Production was started in June 1957. The "new" car was made from standard parts. The smaller models Ranger and Pacer were based on Ford frames while Corsair and Citation were built on Mercury frames.
Sales began on September 4th, 1957. Show rooms were crowded. Everyone wanted to see the new car, but only a few visitors really came to buy one.
The press gladly picked up every rumor before, but now the articles changed to criticism. One of the first negative impressions was the glove box: a lot of the room inside was blocked by the windshield wiper's mechanics. Later people made jokes about the grille that was meant to pick up the design of the 20s and 30s. People called it a toilet seat, horse collar or, even worse, a part of the female body no American would ever talk about in public.
Roy Brown wanted to design a car that could be identified from the distance. He reached his goal, but that didn't help to sell the car.
Edsels were built in existing plants. Workers didn't like the car because it meant a change of routine when one Edsel was on the line among other Fords or Mercurys. Managers were told about the resulting quality problems, but they ignored the warnings. Availability of spares was another problem. Some dealers had to remove parts from a showroom car to fix a customer's Edsel.
Edsel prices were calculated to be attractive, but soon after sales began, other dealers reduced prices to make room for the new models. This was another reason for the Edsel's failure.
Dealers tried everything to sell Edsels, even TV shows were sponsored. But the Edsel didn't sell as expected. Would the new 1959 models have more success ?