Anyone ever seen one of these? I don't know anything about it or have any other pictures but I dig the wild front end and thought I'd share. It was on an auction site for $99,000
And it is actually a Brewster by original registration...Brewster used Ford chassis, but was a car builder and the car was technically a Brewster. Like a Shelby Mustang useta was legally a Shelby at birth.
The Oliver Hines 34 Ford Coupe which was shown at the Detroit Autorama at Ford Rotunda Motorama and in Hot Rod magazine in 1955 used a Brewster grill.
i know of one it has been outside sooooo long that the car has caved in on itself but at least the guy was smart enough to pyut the grill and fenders inside the same guy has 36 cabriolet 36 sedan convert 36 roadster 36 pheaton 2 40 converts and about 10 model a and t roadster wont sell anything yet... but i am working on it tk
When the depression hit in '29, the custom coach companies fell on had times. Many closed down. By 1933, Brewster, who had built bodies for the American built Springfield Rolls Royce's, developed a plan to use lower priced chassis for their custom bodies. The most common ones used Ford's, but I've seen a late 30's Buick chassis with a similar Brewster body to the one pictured above.
I first saw this car at the Ford Rotundra in Detroit when I was a kid. Same guy still owns it and it is still a beautiful driveable car. It featured the Brewster grill and nobody could figure out what it was.
I saw a picture of a roadster I think in an old rod and custom with a duvall windshield and a grill that looked alot like that.
That is what it looks like now;it was originally a beautiful bronze color.Ollie's son owns the car now as Ollie passed away awhile back.I've always loved the Brewster grille and fenders.Here's a pic of a woody wagon taken at the Ty-Rods show quite a few years ago.Not sure what the chassis is but it had an OHV inline engine and independent front suspension.
Brewster was a custom body company, as someone noted earlier. During World War II they turned to military aircraft, built the Brewster Buffalo, a Navy fighter, and the Buccaneer, a dive bomber. The Navy bought some Buffalo's but poor quality doomed the plane, and almost all that went up to fight the Japanese at Midway were shot down. The Navy ultimately closed Brewster, i think in 1944.
In 1930 the aircraft division was sold, and it went on to produce the buffalo and have troubles with the Navy. So actually seperate companies by the time the cars in this thread were built. Anyone got pics of earlier Brewsters?
Neat lookin' car but don't it seem kinda funny that the same type of pompous ass that would want to ride around in the back of one of these back in 34 wouldn't be a little embarassed to have a lowly Ford and not something more upscale like a Cadillac or Lincoln? Hard to figure people sometimes.
Here's a link to a ton of photos from the Brewster Society web site including the Woody from teh Ty-Rods show, which is identified as being on an Olds chassis, and the car I saw in the 80's at a show in NJ on a Buick chassis. http://www.geocities.com/dons_neatstuff/survivors.htm
hotrod1940, that is the Oliver Hines car that I mentioned. It is from Michigan and was built in the 1950's. I first seen it at a car show in the 70's, and it also appears in a 1955 Hot Rod magazine. The same family restored the car and I think they still own it.
The company was on hard times, they'd been the primary supplier of US Rolls Royce bodies since around 1920. RR actually bought Brewster in the 20s, but then went belly up leaving Brewster free to build their own cars again. So somebody buying a Brewster was also buying into their history. The 1934 ford brewster was a last ditch attempt to save the company with a volunteer CEO at the helm. He was counting on the depression to affect luxury customers too. Brewsters were 3.5X the price of a ford, but the top of the line caddies were more like 10X. Company folded in 36 but some people associated with the name made onsie-twosy cars afterward. If you start digging it seems a fair number of brewsters had the chassis replaced with late 30s buick chassis.
it may just be a tall tale but theres an old man around here in lubbock and he says that he saw one go through and auction a few years back and the whole car sold for lke 1500 bucks or something cheap for it and he says hes friends with the guy who bought it and that it hasnt ever moved since it was bought..im working on getting the grill to that thing myself..
The '33,'34 Ford was about the best looking Ford of that era.Why they would put that clown car on one is beyond me.It's like drawing a moustache on the Mona Lisa.
Well Alberta Bud, it was about selling cars in the middle of the depression. Henry sold Brewster rolling chassis, not whole cars. Ford made a buck and Brewster made a buck. No real '34 Fords were killed in the making of these custom bodied vehicles.
Brewster was a body builder who used Ford, Buick and other chassis. You are thinking of Cord or Ruxton.
We've got one here in the Sibley Shop Museum at Hemmings Motor News. Stop by and see it some time. dan
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