Fritz
Welcome to the world of Edsel ownership. From the photos
you sent, it looks like your Ranger sedan is in very
good condition. I was impressed by the interior, it
appears to be all original or restored using the proper
vinyl bolsters and cloth inserts.
I had your car on file in my registry and it was
previously owned by Morris Ferguson from Pennsylvania.
He owned several nice Edsels including a turquoise 1959
Corsair convertible. He passed away in the latter part
of 2005. I don't know if he was the original owner.
Here is a breakdown of your Ranger's data plate
information:
C9UF716916
58D ED1 25 26M 3 1
C=292
cid "Ranger" "Y-block" V8 engine; 9=1959 model year;
U=Louisville, KY assembly plant, F=Ranger 4-dr sedan; 7=Edsel;
16916=16,916th Edsel for 1959 scheduled for production
(but they were not built in unit sequence order).
The body line of your car decodes as 58D=Ranger 4-dr
sedan; ED1=(E) Snow White body, (D) Redwood Metallic
roof and side insert, (1) denotes a two-tone paint
scheme; 25=Buff and White vinyl bolsters with Gold Puff
cloth inserts; 26M=December 26, 1958 as the day your car
was scheduled to be assembled; 3=Mile-O-Matic 2-speed
automatic transmission; 1=3.10:1 rear axle ratio.
By serial number the first car I have complete
information on before yours is C9UH716897, a Ranger 4-dr
hardtop, Star Blue metallic and white in color, also
with a build date of 26M, owned by Dwayne Carpenter in
Evanston, Wyoming. The first number I have after your
car is C9UF716925, another Ranger 4-dr sedan, white with
gold top and insert, owned by Jay Lehr in Portland,
Oregon.
The lowest unit number I have for 26M is 716699 and the
highest is 716932, which would indicate that about 250
Edsels were scheduled for production the day after
Christmas.
The 1959 Ranger 4-dr sedan was the most popular Edsel
model produced with 12,814 having been built. Of that
number I have on file 858 of these or about 6.7% of
total production. Out of that number, only 13 carry the
same paint code as yours.
The base price of your car was $2,683.00, plus another
$189.60 for the automatic transmission, $21.55 for the
two-tone paint, $74.45 for the Lever-Temp
Heater-Defroster, $64.95 for the push-button radio,
$16.60 for the full wheel covers, $20.60 for the padded
dash and sunvisors,
$35.68 for the whitewall tires and $5.85 for the outside
special Edsel hooded mirror, which totals up to
$3,112.28. In addition to this cost was another $25.00
to $50.00 for delivery and $20.00 for the Edsel Dealer's
Advertising Fund was added on which means the original
buyer of your car paid around $3,200 USD in early 1959.
The insert color for your Ranger, Redwood Metallic, is a
bit darker reddish brown than the color that is
presently on it. If you check E-Bay, there are often
1959 Edsel paint color sheets being offered. If you can
obtain one of these, usually around $10.00 USD, it will
give you a better idea. The interior of your car, as I
said earlier, is very nice. Under the hood, the correct
colors have been used on the 292 V8, black block, gold
air cleaner and valve covers.
What part of Germany are you located? My one desire is
to be able to go to the retro show in Essen, maybe in
2008! A friend of mine found a 1958 Edsel brochure in
the German language a couple of years ago, I have never
seen anything for the 1959 Edsel in any other languages
except English and French (for the Canadian market). I
usually go to the Big Power Meet in Sweden and have
found some 1958 Edsel material at the parts meet there.
I hope you find this information useful.
Phil Skinner
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