VOA慢速英语:How the Edsel Became 'an Edsel'

ANNOUNCER: “They’ll know you’ve arrived, when you drive up in the nineteen fifty-eight Edsel -- the car that’s truly new, from nameplate to taillight.”
ANNOUNCER：“当你驾驶1958年版的Edsel --这种真正从铭牌到尾灯都全新设计的汽车，他们就会知道你已经到达了。”

The Ford Motor Company built several versions of the Edsel from nineteen fifty-eight to nineteen sixty. Ford ended production of the car after just three model years because of weak sales.
福特汽车公司从1958年到1960年生产了几个版本的Edsel。由于销售疲软，福特在仅仅生产3代之后就停产了。

The Edsel has been described as both a "colossal failure" and "a car ahead of its time."
Edsel已经被形容为“巨大的失败”和“超前的汽车”。

John Heitmann is a history professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio and vice president of the Society for Automotive Historians.
John Heitmann是俄亥俄州代顿大学历史学教授和汽车历史学家协会副会长。

JOHN HEITMANN: “It was a car that was controversial in styling. Its horseshoe-shaped grill is still remembered today. The Edsel is kind of the example of the car that never caught on. It’s known as the 'disaster from Dearborn.'”
JOHN HEITMANN：“这辆车的造型存在争议。其马蹄形散热护栅到今天仍被怀念。Edsel是不受欢迎汽车的一种例子。它被称为'来自迪尔伯恩的灾难'。”

Dearborn, Michigan is Ford's headquarters.
福特汽车公司的总部在密歇根州迪尔伯恩市。

Professor Heitmann says the biggest problem was that the Edsel arrived around the same time as a recession. He says Americans were beginning to question their values.
Heitmann教授表示，最大的问题是，Edsel几乎和美国的经济衰退同期抵达。他说，美国人开始怀疑他们的价值观。

JOHN HEITMANN: "It’s a really curious kind of economic episode. It was actually quite severe but also rather short. But it was at a time when many Americans were reacting to the dinosaur in the driveway. These very heavy, chrome-laden Buicks and other cars -- the fifty-eight Buick had fifty-eight pounds of chrome on it. The Edsel was also a very heavy, very fuel-inefficient vehicle."
JOHN HEITMANN：“此次经济事件非常奇怪，实际上，这是相当严重的，但也比较短。但当时许多美国人抗拒车道上的恐龙。这些很沉重的镀铬别克车和其它车。58年版的别克上镀了58磅铬。Edsel也是一种非常重，燃油效率低的汽车。”

Even so, some people say the Edsel's technology more than made up for what it lacked in looks and fuel efficiency.
即便如此，也有的人称Edsel的技术远远弥补了其外观和燃油效率低的不足。

"Shamrock" Shelly Cleaver is the public relations director for the Edsel Owners Club in the United States. Mr. Cleaver has been a member of the club since it formed in nineteen sixty-nine. He says the Edsel was the most modern car of its time.
“三叶草”Shelly Cleaver是美国Edsel车主俱乐部的公关总监。从1969年成立俱乐部之日起Cleaver先生就一直是会员。他说，Edsel是当时最现代化的汽车。

SHELLY CLEAVER: “It was the first Ford product to have self-adjusting brakes on it. And then on the back and rear bumper it had little bumper tips, had a guard with rubber mounted in them so when you could push your car or something, you wouldn’t skin up your bumper. And it had power lubrication where you could lubricate your ball joints and everything inside the car where you mashed a button.”
SHELLY CLEAVER：“这是第一款拥有自我调节刹车的福特产品。而在车后方的保险杠安装了橡胶护板，这样当车碰上什么东西时不会磨花你的保险杠。它还拥有动力润滑系统，你按一下按钮，就能润滑汽车球形接头和所有零部件。”

Mr. Cleaver liked one feature especially.
Cleaver先生特别喜欢其中一个功能。

SHELLY CLEAVER: “The fifty-eight Edsel had five buttons in the center of the steering wheel to shift the gears, see. And that way you could shift the gears with your left hand and keep your arm around your girlfriend, or your wife, whatever and keep on driving. That was unique. It was Teletouch Drive."
SHELLY CLEAVER：“58版的Edsel方向盘中间有5个变速按钮。而你就可以用左手来变速，右手可以搭着女友，老婆或其他的来继续开车。这是独一无二的电动触摸驾驶。”

“Shamrock” Shelly Cleaver made good use of that feature when he got married in nineteen fifty-eight. He went on his honeymoon in an Edsel, with one arm on the wheel and the other around his new wife.
“三叶草” 当Shelly Cleaver在1958年结婚时就很好的利用到了这一功能。他开着一辆Edsel开始了蜜月之旅，然后一手握着方向盘，另一手搂他的新娘子。

The Edsel was named for Edsel Ford, the only child of company founder Henry Ford. Edsel was president of Ford Motor Company until he died in nineteen forty-three.
Edsel是以福特汽车公司创始亨利福特的独子Edsel Ford的名字来命名的。Edsel担任福特汽车公司总裁直到1943年去世。

Today the cars are considered collector’s items. They can cost anywhere from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.
如今，该车被当成收藏品，他们的价值大约在数百美元到数万美元之间。