Drive

My buddy Sal is a car guy. He owns a gigantic 1958 Edsel Citation four door hardtop, a top of the line example of Ford Motor Company's ill fated marque from the 1958-60 model years. He's wanted one since puberty; he's had this one for less than a year. The car's colossal marketing failure is still taught in business programs throughout the western world, as an example of what not to do. It's an ungainly tank like hulk of a thing, and like most cars of its era nearly impossible to drive by modern standards, even with it's push-button-automatic-power-everything. To my designer's eye, the machine is not the most felicitous styling exercise from the once great but currently foundering automotive titan. Still, there's really nothing else like mid-century over powered Detroit rolling stock. Sal picked me up at the gallery and we tooled along the river drives and then finally across the Ben Franklin Bridge to the storage facility where his baby sleeps. Before he slipped her into its solo berth (the walls are padded to prevent door chips) his eyes caressed the glossy curves and glintingly reflected the sparklingly perfect chrome. For car a guy like Sal, there is nothing lovelier.