Projects The Adventure of a Boy and His Edsel

Kinda long, but hopefully worth the read…

Some of you may have been following my build thread about my son’s 63 C10 that we are working on every now and then. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/father-son-63-chevy-c10-swb-build-thread.1179284/ Seems between some pretty tough things we have gone through as a family in recent years as well as lack of focus for a 17-year-old, we have slowed progress to a crawl at times. Anyway, my son has been driving for almost a year and a half now and we still aren’t done with the truck. He has just been driving borrowed junk cars from me since he turned 16 which I was hoping would keep him motivated to stay on task on the truck. Every time we go to some car event, he has to ride along with dad which I know would have killed me at his age.

Well, we had a situation a couple weeks ago that necessitated a vehicle for him to drive, so he decided to look for something to call his own and pay for with his money. He has been all over the board on what he might want from a mid-90’s F350 dually to old cars that I know he would probably enjoy more. For some reason, he got it in his head that he wanted an Edsel. Not sure where that came from other than Floyd Dutton had given him rides in his kool wagon a couple times. So, he recently figured out how to use searchtempest and came across a couple 59 Edsel’s that he was interested in on Craigslist. The first one he found was near Little Rock, Arkansas and he wanted me to check it out. Being the practical dad that I am, I found one about 45 minutes away that seemed like a reasonable deal and was basically the same car. So, I tried to contact the local guy and turned out it was some auction company trying to sell the car for an estate and the starting bid was more than the car should even be worth. It had not sold at the first online auction, so they were fixing to try again. I figured it was still worth going to see, but the guy was out of town and couldn’t meet me until a few days later.

So, I decided to call about the one in Little Rock. The ad for this one said to make an offer, so I had no idea what to expect. However, the seller started with “I was hoping to get $****, but will take $****” which was right about what I figure the car was worth. This one seemed to be fairly low mileage, had brand new radial wide whites, new dual exhaust, new carburetor, etc. and also came with a parts car. When he tells me the story of the car and all that had been done to it, it didn’t take long to think this might just be a decent car for my son. I had to get past the fact that it might not be what I would want, but it did seem to be what my kid wanted and knew he could afford. I asked the seller if he thought the car would drive the almost 400 miles back to Oklahoma and he said he thought it should, so a plan was made.



We decided to load up and head that way in our “new” dually hauling a trailer to haul the parts car back. We left the house at 3:59 am this past Saturday and headed east. I was amazed that my 17-year-old could get up that early, but pretty sure he was a little excited. The trip was pretty uneventful other than bouncing all the way there in a 3500HD regular cab pickup. We did stop for gas in some town along the way and tripped across a fairly nice Cadillac hardtop and grabbed a couple pics, but otherwise just lots of driving. We arrived at the house in Lonoke, Arkansas right at 10:00 and looked the car over. My son was already pretty much sold when he saw it, but we also went for a short test drive around the block. After getting back, he was ready to buy it when we figured we should check out the parts car as well. Turns out it was a 2-door hardtop but real rusty. Too bad it is so far gone because it could have been a pretty kool car itself. We made the deal then took off on the trip home praying that the car (and for that matter the dually) would make it back with no issues that couldn’t be easily dealt with on the road.

Caddilac we saw on the way...


The reason the seller was selling the Edsel...57 Packard Clipper he had just got.


The test drive.


Loaded up and ready for the almost 400 mile trip home.


The parts car...


1st stop for gas. I have never seen a station like this with a place to pay with credit where you pick which pump. My son didn't know how to run the old pumps...


It had been raining on and off all morning, so the seller had put some Rain-X on the windshield for our trip home which came in handy since we drove through a couple downpours. Since we were planning to p*** through Conway, Arkansas, I contacted my buddy David Myers @drdave to see if he might be available for lunch. He wasn’t available but did give us a recommendation for a burger joint that we decided to stop at. And, since I have always wanted to check out his kool orthodontist office, we also drove across town to look at it through the windows as well as get a couple pics of my sons new car out front. After we left Dave’s office, the goal was just to get home with no real issues along the way.



@drdave kool orthodontist office




We hit I-40 and went west for most of the trip only stopping for gas a couple times along the way. However, once we got into Oklahoma, we decided to look for some 2 road highways to get off the main path and see some country. About 15 miles prior to where we planned to exit I-40, I started getting something on the windshield of the truck that I identified as antifreeze. I called my son and asked if the car was running hot. He looked at the gauge and pulled over to the side. What we found was a small hole that appeared to be a repaired area in the top tank spewing antifreeze. After we let it cool off a bit, ran down into the trees for a bio break and filled it back up with water, we were off again. We ended the trip with about 150 miles of two lane roads which was much more enjoyable and offered more photo ops. We even had a guy see us at a gas station turn around and tell us about a nice complete car in a local salvage that we need to follow up on now.



Stopped at this hotel in Stroud, Oklahoma and had the owner of the hotel and his wife try to buy the car. My son told him a price that was almost 3 times what he just paid for it or the “It’s not for sale” price. Made it home about 9:00 pm after a long day and then my son took his brother for a ride to the car wash so they could get it cleaned up and ready to show off at church the next morning. Last night when he got home, he said he probably talked to about 40 random folks throughout the day about the car mainly asking if it was his. Now, he wants to get it lowered this week before The Gathering at the Roc this weekend. This will be the first time for him to be able to drive his own car to a car event. That is his goal which may be fine, but I figure getting the radiator fixed takes priority.



