Ford Edsel
1957-1960
The Ford Edsel is probably the standard by which ALL failures are measured. The car had several technological innovations, like an electro-mechanical Teletouch transmission - with the buttons in the middle of the steering wheel. Ford hoped the Edsel would be the car everyone wanted. The problem: no one did.
When the Edsel was unveiled, the design was considered ugly, and the price too high. Some people complained that the front grill reminded them of female genitalia. Ford lost around $3 billion in today’s money.
Additional info:
Roadandtrack - The Edsel became synonymous with abject corporate failure.
Hagerty - 10 reasons why the Ford Edsel floundered.
This commercial shows how high the expectations were before launch: