The Ford Edsel: the car of tomorrow... today! (Well, actually, of about 70 years ago. But who's counting?) The Ford Motor Company had high hopes for its new car, the 1958 Edsel. It was a highly promoted model, with lots of market research and advertising bought in anticipation of the new car. Named for Edsel B. Ford, son of Henry Ford, who founded the company, the Edsel was to be the flagship product of the late 1950s. Instead, it turned out to be a legendary flop. Ford wasn’t messing around. Work on developing the Edsel began in 1955, with a launch for the 1958 model of the new car slated for launch in the fall of 1957. They made the deadline, having sunk $250 million into this new vehicle. That might sound like a lot of money, and it was, but consider that $250 million in 1957 dollars works out to about $2.14 billion in 2016 dollars. Ford was going big. Ford announced its new car on a top-rated TV special called The Edsel Show , which aired on Septembe