1959 Edsel Ranger
Changing frames on these cars is alot of work, but might be worth it. I'll bet a Ford around the same year would be interchangeable. I bought a '61 Impala when I was in college. It had been totaled in the front. I bought a sedan donor car and changed the body to the sedan frame and used the front clip as well. The whole deal only cost a few hundred dollars and I had a nice car.
HEY 66, THINK POSITIVE, THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT LESSON IN YOUR LIFE... NOW YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO LOOSE, IT'S HARD BUT LIFE WILL SEND YOU SOMETHING SPECIAL. YOU ALL READY HAD A GREAT OPPORTUNITY, THE MCPHERSON COLLEGE.
WHAT!!!!! NOOOOOOOOO that car is WAY to good to be scraped
nhpaul, I know what has become of my Edsel. Since my dad sold it, it has sat on the broken down remains of a flatbed tow truck at the wrecking yard right next to the road. A couple weeks ago, on my way home, I saw that it and the flatbed were gone. Nobody bought it because he doesn't sell any of the cars. There is a Rambler Ambassador sitting there and the only problem is 2 flat tires. I was driving the 66 when I saw it was gone. I know this sounds silly, but when I saw that, I started crying. Then it got worse. I told my 66 (named Oliver), that I would never let the scrapper get him. I didn't care if the engine blew up, I would never scrap him.
The fate of the poor Edsel...
mustangboss, the Edsel wasn't a complete failure. The only thing wrong with them was the push button transmissions, and those were only put on 1958 models.
The Edsel was complete failure though
To many nice cars gone to waist
Sometimes a car can't be saved, even with major sentimental value tied to it. Sounds like your Dad's car was only suitable for a yard ornament. Good you are going to school, you'll learn a lot of cool skills. What I'd do with the trim is find a solid Edsel and restore it as a tribute to your Dad. "Tis a far, far better thing I do than I've ever done before" and like that.
Oh, I already miss that car, but to prove how bad it was, as they pulled him onto the flatbed, the sheetmetal under the rear seat, the braces where the gas tank straps bolted to, and the actual trunk floor all gave way. I wish he hadn't been so damaged. In fact its cars like that is the reason for going to college next year. I will be majoring in autmotive restoration at McPherson College. I am actually going to make a sort of memorial for him, because I kept all the scripts and the green "pickle" from the center of the grille.
I hope one day you dont regret selling "your dads" car...my dad had a stroke about 12yrs ago,and he recovered to about 90% of his former self, unfortunately he passed away last year from a heart attack. YOU ALWAYS MISS WHAT YOU NO-LONGER HAVE, NO-MATTER HOW BAD THE "BODY DAMAGE" WAS!
I remember plenty of cars on the East Coast that looked good, ran good, but weren't drivable because of structural rust damage. Pretty spoiled now in Colorado. Although my Plymouth had a lot of body rust the frame and the rest of the underneath are really clean.
This was my Edsel. His name was Ed. I may be 17, but I had 2 cars. My beloved daily driver 1966 Mustang and this. My dad bought it in 2001. Well a couple years ago, he had a stroke and lost the use of the right side of his body. So, he gave me the keys. I kept him covered behind our house(he was about 4 inches too wide to get in the door). His rear tire was slashed. I started to take the headlights out to fix a dead low beam, when the whole driver side grille came out. There was about a 1/2 inch of filler, and then I found a bad aluminum repair on the rear driver side quarter. The damage to his body was so bad, that I had no choice but to scrap, but I took ALL the trim off and kept or sold it. He was 1 of 5 to be Gold with White spear & roof and a green interior. I miss him.
definitely looks to good to scrap
New Auto Restorer magazine has an article on a 1958 Corsair, very nice car. Darn shame this one is gone, a 2 door HT also. Hope it had bad rust or wreck damage rendering it crushable, although it looks good in the picture.
My grandpa had a restored Edsel Ranger 4 door. He passed away in Febuary and willed it to my aunt.