Rare Rides: 2008 Edsel Citation - A Tribute Via Victoria

August 22nd, 2018 3:20 PM

What do you get when you cross an enthusiast of a dead car brand, a bank account, and a late-model Panther?

This. Presenting the 2008 Edsel Citation:

Today’s Rare Ride started out in life as a 2008 Ford Crown Victoria, as was probably obvious from the headline image. From the Ford dealer, the beige sedan was sold to Edsel enthusiast Rob Cerame. Mr. Cerame had a greater plan in mind for Crown Victoria: A tribute to his favorite deceased automotive brand. The marque in question? Edsel.

For context, Edsel was a short-lived division of Ford, named after founder Henry Ford’s son. Desirous of a larger market share, Ford planned a “new” intermediate line of cars. The company hyped the Edsel brand and launched it in 1958 as a standalone, accompanying the Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, and Continental divisions.

Edsels shared bodies with Lincoln-Mercury cars, with nearly identical pricing to Mercury vehicles. The 1958 lineup included the Ranger, Pacer, Corsair, and flagship Citation cars. Customers weren’t impressed with the styling or the vehicles, and instead continued to buy the nearly identical (but less ugly) Mercury or Lincoln they would’ve bought before Edsel existed. A complete failure, Edsel’s last year was 1960. Back to our Rare Ride.

In honor of Edsel’s 50th anniversary, Mr. Cerame executed his vision of what an Edsel would look like in 2008. An aftermarket company designed and grafted an Edsel visage and rear end treatment onto the Crown Victoria. The door handles were chromed; artificial side vents added.

The sales listing mentions custom paint, but that might’ve been a respray over the edited body panels – there were plenty of Crown Vics this color. Aftermarket wheels, custom Citation badging, a pinstripe, and a carriage roof treatment completed the exterior modifications. The whole package rides on some aftermarket wheels with custom Edsel center caps.

Inside, more exquisite Edsel! A chromed dash trim strip compliments the foil-effect instrument surround. Our creator applied an Edsel logo over the steering wheel’s Ford badge and reworked the seats. These now feature “50th Anniversary” embroidery, 1950s patterned cloth, and some brown leather. The same geometric cloth finds its way to the door trim inserts, though perhaps chromed material (to match the dash) might’ve been more expected.

The Sotheby’s listing indicates only two 2008 Citations ever became a reality, so this one is a serious opportunity for the Edsel enthusiast. It goes up on the auction block in Auburn, Indiana on August 31st. There’s no reserve, but bids are expected to run between $10,000 and $15,000. There are many more pictures on the listing, which all Edsel enthusiasts will want to review.

[Images: RM Sotheby’s]

#CollectorCars #CustomCars #Edsel #Ford #FordCrownVictoria #LuxuryCars #Mercury #NewsBlog #Panther #RareRides #UsedCars #V8 #Sedans

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2 of 69 comments

Krhodes1 on Aug 23, 2018

I hate Panthers with the heat of a million suns, but I think this was a terrible thing to do to one. Deeply unfortunate looking.

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Millmech on Aug 23, 2018

It's been done: https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MzJYMzI=/z/JesAAOSwWhRZhy7R/$_86.JPG

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MaintenanceCosts The sweet spot of this generation isn't made anymore: the SRT 392. The Scat Pack is more or less filling the same space but it lacks a lot of the goodies, including SRT suspension, brakes, and seats. The Hellcat is too much and isn't available with a manual anymore.
Arthur Dailey I am normally a fan of Exner's designs but by this time the front end on the Stutz like most of the rest of the vehicle is a laughable monstrosity of gauche. The interior finishes suit the rest of the vehicle. Corey please put this series out of its misery. This is one vehicle manufacturer best left on the scrap heap of history.
Art Vandelay I always thought what my Challenger really needed was a convertible top to make it heavier and make visability worse.
Dlc65688410 Please stop, we can't take anymore of this. Think about doing something on the Spanish Pegaso.
MaintenanceCosts A few bits of context largely missing from this article:(1) For complicated historical reasons, the feds already end up paying much of the cost of buying new transit buses of all types. It is easier legally and politically to put capital funds than operating funds into the federal budget, so the model that has developed in most US agencies is that operational costs are raised from a combination of local taxes and fares while the feds pick up much of the agencies' capital needs. So this is not really new spending but a new direction for spending that's been going on for a long time.(2) Current electric buses are range-challenged. Depending on type of service they can realistically do 100-150 miles on a charge. That's just fine for commuter service where the buses typically do one or two trips in the morning, park through the midday, and do one or two trips in the evening. It doesn't work well for all-day service. Instead of having one bus that can stay out from early in the morning until late at night (with a driver change or two) you need to bring the bus back to the garage once or twice during the day. That means you need quite a few more buses and also increases operating costs. Many agencies are saying for political reasons that they are going to go electric in this replacement cycle but the more realistic outcome is that half the buses can go electric while the other half need one more replacement cycle for battery density to improve. Once the buses can go 300 miles in all weather they will be fine for the vast majority of service.(3) With all that said, the transition to electric will be very good. Moving from straight diesel to hybrid already cut down substantially on emissions, but even reduced diesel emissions cause real public health damage in city settings. Transitioning both these buses and much of the urban truck fleet to electric will have measurable and meaningful impacts on public health.