Edsel Designer Roy Brown Dies at 96

Roy Brown, a longtime auto designer at Ford Motor Co. best known for penning the infamous Edsel 57 years ago, died on Feb. 24. He was 96 years old.

Brown designed the Lincoln Futura concept car that inspired the 1960s Batmobile. He was chief designer of the successful Ford Cortina compact in Europe.

But his most famous design and the least successful commercially was the Edsel. As part of Ford's new Edsel Div., the car with its "horse collar" grille was an instant flop. Introduced as a 1958 model, it went out of production three years later after selling only 118,000 units.

A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Brown was a graduate of the Detroit Art Academy. He was hired in 1937 by General Motors legend Bill Mitchell to work in the Cadillac design studio. Brown became Oldsmobile design chief in 1941.

After World War II and a consulting stint, Brown joined Ford. His mission for the Edsel was to make a car that looked different from every other car on the road but borrowed liberally from the company's existing parts bin.

After the car's market failure, Brown was transferred to Ford of England, where he redeemed his reputation by designing the Cortina and several other hits. Brown later returned to the U.S., later becoming executive designer at Lincoln-Mercury before retiring in 1975.