Ford Edsel - designer has died aged 96

[dave]

Interesting article!

Sure the Edsel has been poked fun of over the years, but the same guy also designed the Mark 1 Cortina!

http://jalopnik.com/the-man-who-designe ... -450655659



Dave

[PR91]

mk1's rock.
if i hadn't been swayed to the ways of the Bellett all those years ago, i woulld have been a mk1 cortina tragic these days too.
mind u.... hopefully one will find it's way to me soon enuf, coz i still want one, Bellett's or not.

[rod]

true brett mk 1 the best , looking than mk 11 , raver a 2 door corti than 4 doors ,

[gt orphanage]

I have been racing a mk1 all day today its been floggin me. He admitted after the second run he was put in the wrong class as he bought his other mk1 this one has a sr20 turbo in it . Three cars i have competed and beat in the past are a little quicker then the bellett as we have a huge flat spot off the mark costing a few seconds we a pretty sure it can be fixed i just ran out of time. The new engine is reaching 8500rpm no worries tomorrow i hope to at least get .4 of a second off for third place.

[JT191]

In April of 1989, Autoweek magazine did a comparison of the I-Mark RS (Gemini ZZ Handling by Lotus, the one universally hated in Australia, but with the DOHC engine) to a 1965 Lotus-Cortina. It seems that Isuzu should have delivered a Cortina with their own car, for every road test, because it was one of the most praise filled reviews the car received. The Isuzu engine was described as smooth and quiet, when other reviews called it harsh and buzzy. The ford engine in the Cortina was loud and shook the car. They described the Isuzu cornering as flat, but I've had the car up on two wheels, and the Cortina was described as leaning excessively and felt like it wanted to turn even when the driver wanted to go straight.
They ended up stating that the Isuzu was a better car, and a good choice and value for anyone looking for a Lotus-ized car.

Looking at 60's market competition for the Bellett GT, the Cortina was one that looked very similar.

The Edsel seems to have completely rehabilitated its reputation after many years. At car shows, they seem to gather as much attention and admiration as the 57 Chevys, Mustangs, Camaros, Thunderbirds, and Vettes.
The 80's and 90's Isuzu's might be making the same turn. On Saturday, I went over to the race track to get annual tech inspections on the 89 Isuzu for autocross, PDX, and drag racing. One kid took pictures of the car, another had 20+ minutes of questions. And the NHRA inspector didn't laugh at me for making him inspect a FWD car.

[dave]

That's encouraging!!

Yeah look the 'RB' is universally hated as it was just super-boring. If we'd got the better versions, I'm sure they'd have a better reputation locally, but poor old Holden was on the bones of it's arse (it was bailed out by parent company GM in about 1985 after basically going bankrupt) so they had no room for hero cars outside of the HDT Commodores; just make some good bread-and-butter fleet cars and try to get the company back on track!

If only..!

I wouldn't mind one of those wagonoid Geminis in AWD with the sideways door handles. A man can dream.

Cheers,

Dave