Having thrown in the towel on trying to catch the road runner, this Wiley Edsel has been parked for quite some time. With a charming patina, and some neat hand pin striping, this Edsel was signed or named “Ol Wiley” by the pinstripe artist. Appearing fairly solid and complete, this Ranger is offered for the buy it now price of $5,500, or the seller has stated in the ad that he is asking $5,000 or best offer. Check it out here on ebay out of Lima, Ohio.
Inside of Ol Wiley is a manageable interior that definitely needs carpet. The dash and upholstery are in fair shape from what can be seen, and the steering wheel while useful, has several cracks present. The headliner has fallen, but is still hanging on in a few places.
The white on peanut butter upholstery is certainly dirty, but could be cleaned up nicely and left as is. There are no photos of the engine, and the seller has not attempted to start the engine whatsoever. The air cleaner assembly is in the back seat, but that is as much of the drive-train as we get to see from the listing.
The custom pin striping was rather surprising upon taking a look at this auction. “Ol Wiley” is pinstriped on the backend with a hand painted image of Wile E. Coyote the cartoon character. The paint is well worn on the hood and trunk, and even some of the pin striping has faded. There is some surface rust to be seen, but not too much rot. Both lower rear quarters have some evidence of surface rust. The only rough looking areas are the lower passenger side door, and the front driver side rocker area. No information is given on the condition of the floors or trunk, but as a whole this Edsel seems in fair shape. The only other notable rust is along the rain rail on the roofs edge. All of the trim appears present, although covered with some pitting on the pot metal pieces. Depending on your flavor, this Edsel could be preserved with its neat pin striping, or certainly repainted offering a more proper Edsel like appearance. Would you take a gamble on this Ranger?
I believe the name’s Wile E. Coyote.
Would need to assess the drivetrain for sure. No way I’d not check it out.
This guy is a flipper for sure he’s not interested in anything except a sale.
I would have at least advised if the engine wasn’t frozen.
I think you’re right about a flipper. It’s amazing how many people don’t even bother taking the car off the trailer to take the photos.
It kind of looks like a three speed, altho we can’t see a clutch. That would be interesting, with the big engines that were in these cars.
Definitely a 3 speed, not auto.
This car is registered in the Edsel Registry here.
http://www.edsel.com/registry/u9736960.htm
It gives a brief history of the car with the few options it has.
Imagine this fixed up to look original with a nice set of period Mags but a new Ford Coyote 5.0 and a 5 Speed manual transmission. Did you notice that air cleaner is from a 1970’s or 1980’s vehicle. There was one like this in the Mt Airy MD area several years ago for around $3500 that was in much better shape. I do like this body style. For a Cheaper build I’m sure a 302 and C4 or C6 would work. Maybe even a 300 Six. The body doesn’t look too bad.
In the documentary “The cars that made America” on the History Channel this car was a disaster for Ford, they lost over a billion dollars in todays money developing it with poor sales it nearly bankrupt them. On a highway north of town there is a old building that has been fenced up with 4 to 5 old cars on the property and right out front is a white or cream color Edsel rusting away covered in leaves and growth.
For a few thousand more…
https://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/cto/d/1959-edsel-ranger/6362624012.html
Definitely a better way to go. Don’t care for the skirts though. Looks like a nice driver.
I have one for 4200 engine not frozen up
The one in Chicago is nice, but would have to get rid of the scallops/stripes.
5000…8500 not a hard choice there. You couldn’t make the first one look the the blue one for $3500.
Too expensive, Patina, latina for paint me.
I dont know if it true or not but i always heard they were good running cars.what killed them is they said it looks like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon.maybe somebody can tell me for sure.thank you
I was told by my father and uncle that the people back in the day said the front end looked like a certain part of the female anatomy.
Sorry but if that were true, I think they would have sold like hot cakes!
The US economy had it’s first post-WWII economic recession in 1958 (the economy shrank after several years of growth) anyhow cars generally did not sell well, and certainly not as well as 1957’s record sales year. Edsel was more a luxury marque that just transportation, slotted closer to Mercury than Ford, anyhow Edsel hit the market at a time when established brands all struggled (maybe w/ the exception of economy-minded Rambler) so it was not a great environment to roll out a new brand of car (especially one that critics characterized as a lemon-sucking Oldsmobile).
I just came across its twin the other day in a salvage yard.
If I remember correctly these cars were equipped with a 391 for power! I in fact have a eye on a great Edsel Wagon! It’s the longest wagon you have ever seen! He also has a big Edsel sedan to go with the deal! I have been dickering the price with him for a while! I hope that we can get together on the price! They are both solid and actually look decent, but I wanted to redo the wagon keep it for myself and flip the other to help pay for redo on the wagon! I am open to opinion?
top engine in ’59 was the 361, then 332,292 and 223.
Sorry Mike you are so right I had to look back at what I wrote! Thanks for the correct information!
What most people fail to recall, is what came along in the wake of the Edsel. One of the most successful new cars ever made, the Falcon. It more than made up for the Edsel’s losses.
Ford even made more from the Edsel loss on the Mustang.
The Falcon was actually going to be an Edsel as well, but they discontinued the brand so it became a Ford.
If you will notice on a 1960 Falcon, the name Ford is nowhere to be found.
Sorry guys, I was wrong. It was the Comet that was originally going to be an Edsel and that car does not have Mercury badging on it.
The Falcon was originally a Ford.
“The Comet was originally planned as an Edsel model. It was reassigned to Mercury dealerships, where it was marketed as a standalone product for 1960 and 1961 as the Comet. There was a 1960 Edsel, the final model year for Edsel, but there was no Edsel Comet, only the Comet sold at Mercury-Comet dealers starting in 1960.”
From the ad, and the registry this had the 223 Econo-Six, 3-speed manual transmission, 3.56:1 axle ratio
Edsel number 736960 manufactured in Louisville, KY on May 13, 1959.
The air cleaner in the back seat probably doesn’t go to it.
The lack of a shift quadrant above the steering column tells us it’s a manual. The choke knob next to the ashtray tells us it’s a 6cyl. The air cleaner in the backseat is something from the 70s.
Ugly as they were the Edsels were great cars. I know a few guys who ran them as daily drivers then passed them on to other family members. One of them had more than 300 k in it when it was retired!