace the front end with stock parts.
This is what happens when a grease monkey attempts to turn himself into a designer.
Robert, if you read the comments they got 9 grand for it so someone appreciates something a little different !