Title: Why the Ford Edsel Failed | HowStuffWorks
Headings: Why the Ford Edsel Failed
Why the Ford Edsel Failed
Content: Ford designers wanted to make it stand out, so they hit on the idea of a vertical grille. The thing is, a car's grille has a specific purpose: It allows air into the engine bay to keep the engine cool. In order to keep the Edsel running, that vertical grille had to be enormous, which made the entire car look silly in the eyes of critics and consumers. Ugly, overpriced, overhyped, poorly made and poorly timed, the Edsel was made for only two years. In the end, the failed program cost Ford $250 million [source: Carlson ]. The "car of the future" is now a cautionary tale in business classrooms, though there were actually a few winners in the case of the Edsel. That flop of a car is now a rare collector's item. Relatively few cars were built between 1958 and 1960 (when production ended), and Edsel convertible models can fetch as much as $47,000 [source: