Roy Brown Junior, born on 30 October 1916, was a Canadian engineer and designer who enjoyed the greatest fame as the designer of the Ford Edsel in 1958. After his parents moved to MoTown Detroit - his father was working at Chrysler - he successfully completed his studies at the Detroit Art Academy and was then immediately appointed by General Motors as Bill Mitchell's right hand.
The first thing he designed there was the dashboard for the Cadillac of 1939. After his military service, he joined Ford in 1955 with the assignment to supervise and streamline the design of the Ford Lincoln Futura. A dozen years later, that Ford was the model for the so popular Batmobile ... After the Futura, Ford commissioned Brown to design something that would attract the interest of the middle and top class. Brown thus designed a beautiful car that would make a stir. No 'fins' as was generally good at the time and a vertical instead of horizontal grille. The car was named after Henry Ford's only child Edsel, who died at a young age due to cancer. The Ford Edsel rolled into the showrooms in 1957, accompanied by a huge advertising campaign. The world was not (yet) ripe for the spectacular design. The criticism was out of the air. Only 63.000 units were sold that first year. Production stopped in 1960. Ford USA moved Brown to Great Britain where he designed the Cortina, Ford's best-selling model in the UK. Brown is also responsible for the new model of the Zephyr and Zodiac. In 1966 he was recalled to the United States where he designed the Ford Econoline van and became responsible for all Lincoln models. Despite all the criticism, Roy Brown remained a big fan of the Edsel and drove to an old age with an Edsel Convertible. He retired in 1974. He died on February 24 2013 from the effects of Parkison in his hometown.
Photo: Roy Brown still drove his creation, the Ford Edsel as a Convertible, until an old age. Bright red.