Low-Mileage 1958 Edsel Citation Spent 41 Years in a Warehouse, Now a Restored Gem

5 months, 1 week ago - 23 June 2025, autoevolution

Introduced in late 1956 and discontinued only three years later, the Edsel brand is widely regarded as the world's largest automotive flop. Often described as a marketing disaster, Edsel cost Ford Motor Company a whopping $250 million, the equivalent of $2.7 billion in 2025 dollars.

Slotted between the Ford and Mercury divisions, Edsel offered no fewer than seven nameplates from model year 1958 through 1960. The company sold fewer than 120,000 units. For reference, Ford delivered over 400,000 Galaxie models in 1959 alone.

Of the seven nameplates launched in 1958, only three survived beyond the first model year. In 1960, Edsel's final year on the market, only two models remained in showrooms. The Citation you see here is one of the five one-year-only cars and one of America's nearly forgotten nameplates.

The Citation was the brand's flagship vehicle. Unlike its lower-cost siblings, which shared underpinnings with the Ford Fairlane, the Citation (and the Corsair) shared features with the more expensive Mercury cars. The Citation line included a four-door hardtop, a two-door hardtop, and a two-door convertible.

The company sold 9,299 units, with the four-door being the most popular body style, with 5,588 examples built. The two-door hardtop found 2,781 customers, while the convertible was favored by only 930 buyers. The latter is the second-rarest 1958 Edsel, following the Bermuda station wagon (779 units produced).

Like many drop-tops from the era, the Citation has a very low survival rate. It's unclear exactly how many are still around, but this Gold Metallic convertible is one of fewer than 15 restored examples known to exist. It's also the only known fully restored Citation sporting this rare single-tone gold hue.

Set to go under the hammer at Mecum's Monterey 2025 auction in August, this Edsel was discovered in 2019 in a Chicago warehouse. The car had been sitting there since 1978 and re-emerged as an unrestored survivor with only 28,000 miles (45,062 km) on the odometer.

Restored on a rotisserie with factory documentation and NOS parts, the Citation has won several first-place awards at Concours-type events across the United States. Since the restoration, the Citation was driven less than 30 miles (48 km).

The Edsel is purported to have been previously owned by Robert Horton, the star of the hit TV series "Wagon Train" (1957-1962). The show was sponsored by Edsel in 1958.

The wonderfully restored Citation still relies on the original E-475 V8 engine, a 410-cubic-inch (6.7-liter) mill of the MEL variety. The four-barrel unit was factory rated at 345 horsepower and 475 pound-feet (644 Nm) of torque. It mates with a three-speed Cruise-O-Matic transmission.

Mecum doesn't provide a pricing estimate for the drop-top, but the stunning condition, high originality, and rare color will likely turn this Citation into one of the most expensive ever sold. As of this writing, the priciest Citation is a yellow example that changed hands for $64,000 in August 2023.