Dataplate specifications
Corsair, 4-door hardtop, Charcoal Brown Metallic with Chalk Pink
White vinyl/Copper cloth interior

"E-475" 410cid 345bhp V8, (Trans: "E", Axle: "N")
Edsel number 701149 manufactured in Somerville, MA on August 1, 1957

Information as of:  September 2004

Owner:   Casper Shahan
Location:   Ohio
Owned since:   September 2004

Mileage:   81,500
Condition:   Excellent
Originality:   All parts are factory authentic for the car

Accessories included:   Underhood Light, Trunk Light (only lights up when parking lights are turned on), Padded Dash, Power Steering, Power Brakes, Compass, Heater in good working order, Back-up Lights, Spinners with color keyed discs, Bumper Guards, Rocker Moldings, Tinted Factory Glass, Autolite carb (Sommerville Edsels came with autolites instead of Holleys)

Notes:
The car now has 81,500 miles.  The body is rust free and the chrome is pit free but also the basic integrity and suppleness of the bushings and gaskets is so much better as this car has spent it's life west of the Mississippi.  Glass is perfect.  The carpet is original and just looks really old and dirty.  Headliner like new, door panels excellent, and Olga the original owner put plastic seats covers on the car (including the sunvisors) when it was still new!  The paint, while shiny, is very very old (original) and it is badly faded around the horsecollar and below the horizontal grilles.

Corsair nameplates and the EDSEL letters in the scallop are aluminum instead of pot metal, so no pits.  They are also flatter than the later pot metal scripts.

The Corsair was originally painted "Copper Metallic", but was repainted - before it left the factory - "over" the Copper paint, in Charcoal Brown and Pink, which matches the data plate.  The car still sports the paint job it had when it left the factory!

We've checked the daily rotation numbers located on the inside of the fenders and hood.  They do not match.  They are #148 and #150.  Talking with a few other Edsel collectors, I discovered there are a few other "Somerville" Edsels that were repainted.  A gold and white Citation was discovered in North Dakota.  When it's padded dash rotted away, the Citation showed it was turquoise originally, but repainted and retagged (patient plate) before it left Somerville.
A few years ago there was also a Pacer 2-dr HT in the S. California area that had similar modifications by the factory.  It's data plate was CAE, red, black top and white scallop, with a white vinyl/red cloth interior.  However, the car was still in its original color and was ECC, white with red roof and scallop.
The copper paint on my Corsair has showed through in a few spots for some time David Fleischer, noted.  Until very recently, he thought it was the primer showing through, where the original paint was growing thin.  He repaired the driver's door lock and when he removed the interior door panel, there the copper paint was revealed.  After a more careful inspection, "some" of the trim must have been taped off as copper is under various (but not all) the trim on the car.

One would think that the dealer might have done this or it was repaired and repainted some time during it's history.  But, we are luck in knowing its complete past.  We also have the unmolested factory patient plate to support all of this.  So, this makes me wonder if the "copper" was a factory error that was corrected or the "Edsel Division" discovered the Corsair was not moving off the production lot and was repainted in order to match a dealer order? (Something a car company couldn't get by with today!)

Information as of:  September 2004

Owner:   David Fleischer
Location:   Utah
Owned:   May 1985 - September 2004

Mileage:   81,500
Condition:   Excellent
Originality:   All parts are factory authentic for the car

Accessories included:   unknown

Notes:
David and a friend flew to Denver in May 1985.  He purchased the car through an agent of the original owner as she had since passed on.

Information as of:  September 2004

Owner:   Olga Oakes
Location:   Denver, Colorado
Owned:   May 1958 - 1985

Mileage:   56,000
Condition:   Excellent
Originality:   All parts are factory authentic for the car

Accessories included:   unknown

Notes:
Olga bought the car new in May 1958 at Bob Jones Edsel in Denver CO.  The car was a very early production model but it seems that it took the dealership ten months to unload this car from their lot.  Olga owned this car and drove it until 1979.  She stop driving it at the age of 84.  The car had 56,000 miles when she retired it.