On paper, the Edsel brand sounded like a great idea to the people at Ford. They were looking to expand their product lineup to better compete with Chevrolet. Edsel was meant to fill the price gap between base Ford models and the up market Mercury brand. The new brand was supposed to be an entirely new kind of car, but instead turned out to be a massive flop. Edsel sales were dismal and after just three years, Ford shut down the company. It wasn’t until just a few years ago that people started noticing Edsels. Their styling make them stand out from the sea of ’57 Chevys and being a Ford product means most parts are available. They still haven’t gained mainstream popularity, but convertible models are starting to gain in value and interest. This ’58 Edsel Pacer Convertible was recently pulled from a barn and has since been listed here on eBay. If the seller’s reserve isn’t set much higher than the current $5,000 bid, it could turn out to be a great buy!

As with any car, there are things to watch out for when buying an Edsel. The Pacer came with Edsel’s 361 cui V8, the E400, which was rated at 303 horsepower. All that power was routed through their Tele-Touch transmission, which had gear selector buttons built into the steering wheel and is the weakest link in the drivetrain. The seller claims both the engine and transmission were rebuilt at some point and that the transmission works as it should. Ford had gone to great lengths to market the Edsel as being the future of the automobile, and while buyers didn’t see it that way in 1958, things like gear selection from the steering wheel is something seen on nearly all modern day sports and super cars. It might have been a failure back when it was new, but maybe Ford wasn’t so far off base with the Edsel. Perhaps it was poor execution, questionable build quality, or maybe it was just too advanced for its time.

The seller claims this one is an original survivor, but that maintenance work and some restoration work has already been done to it. The interior looks mostly original, but we are going to guess that it has been partially restored already. We are alright with some restoration work being done, as long as it was done correctly and preferably done by a professional. The seller admits it has an amateur paint job, but thankfully white is fairly forgiving. We would want to inspect the work that’s been done to it carefully. If the amateur work that’s been done is just cosmetic, than it shouldn’t be much of a concern.

We love how different the Edsels are and we are glad they are starting to receive some respect, but at the same time it makes us a bit sad to see them enter the mainstream market. Unlike most of the cheaper oddballs we find, we foresee these going up in value until they are out of our realm of affordability. This could be great news if you already have one, but for the rest of us it means we will have to enjoy the quirky Edsel styling and technology from a distance. Let’s just hope we are wrong and that these won’t inflate much more. We will keep our eye on this auction and the Edsel market as a whole to see where it goes from here.