About the Aspire : in French, the word for a vacuum cleaner is aspirateur (TIL the Spanish word is aspiradora). Although the “sucks” analogy doesn’t work in French, having a subcompact car named after a cleaning appliance is bad enough.
Well, I was eight, so I didn’t have much knowledge of cards. I did like the push-button transmission (it was on the dash, not the steering wheel). I remember it was a good-sized car and there was plenty of room for my two brothers and me in the back.
I never thought if it was ugly or not. I did like the horse collar grille, since it made the car stand out.
We traded it in, but we usually got a new car every three years or so.
Here’s what it looked like.
Ford got around to redesigning the Edsel grille, but by then it was too late.
Well… I may have possibly stolen that joke from them…
I have no first hand experience, but from what I’ve read that push-button transmission was one of the major failure points on the Edsel.
Perhaps, but I don’t remember having issues. The car ran fine until we decided to replace it, and we usually bought a new car every 3-4 years.
As a kid, I was impressed with the Edsel’s bells & whistles. Push-button transmission (ours was in the center of the steering wheel), radio with a motorized seek function, powered antenna, stuff like that. Oddly, still had hand-cranked windows & manual door locks. Plenty of space for a family with four kids; huge trunk for camping trips. The distinctive styling was kind of cool.
By the time I was old enough to drive it, it was clear it hadn’t aged well. My dad had given up on getting the push-button transmission fixed again, and installed a manual shift lever through the floor.
Full-size sedan, then several 2-door coupes. Specifically 1970’s Chevy Impala, ~1976 Vega (haha), 1979 Mustang, 1991 Pontiac Sunbird.
I’ve seen pictures of 1980s era Buicks with hand cranked windows and manual locks. I thought that was odd since GM positioned Buick just below Cadillac in their brand hierarchy. When I commented on it I was told there were some buyers back then who just wanted the Buick’s smooth ride and better interior, but considered power windows and locks “just one more thing that can break”.
But of course the Edsel’s whiz bang push button transmission and power antenna were also more things that can break, so in that case it does seem odd to leave off the power windows and locks. Maybe that was Ford’s way of attempting to differentiate the brands – you want power windows, you have to sell out for a Mercury or Lincoln.
I grew up with a single mom who didn’t drive, and we couldn’t afford a car anyway.
My grandparents had a '67 Impala, though.
Oh, yeah, our 1955 Ford station wagon made two round trips from California to Ohio. It almost didn’t survive the first trip when it broke down near Indianapolis on the way home. Fortunately, my mom had a friend from her single days who let us crash at her house. Two parents, four kids, and an old dachshund. The son came home late that night while we kids were all sacked out on the living room floor and was a bit surprised. He was cool about it, though, and I have good memories of hanging out with a cool older teen-aged guy. 
The husband also had connections with the racetrack (speedway?), and we got a private tour and got to actually walk on the track…on the bricks! Cool.
When I was young and we were just a family of 4, my father drove sports coupes. 1965 Plymouth Barracuda 4-speed, 1968 Olds 442 4-speed. Then after a couple more offspring he drove larger personal coupes like Toronados or Pontiac Bonnevilles.
There’s an Edsel Villager station wagon that I’ve seen regularly driving around my town. I’ve wanted to get a picture for the “Most Interesting Car” MPSIMS thread, but, y’know, I’ve been behind the wheel and unable.
Man, I loved the 65 Impalas, especially with the 425 hp engine. What a screamer.
80s Ford Crown Vic station wagon, then a 90s Chevy Astro van. The van became my car my second year in college, and was a lot of fun on road trips with my buddies.
1969 Chevelle Station Wagon
Borgward Isabella Combi (an estate, or station wagon)
Had to look that one up. Interesting!
Already 10 years out of production by the time I was born, BTW.
I learned to drive on a '59 Imperial. It was the widest car made at the time, and we lived in the hills with narrow single-lane roads. Fun! 
But it was either that or learn to drive my mom’s stick shift Volvo…and I felt there was no way I could master that.
That was the main problem: people blowing the horn and inadvertently changing gears!