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Many cars have failed, but none quite like the Edsel. Scott Gunnari knows all the stories. But the vintage car collector enjoys the car named after Henry Ford’s his son as much as any collector of any brand.
Gunnari, the lead inspector for Page One Automotive, the automotive fleet and event management service company in Brisbane, California, has had six of the much-maligned machines in his collection. He now owns three.
Gunnari is our guest this week on Episode #182 of The Weekly Driver Podcast.
Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia talk with Gunnari about three his 1958 Edsels — a Corsair 4-door and Pacer 2-door and 4-door. He also owned a 1958 Bermuda nine-passenger wagon, which he sold about three years ago to another Edsel enthusiast.
Edsel: ‘It’s Weird; That’s Why I Like.’
“I’ve been an Edsel nut for years,” said Gunnari. “It started at a very young age. I was about 7 or 8 years old when the Edsel came out. I was fascinated by the design. It was so different than anything else. It was weird and that’s what I liked about it.”
“The three that I have I would say are in various states of disrepair I like to say rather than show cars or even driver quality at this point. They’re projects and I seem to have an affinity for that sort of thing, for bringing a car back to life, making it a decent driver and enjoying it.”
Edsel vehicles were manufactured from in model years 1958-1960 and were developed in an effort to give Ford a fourth brand to gain additional market share from Chrysler and General Motors.
“It was just mistimed,” said Gunnari of Edsel’s short tenure. “There are many, many reasons for the demise. One of the major reasons is that it came out at the wrong time. It was too late. If it had come out in 1955, we might still have an Edsel. But it was late in 1957 and there was a recession.”
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Article Last Updated: May 24, 2021.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.