Home and in the shop.


Sorry for the long post, but thought I might share. I am pretty proud of him actually planning to drive this thing daily. He knows he would rather have something like a nice two door hardtop, but also knows his budget. So, seems this can be a kool driver and something he can enjoy while we continue working on his pickup.

 

Great road trip, that should be a nice daily driver!

 

Sweet ride! A million times cooler than my first car.

 

This has all the elements - good kid, good car, good adventure and good story. Thanks for taking us along!

 

nice !!

 

Great story!
I was watching that Edsel on craigslist. Glad someone cool bought it! I had a baby blue '58 4 door when I lived in Conway. I was the official tour guide of the orthodontic clinic when Dave wasn't able to give tours, had my own key and security code even. And David's Burgers.....@drdave and I used to eat lunch together every Monday and about every other week we went to David's Burgers. You're making me homesick!
You took a picture coming up on the Atkins exit. That mountain in the background is Crow Mountain. There was a salvage yard in Atkins called Merryman's that had a whole hillside full of HAMB-friendly iron. Sadly, J.R. Merryman and his salvage yard are both long gone.
I say save the hardtop too. 4 dr drive now; hardtop build slowly.

 

Very kool Duncan! I had forgot that you were in Conway as well for a while. It was a great trip and Dr. Dave wished he could have been there to give us a tour, but he only had about 2 hours notice that we would be there.

 

Cool story. If you need parts there’s a fellow with 8-10 of these setting in his lot near me.

 

Looks like a solid buy, Neat story and familiar territory. I grew up in far N.E Arkansas and drove that route to Fayetteville while in college and Okc / Tulsa later on. I learned to drive in Dad's new 59 Edsel 4 door hardtop, turquoise and white.

 

thanks for the story! His car is almost the same as the Edsel I had 5 years ago, but a heck of a lot nicer. They're nice cars to drive. Sounds like the young man has the right at***ude.

I wanted to stay at that motel in Stroud a couple weeks ago, it was full so I stayed around the corner at the Sooner.

 

Great Story.. As a dad I wish at least one of my kids (and now grandkids?) would get interested in old cars.

 

Thanks for all the comments and personal stories guys! It’s always great to hear others memories of this old stuff. And, in case anyone thought we might have trailered the car if there wasn’t a parts car...not even a thought. We likely would have driven my 56 to go get it. This was one of those opportunities to create way better memories than that.

 

Small world Jim. I wondered what route you headed down on the trip home. That hotel was full again Saturday night as well. The owner and his wife sure liked the Edsel and seemed like great folks.

 

Me, too. The hardtop is too cool to part out. Looks like you're gonna need another car!

 

Kool story buddy. Makin GR8 memories for sure.

 

Great good dad story.

 

The boy has his stuff together, just about any old car is way better than any rice burner most kids drive. Kudos to you for bringing up the kid right and the time spent playing around with old cars with him will live in his memories forever!

 

Well looks like you are raising that bunch of kids you have the right way.

 

*****in car. probably not a lot of people know what it is anymore; i once told a young fella about a friend's edsel, and he asked, "what's an ensel?"
the gas station episode reminds me of driving home in a '49 ford i'd just bought: stopped for gas and the pump jockey couldn't figure out where to put the nozzle!

 

Very cool story! Lucky son and lucky dad!

 

The 4 door is a stepping stone to better cars in the future. Nothing wrong with that.

Even with a parent who could ***ist in pulling off a complete build, that's a lot of work for a teen. At least the Edsel is a running and driving car, and if you guys want to make modifications to it as time goes by, you're not pulling an entire car apart to do it. Plus you get a fairly proven drivetrain in a Y block and a solid platform in a 57-59 FoMoCo ch***is. Parts are neither expensive nor hard to find. Best of luck from one 59 Edsel owner to another!

 

Really cool score! Are you also going to check into the junkyard that has another Edsel? Would love to hear about that one!

 

Yep, I was just thinking of trying to call them today before I forget about it. Sounds like it was parked out by the crusher according to the guy that told us. Hopefully, that guy isn't remembering the car being there very long...

 

Cool story, cool car, cool kid, and COOL Dad!!

 

After enjoying the benifets of a four door , may not ever want a two door. The only car I have sellers remorse for is a 1961 monarch 4 door ,God I loved that car . Many great years and days ahead for yourself and your son .
Great car and enjoy ...

 

Very cool story. Glad you made it home fairly easy.
Looking forward to seeing you both at the 'Roc.

 

Great write-up on a trip neither of you will ever forget!

 

Cool deal Nice story. Never saw anything wrong with a moredoor,

 

Great score and glad you guys made it home with no incident. Heck, if the radiator held and adding water was fix enough, I'm with the boy....lower it first, radiator later. LOL And....just an observation, but it looks like the roof line and window line is pretty gosh awful close on the 4dr and the 2dr parts car....I could see a 2dr conversion not being too tricky one day down the road.....just sayin'.....

Sorry I missed you guys, but looking forward to seeing you in few days back in Bartlesville!