I wrote yesterday about "lemons"; cars that were designated that for one reason or another. The Edsel by Ford made that list, rather unfairly. It really wasn't a bad looking car. It's downfall was it's appearance from the front! It had a front grill that looked like a pig snout! That look was a costly one. Ford spent 300 million on this car. Three years later it had nearly bankrupted the Ford Motor Company and had put several dealerships out of business. The Edsel was around from 1957-1960. Another problem was that buyers were going for smaller cars. The "giants" of the late fifties were losing their appeal. Most of all, however, Edsel needed a happy-face grill. It was actually named after one of the boys, Edsel Ford. For older car buffs it is still a laugher today. I would love to have a nice clean one.It would be worth ten times what it cost back then.
How important is appearance? If one is building a car it is extremely important. If one is building a life it is also important. We really can't do a lot about how we look, but we can do something about how that look looks! A frown or scowl can become woven into one's countenance so that people are turned off by appearance. The problem is that we often do not see how we appear to others. The proud owner of an Edsel could drag main street and think the people were smiling because of his beautiful wheels, when they were actually laughing at it's pig-snout grill.
Looks can make a difference. Ask Ford.
