--- title: Ford Edsel History: Why the Car Flopped description: Market researched failed in a major way canonical: https://time.com/3586398/ford-edsel-history/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-19T12:00:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:21.504Z article:section: History og:title: Ford Edsel History: Why the Car Flopped og:description: Market researched failed in a major way og:url: https://time.com/3586398/ford-edsel-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt637f97868bb4b2cb/698768e63c163913ab44ffab/edsel.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A 1958 Edsel Convertible og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ford Edsel History: Why the Car Flopped twitter:description: Market researched failed in a major way twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt637f97868bb4b2cb/698768e63c163913ab44ffab/edsel.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Happened to the Car Industry's Most Famous Flop? > Sponsored content. 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Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: TIME100 Most Influential Companies of 2022: Rivian [Watch (HLS stream): TIME100 Most Influential Companies of 2022: Rivian](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MDTRHmVn.m3u8) (3:06)  _Published 2022-03-30. Rivian CEO and founder R.J. Scaringe on the inspiration behind the company._  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 19, 2014 12:00 PM UTC  A 1958 Edsel convertible made by Ford A 1958 Edsel convertible made by Ford Underwood Archives / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 19, 2014 12:00 PM UTC Any crossword puzzler knows there’s a five-letter word for a Ford that flopped: Edsel. --- ### More from TIME --- At the heart of any big flop–like when Ford ended the Edsel 55 years ago, on Nov. 19, 1959–lies high expectations. The Edsel was named after Henry Ford’s son, no small honor, and it had its own division of the company devoted to its creation. As TIME [reported](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,809839,00.html) in 1957 when the car debuted, the company had spent 10 years and $250 million on planning one of its first brand-new cars in decades. The Edsel came in 18 models but, in order to reach its sales goals, it would have to do wildly better than any other car in 1957 was expected to do. The September day that the car first went on the market, thousands of eager buyers showed up at dealers, but before the year was over monthly sales had fallen by about a third. When Ford announced that they were pulling the plug on the program, here’s how TIME explained what had gone wrong: --- > “” --- Even so, the Edsel wasn’t a complete loss for Ford: the company was able to use production facilities build for Edsel for their next new line of, you guessed it, compact cards. **_Read the full report here, in the TIME Vault:_** [The $250 Million Flop](http://time.com/vault/issue/1959-11-30/page/89/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3586398/ford-edsel-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3586398/ford-edsel-history/"},"headline":"What Happened to the Car Industry's Most Famous Flop?","datePublished":"2014-11-19T12:00:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:00:21.504Z","description":"Market researched failed in a major way","url":"https://time.com/3586398/ford-edsel-history/","keywords":["Transportation","cars","Ford","Autos","Automotive"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt637f97868bb4b2cb/698768e63c163913ab44ffab/edsel.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt637f97868bb4b2cb/698768e63c163913ab44ffab/edsel.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A 1958 Edsel Convertible","caption":"A 1958 Edsel Convertible","creditText":"Underwood Archives / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3586398/ford-edsel-history/","name":"What Happened to the Car Industry's Most Famous Flop?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 Most Influential Companies of 2022: Rivian","description":"Rivian CEO and founder R.J. 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