Originally shipped from the Louisville, KY, assembly plant directly to Moscow, Soviet Union, this particular Edsel was displayed at the American National Exhibition, which opened on July 25, 1959. The exhibition was part of a cultural exchange meant to foster understanding between the U.S. and the Soviet Union after a similar event was held in New York City. The exhibition famously led to the “Kitchen Debate” between U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
The Corsair, with its unique features, such as the metric speedometer and a box of spare parts, was a standout in Ford’s display. Its distinctiveness caught the eye of Soviet trade representative V.K. Solyvief, who was so taken by it that he tried to purchase it. When Ford’s public-relations representative Roy Forrest turned down the offer, Solyvief resorted to blocking Forrest’s return visa — a situation that was only resolved after a bribe. After the exhibition, the car embarked on a journey that took it to a European museum, then into the hands of an American serviceman who brought the Edsel back to the U.S. with him. It eventually found its way to renowned Ford collector Jerry Capizzi, who uncovered its remarkable past after consulting Ford’s archives about its uncommon metric speedometer.
A complete restoration was commissioned once Mr. Capizzi learned about the car’s unique history. The car was fastidiously restored to its original color combination of President Red with Snow White side-panel inserts, black soft top, and two-tone red-and-black interior. It’s equipped with numerous factory options, including air conditioning, power seating, brakes, dual spotlights, a Continental kit and a rare Edsel-branded windshield-washer bag. Today, the car retains its original metric speedometer, along with a reproduction of the spare-parts box from Moscow.
Following the restoration, the Edsel captured numerous accolades, from Best in Show at national Edsel events to a prestigious AACA First National Junior and Senior awards in addition to the President’s Cup. Today, this 1959 Edsel Corsair convertible not only remains a finely restored example but also a truly one-of-a-kind Cold War artifact of automotive and political history.
(Introductory description courtesy of Broad Arrow Auctions.)
SCM Analysis
Detailing
| Vehicle: | 1959 Edsel Corsair Convertible |
| Years Produced: | 1958–59 |
| Number Produced: | 1,343 |
| Chassis Number Location: | Under the hood; top of the passenger’s side frame rail, above the idler arm bracket |
| Engine Number Location: | No engine number |
| Club Info: | International Edsel Club, Edsel Owners Club, The Edsel Registry |
| Website: | http://internationaledselclub.com |
| Alternatives: | 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie Sunliner convertible 1959 Mercury Park Lane convertible 1959 DeSoto Fireflight convertible |
This car, Lot 118, sold for $106,400, including buyer’s premium, at Broad Arrow Auctions’ San Francisco, CA, sale, on February 15, 2025.
We need not go into detail about the oft-told Edsel story. Suffice to say that by the time this example was built midway through the 1959 model year, it was already a dead car rolling. While there would be a 1960 Edsel, none would actually be built in that calendar year. Production ended on November 19, 1959, the failed Edsel experiment having begun not much more than two years prior.
With that in mind, it seems odd that FoMoCo would send a fading star on a goodwill trip to the USSR, but it did. And this car was built specifically for the tour; it wasn’t one that was just plucked from regular production. In addition to the metric speedometer and the care package of spare parts in the trunk (just in case), it was also ordered with export heavy-duty rear suspension — larger coils up front and an extra leaf in each rear spring pack. Ford had a number of other cars on display there, including a T-bird and a Country Squire station wagon fully kitted-out for camping.
I’m surprised that Ford didn’t let Comrade Solyvief buy this car, since greasing his palms well enough to allow Mr. Forrest to return home probably came close to the car’s value. That, and an Edsel ragtop was a hard sell back home, with its bad press during the tail end of a recession. Yet during the Cold War, posturing was everything, on both sides.
Putting it all together
We can thank the late car collector Jerry Capizzi for not just having this car restored but putting the pieces of the puzzle together. I had personally known Jerry from Lincoln club circles, and he had not just the financial means to have his cars authentically restored, but a passion for making sure they were factory-correct. Part of this was due to Jerry’s father being an attorney for Henry Ford. As such, Jerry attended elementary school at Greenfield Village. Between this connection and Jerry’s successful OEM hardware manufacturing company CAP Industries, he knew who within Ford to talk to and that they’d have a receptive ear.
Upon completion in his personal restoration shop in suburban Chicago, he showed this car at several Edsel Club and AACA events. I watched it sell in-person for $93,500 at RM Auctions’ liquidation of his impressive “Cappy Collection” of Ford products in 2006 (SCM# 43537). Since then, the SCM Platinum Auction Database shows it sold at RM’s 2008 Arizona auction for an eye-popping $126,500 (SCM# 48624), then selling two years later at Gooding & Company Amelia Island for a more-realistic $99k (SCM# 159979).
Bucking the trend
It’s not hard to find people in the collector car world who say that interest in ’50s-era cars is dying off as fast as the fanbase that grew up with them. To a certain extent, they have a point. But that isn’t a blanket statement, and Edsel is one of the marques that pulls the covers off that argument.
The Edsel played an active part in the early years of post-war cars being considered collectible in the 1970s. America likes an underdog — especially if it originally put them in that position. The Chevrolet Corvair is in that same league. Edsels have die-hard fans despite being marketplace failures and today peripheral interest from those who now want to own a piece of the train wreck still helps values.
The garish mid-to-late-1950s styling also plays a part. The 1958 Edsels are a slam-dunk for the period-defining look. The plain 1960 cars are collectible for the rarity of their abbreviated model year, but the 1959s come off as just right for mainstream collectors. The gee-whiz mechanical gimmicks, such as Tele-Touch steering-wheel hub shifting, were gone for 1959, so these cars are as robust as the Fords whose bones they shared. (And note that 1959 was a high-water year for Ford in both build quality and overall sales.) Styling was toned down, with the vertical center grille the only feature keeping it from melting into the era’s generic-domestic-car pot. These qualities make it a decent choice for someone desiring a piece of automotive Americana.
Prices at worst have been stable over the years. Since the 1980s, values have not markedly retreated (not counting for inflation), but they’ve never been all that strong. The SCM database shows the average Corsair convertible hovers in value around the $25k–$40k price range, as it has for decades. Our decidedly not-average subject car has routinely sold around the six-figure mark in the past 20 years, with two of four sales being stronger than the previous one. There aren’t many cars that can say that, for better or worse. That helps affirm that this latest sale was market-correct for such a remarkable piece of history.
