This 1959 Edsel Villager Is a Quirky Survivor With One Tiny Secret

The division left a $250-million hole (about $2.6 billion in 2025 dollars) in Ford's budget.

There are many reasons why Edsel failed—way too many to discuss here, including the fact that the cars looked rather quirky. But even though it disappeared as quickly as it emerged, Edsel eventually developed a following. And needless to say, the brand left a few cool vehicles behind. The Citation is perhaps the most iconic, but I'm a big fan of the company's station wagons.

Ford was pretty confident in Edsel's success and launched the brand with a seven-nameplate lineup. Three of these rigs were station wagons. The range included the entry-level Roundup, the mid-range Villager, and the top-of-the-line Bermuda. Edsel discontinued no fewer than four models after the first year, including the Roundup and Bermuda. Unlike its siblings, the Villager remained in showrooms for all three model years.

The Villager found only 3,272 customers in 1958, but sales jumped to 7,820 examples for the 1959 model year. It was Edsel's best-selling nameplate. With the division's fate sealed in late 1959, the Villager moved only 275 units for the 1960 model year.

With over 11,000 units sold in total, the Villager is not exactly a rare classic by production numbers. However, far fewer station wagons are still around today, as many were discarded into junkyards and scrapped after only a few years on the road. If you haven't seen a solid Villager in a while, YouTube's "Vehicle Mundo" recently spotted one at a classic car dealership in Minnesota.

It's a 1959 model with a two-row layout, making it one of 5,687 examples produced (the remaining 2,133 cars had three-row seating). And the cool thing about it is that it's an unrestored survivor except for one repaint. The grocery-getter retains the original two-tone interior, which is a rare feat for an unrestored rig that's over 60 years old as of 2025.

There's no info whether the Villager was repainted in the correct factory color, but white was definitely an option in 1959. This one appears to sport a Snow White body with a President Red roof.

Like a proper survivor, the wagon relies on a numbers-matching engine. The mill in question is a 332-cubic-inch (5.4-liter) V8. Rated at 225 horsepower and 325 pound-feet (441 Nm) of torque, the V8 mates to a two-speed Mile-O-Matic gearbox.

How much does it cost to take this wagon home? Well, the dealership wants $29,575, which is a tad above what these Villagers usually go for at public auctions. Is this quirky grocery-getter worth the price?