1958 Edsel Ranger

Edsel was slotted into the Ford corporate hierarchy between Mercury and Lincoln. In fact, you'll see the MEL abbreviation used for FoMoCo big blocks into the latter half of the Sixties, years after the E was gone.

It turned out that there wasn't enough space between a high-end Merc and the cheapest Lincoln to support a whole-ass automobile brand.

The original lineup for 1958 had four models: The high-end Citation and Corsair riding on 124" wheelbases, and the cheaper 118"-wheelbase Pacer and Ranger.

The Ranger was the most basic model in the Edsel catalog. Even things like a windshield washer or seatbelts were extra cost options, although a cigarette lighter was standard. it was the 1950s, after all.

The Snow White '58 Ranger four-door sedan would have had only one powerplant available, the E-400 pushrod V-8, a 361 cubic inch version of Ford's FE-series big block. With a four-barrel carburetor and a 10.5:1 compression ratio, it made 303 gross horsepower at 4600rpm. Ranger buyers got a three-speed manual for nothing, or could pay for a three speed slushbox with a standard column shifter. For a bit more money, they could opt for the Teletouch pushbutton gear selector in the steering wheel hub.

When Motor Trend tested a 1958 Ranger four-door hardtop with the automatic transmission, they recorded a zero-to-sixty time of 10.1 seconds. Base price for the bare-bones Ranger pillared sedan was $2,592 in 1958 dollars, which comes to something like $29,300 in current dollars. Seatbelts cost $22.50 ($254) extra and were only for the front seats.

This one was photographed in Pryor, Oklahoma in April of 2026 using an Olympus PEN E-P5 and an M. Zuiko Digital 12-45mm f/4 PRO zoom lens.

1958 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe

We've looked at the original 1958 Impala before, in the form of a sweet Honey Beige convertible, but I've also spotted this Onyx Black Sports Coupe in the neighborhood. Doesn't it look the business?

The 1958 Impalas were built on the new full-size Chevy's X-shaped frame, but with the wheelbase extended 2.5" over that of the plush Bel Air, regular Biscayne and plebeian Delray. The Delray went away after '58, shifting the Biscayne to the bottom rung of the ladder, and the three-level system of Impala, Bel Air, and Biscayne replaced the earlier hierarchy of Bel Air, 210, and 150, and would persist all the way into the early 1970s.

Chevy hyped the 1958 models as being "lower, wider, longer", which became a trope for the styling trends for all the Detroit Big Three in the coming decade. They also touted the new "Sculpturamic" styling with its gull-wing rear fenders.

Base engine was a 283 small block V-8 with a two-barrel carb, making 185 gross horsepower. Optional 283 V-8s were a four-barrel unit making 230 ponies or a 250 horsepower version with Rochester "Ramjet" mechanical fuel injection. Making its debut in the '58 Impala was Chevrolet's new Turbo-Thrust big block V-8. Displacing 348 cubic inches, the single four-barrel version made 250 horsepower, while Super Turbo-Thrust version had three deuces and put out 280 SAE gross horses. You could also get the 145 horsepower Blue Flame inline six as a cost delete option, but why would you?

Motor Life magazine tested an Impala with the single-carb 348 and the Turboglide single-ratio triple-turbine gearbox. It weighed in at 3,684 pounds, averaged 12.9 miles per gallon, and stickered at $2,841 (the equivalent of $31,600 in today's dollars. The test car recorded a 10.1 second zero-to-sixty run.

This particular one was photographed with a Nikon D800 and 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom lens in September of 2021.

1958 Chevrolet Impala Convertible

William Durant, a wagon maker who had just acquired Buick, founded General Motors in 1908 as a holding company with the intent to purchase more automobile manufacturers (he got the idea for the name from General Electric). To celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, all the divisions got to build a new, special, extra-deluxe version of their top of the line car.

Chevrolet's anniversary car was an even higher-zoot version of their Bel Air that they dubbed the Impala.

Available as either a Sport Coupe or a convertible, the Impala was available with a variety of powerplants. The most vanilla was the 235 cubic inch Blue Flame six, the latest iteration of the by-then long in the tooth Chevy Stovebolt, rated at 145 SAE gross horsepower.

But why would you get a swoopy Impala with such a dull grocery-getter of a motor? Moving up the option list came three variations of the 283 Turbo Fire small block V-8: a single two-barrel carb version with 185 horsepower, a 230-horse 4-barrel, and the Ramjet fuel-injected 250 horsepower version. (The latter two were down a few ponies from the previous year because they now had 9.5:1 compression and hydraulic lifters to civilize them a bit.)

The real news, though, was the debut of the new Turbo Thrust 348 cubic inch big block V-8. In single four-barrel trim the 348 was rated at 250 horsepower, while the triple-two-barrel Super Turbo Thrust put out 280.

The Honey Beige ragtop in the photos was snapped in July of 2023 using a Canon EOS-1D Mark IV and an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens.

1958 Edsel Citation

Among things you don't see rolling down the street every day are pristine Turquoise 1958 Edsel Citation hardtop coupes on dubs.

In my personal opinion, the '58 Edsels were the peak year for the 1950s Motown Rolling Wurlitzer look. They had every possible styling tic and chromed gewgaw they could slather onto the car, from the tip of the bizarre horse-collar snout to the end of the finned tail.

Edsel was slotted into the FoMoCo marketing ladder above Mercury and beneath Lincoln, and the Citation was the top of the Edsel line. Available as a convertible, hardtop coupe, or hardtop sedan, there were 9,299 Citations produced in '58, of which 2,532 were coupes like the one in the photo.

Interestingly, that ovoid snout is considered part of the front bumper system. That inner chrome hoop is officially known as the "impact ring".

The hardtop coupe was the cheapest Citation variant, priced at $3500, which is about $38,000 in 2024 dollars. Exclusive to the Edsel Corsair and Citation models was a 410 cubic inch V-8, rated at 345 SAE gross horsepower with a Holley 4-barrel carburetor. The only transmission choice in the Citation was the 3-speed TeleTouch automatic. Motor Trend magazine reported a 0-60 time of 9.7 seconds from their test car.

Reaction to the '58 Edsels was decidedly underwhelming, leading to a panicked redesign and re-shuffling of the range for '59, which included axing the entire Citation line. The very name "Edsel" has become synonymous with "marketing failure" and remained so until replaced by Coke's decision to change its formula in the Eighties.

This one was photographed in July of 2022 with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and an old EF 28-70mm f/2.8L USM. Though long superseded in the EOS lineup by newer 24-70 f/2.8L lenses, the old 28-70 puts up respectable DXOmark numbers and is capable of turning out crisp images even on the 50MP sensor of my 5DS, plus it's quite reasonably priced for "L" glass if you find one on the used market.