Roy Brown Jr., Edsel Designer, Passed Away at 96
Ralph Fountain/Las Vegas Review Journal, via Associated Press
Roy Brown Jr., who created and drove Edsels into his 90s, is shown here in Las Vegas in 1998.
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: March 5, 2013
Roy Brown Jr., a car designer for Ford Motor whose signature creation, the supposedly futuristic but ultimately ill-fated Edsel, became a synonym for bold, bad ideas not long after it was introduced in 1957, died on Feb. 24 in Michigan. He was 96.
His death was announced in Michigan news media outlets.
Even as the Edsel, his most notable work, fell far short of sales goals, lost hundreds of millions of dollars, became an enduring punch line and prompted an overseas transfer for its designer, Mr. Brown remained satisfied with it.
“I’m proud of the car,” he told The Sun-Sentinel of Florida in 1985. “There is not a bad line on the car.”
Many initial assessments agreed.
“The Edsel will be radically different,” said an article in The New York Times previewing the new model in 1957.
“The difference in style is spectacular,” the article added. “The front end emphasizes a vertical grille that lends a distinctive continental flair. The rear-end assembly is also distinctive. Horizontal taillights sweep across the trunk lid to form a pattern like the graceful wingspread of a sea gull.”
But early praise and anticipation — Ford directors stood and applauded along with Henry Ford II when they were given a preview of the design — soon gave way to public mockery.
The vertical grille with the “continental flair” was compared to a toilet seat and later became known as the “horse collar.” (Mr. Brown’s initial grille design was far sleeker but was reworked out of concerns about getting enough air to the engine.) New features — the push-button shifter, the “floating” speedometer — had complications. (Making seat belts standard, however, was a trend that caught on.)
Many people felt the Edsel’s indulgences — in chrome, size and sheer steel bulk — seemed out of touch by the time it appeared on the market, during an economic downturn. Others said the car was hurt by excessive expectations.
Ford spent lavishly on advertising, including television commercials, but the company struggled to clarify the market position of Edsel’s various models, which sold for $2,400 to $3,800. Edsels were less expensive than some Mercury models, Ford’s midlevel brand, although they were sometimes presented as near equals to Lincoln, the luxury category.
“This car was kind of aimed at a market that didn’t really exist,” said Matt Anderson, the curator of transportation at the Henry Ford, a museum in Dearborn, Mich.
Even the name of the car confused some people. It was named for Edsel Ford, the only child of the company founder, who served as president of the company until his death in 1943.
The Edsel was out of production by the end of 1959 and would sell a little more than half of the 200,000 cars Ford projected. Mr. Brown was transferred to England, where he helped design successful European models for Ford, including the Cortina. He returned to the United States in the mid-1960s and continued to work at Ford until 1974.
Roy Abbott Brown Jr. was born Oct. 30, 1916, in Hamilton, Ontario. His family moved to the Detroit area when he was a teenager. Survivors include his wife of 42 years, Jeanne Brown; four children from a previous marriage, Georgianna Byron, Reginald Brown, Penny Beesley and Mark Brown; a sister, Betty Klepinger; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
For all its commercial struggles, the Edsel has been revered as a collectible for decades — and Mr. Brown drove one into his 90s.
Robert Mayer, who brokers Edsels and sells Edsel parts online at Edsel World, said that he just recently sold some original drawings Mr. Brown made in the 1990s of what an Edsel might have looked like had the line endured.
“If you are unprejudiced and look at the car, it’s beautiful,” Mr. Mayer said of the original models. “The young people who have never heard of it look at it and think it’s beautiful.”
