I seldom venture into the prewar era of which I know nothing first hand. Here, though, are enough peripheral contacts that I feel on safe ground. Edsel Ford was son of the original Henry. His 83 acre idyllic and sylvan family estate in Grosse Pointe Michigan, on Lake St.Clair (a portion of the larger Lake Huron) is host to wonderful lawn shows. The finest Classic, Sports, Race, Marque and Concept cars each get their day. So many industry people would converge on those events that I got to meet all brands people on neutral grounds. To recap, Edsel sired three sons, Henry Ford II being the prominent one, and the next generation of each would be Edsel, Billy, and Benson The first Edsel is NOT blamed for the famous flop of the fifties, having died in 1943 even before his Dad, Henry. In reality, Edsel was cosmopolitan (a Lincoln nameplate!). His impeccable taste showed in the choice of E.T. Gregorie to shape Fords in the turbulent thirties when styling awareness and the science of aerodynamics were seemingly at odds. Here is the speedster which Edsel commissioned from Bob Gregorie. It had two faces, having been updated in 1940 with more larger headlamps seen here,
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 06:17:16 +0000