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Posted Jan 14th 2013 6:44AM
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The main focus of Mercedes-Benz's presence here at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show will be the fully redesigned 2014 E-Class (and its too-hot AMG counterpart), but the German automaker did bring along another tasty little morsel for a sneak preview. Meet the new 2014 CLA-Class – a swoopy compact sedan based on the already successful new A-Class hatchback that'll be arriving Stateside in September of this year. Mercedes-Benz introduced its new entry-level car to the world at Detroit's Westin Book Cadillac hotel, but the CLA won't be making an appearance under the lights of Cobo Hall. Instead, the company will be shipping its new four-door off to be officially debuted to the public at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin later this week, and its first official viewing at an auto show will be at the Geneva Motor Show. And what a shame that is. We spent a few hours ogling the new CLA and it's sort of sad that show-goers in Detroit this week won't be able to do the same. It's an impossibly pretty car from every single angle, Mercedes-Benz showing it off here in a deep red and a flat gray, the latter with optional sport appearance goodies. Part of that attractiveness is thanks to how stylishly slippery the CLA is – it boasts a drag coefficient of just 0.23, making it the most aerodynamic series production vehicle in the world. (Take that, Prius!) It's roughly the same size as a C-Class, and the four-door coupe language works quite well here in a smaller package.It's a nicely proportioned thing, too. It's roughly the same size as a C-Class, and the four-door coupe language works quite well here in a smaller package. Mercedes designers have done a fantastic job with this sleek design on the larger CLS, and it's arguably even better-looking here on this little guy. You really need to see the CLA in person to realize just how good it looks. When the 2014 CLA-Class launches in the United States this fall, it will initially come only in CLA250 guise, packing a turbocharged 1.8-liter inline-four good for 208 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Front-wheel drive will be standard, but Mercedes-Benz will also be offering a retuned version of its 4Matic all-wheel-drive system. The company says that its AMG performance arm was heavily involved in the development of this new 4Matic architecture, and if that's the case, there's reason to expect good things. We'll have to wait a little longer for the full-on AMG package, previewed by the A45 AMG hatchback in Europe. Inside, the CLA boasts the same levels of refinement found across its current lineup, and while you might think the cabin is a bit cramped – especially in the back – that isn't the case. No, those rear seats aren't what we'd call capacious (our apologies to taller passengers), but they aren't all that bad. And regardless, the interior is a comfy, cushy place. Mercedes-Benz is hoping to attract a whole host of new buyers with the CLA-Class – people who would never have considered shopping the luxury automaker in the past. If the early accomplishments of the A-Class overseas are any indication (Mercedes-Benz says its launch of the A-Class was one of the most successful in the company's history), then perhaps this same magic can happen in the States with the CLA. And with pricing expected to fall around $30,000, that might not be too far-fetched of a thought. Chrysler to recall 630,000 SUVs worldwideModels at risk include Patriots, Compasses, and V-6 WranglersIt helps to have a fix. And, Chrysler would say, a problem.In a week that it didn't need any more negative attention on its Jeep brand, Chrysler says it will do two Jeep recalls totaling 630,000 vehicles worldwide. The announcement comes just two days after Chrysler refused a government request to recall 2.7 million older-model Jeeps Chrysler said Thursday that it will recall more than 409,000 Jeep Patriot and Compass small SUVs around the world from the 2010 and 2012 model years to fix air bag and seat-belt problems. It's also recalling 221,000 Jeep Wranglers worldwide from 2012 and 2013 to fix transmission fluid leaks, according to documents posted Thursday on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. In the Patriots and Compasses, a software error could cause late deployment of the side air bags and seat-belt tightening mechanisms, and that could cause injuries in rollover crashes. Dealers will repair the software for free starting in July. For Wranglers with 3.6-liter V-6 engines, Chrysler says a power steering fluid line can wear a hole in the transmission oil cooler line. The SUVs can leak fluid, damaging automatic transmissions. Dealers will inspect the lines for free and replace them or install a protective sleeve. The recall begins in July. No crashes or injuries have been reported in either case, Chrysler spokesman Eric Mayne said Thursday. The Compass and Patriot recall includes 254,400 vehicles in the U.S., 45,400 in Canada and another 109,400 outside North America, according to Chrysler. The Wrangler recall includes 181,000 vehicles in the U.S. as well as 18,400 in Canada, 3,300 in Mexico and another 18,400 outside North America. Concerned customers in either case can call Chrysler at (800) 853-1403. On Tuesday, Chrysler refused a Monday night request from NHTSA to recall 2.7 million older Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty SUVs because the fuel tanks are defective and increase the risk of fires in rear end crashes. Chrysler says the vehicles are safe and met federal safety standards when they were built. NHTSA is not contesting that the SUVs meet their safety standards. The government, however, says the 1993-2004 Grand Cherokees and 2002-2007 Liberty models have a higher rate of fires in rear end crashes and a gas tank that is positioned in such a way that it is a safety defect. The tanks are mounted behind the rear axle -- where they are in other vehicles, including the Ford Crown Victoria. It is very rare for a car company to refuse the government's request to do a recall. The negotiations are usually conducted out of the public eye and lead to what's known as a "voluntary recall." But Chrysler says that NHTSA's conclusions are based on flawed data. The company says it's still working with NHTSA to resolve the issue, which could signal its willingness to work out some sort of customer satisfaction campaign that isn't called a recall. If the two sides don't agree, the issue could wind up in court. One potential issue is how the gas tank could be made safer. Short of the extremely expensive actions of moving the tanks or buying back the vehicles, only one other potential solution has been discussed. The Center for Auto Safety's Clarence Ditlow, whose petition led to the NHTSA investigation, says he believes metal skid plates on about 10-15% of the 2.7 million vehicles help prevent fires by shielding the tanks as long as they have a safety value to prevent fuel leaks if filler hoses come loose. Chrysler, however, says these plates are only designed to prevent debris during off roading from damaging vehicle parts - not to protect the tanks in rear end crashes. The company previously refused a NHTSA request in 1996, when the agency asked it to recall 91,000 Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Cirrus cars for an alleged seat belt defect. NHTSA sued the company and won in federal court. But in 1998, an appeals court reversed the decision, saying NHTSA had unfairly held Chrysler to a new standard. While Chrysler says there are no safety defects with the older Jeeps, Mayne said defects were identified on the newer Jeeps and the company did what it was supposed to. It recalled them. Contributing: Associated Press http://wholesale.insurancediscounts.us.com/social/ueid/fbso_051966d4829e6b_nan_autoinsUPP_572675479  LLC
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