Brewster Ford V8 Coupe Roadster
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Car producer : |
Brewster |
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Model: |
Ford V8 Coupe Roadster |
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Year: |
1935-1937 |
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Type: |
Roadster |
Most bodywork were ordered to fit the imported chassis of the customers. Supplies were in danger once Europe entered the war in the summer of 1914. Following the 1915 shipwreck of the British liner Lusitania, Brewster started producing its own automobiles, a practice it kept up until 1925. They cost as much as "a Packard Twin Six limousine plus a fleet of five Model T Ford roadsters," while being smaller than their typical chassis for traversing Manhattan's streets. Brewster's personal cars had oval radiators and gleaming patent leather fenders, making them easy to identify. They were frequently equipped with Brewster's distinctive two-piece folding windscreen and were propelled by four-cylinder Knight engines with sleeve valves.On a Ford V8 chassis, the 1934 Brewster Town Car was mounted.When the Great Depression first began, there was strong sentiment against the wealthy and their archetypal Brewster-bodied Rolls-Royces and Brewster's bodies were not selling well. In 1934 sales chief J.S. Inskip, who had taken control of operations in the hope of saving Brewster, bought 135 Ford V8 roadster chassis for model year 1934 and designed a body for them easily identified by its swoopy fenders and a heart-shaped grille. Stylish and sold for US$3,500, it was a hit at the 1934 New York Auto Show. The bodies were worth more than the chassis. These cars were branded Brewster and sold at Rolls-Royce showrooms. Inskip marketed the cars to New York celebrities, with whom it became popular. Rolls-Royce Limited under English management strongly objected to coachwork being installed on Ford chassis, which lead to Rolls-Royce of America, Inc. changing their name to Springfield Manufacturing Corporation and renegotiating its contract with the British firm to continue importing British-made products into America. The Lincoln K series chassis installed with a V12 for 1934 did list the Brewster Non Collapsible Cabriolet with a 145" wheelbase but the coachwork choice did not continue for 1935. Ford Brewster's initiative was originally profitable, but soon Brewster started to lose money, and the company's bondholders and directors asked that it be shut down. Dallas E. Winslow bought the company that was the subject of bankruptcy proceedings in July 1935. The last of Brewster's possessions were auctioned off in public on August 18, 1937. Under the leadership of previous sales director John Inskip, the Rolls-Royce dealership and body shop operated on the same location as before. Brewster maintained track of each customer's family crest and color. The Vanderbilts' was a shade of maroon, the Astors' was a shade of blue, J. P. Morgan's was a shade of dark green. New clients occasionally found it challenging to select a body color because of these exclusive choices.Brewster created a top-secret oil-based finish that required far less upkeep than the varnishes of the day. Other businesses attempted to copy it but failed.After conducting extensive investigation, Brewster created a windscreen with a four-pane design in response to drivers' complaints about blinding street lights at night. Even though it wasn't copyrighted, the "Brewster windshield" was widely imitated by body shops and production cars.Brewster was the birthplace of many engineers and designers in the automotive industry. James Way initially worked at Brewster before becoming the designer and engineer of Pierce-cast-aluminum Arrow's bodies from 1904 to 1920. Edsel Ford, a Brewster native, convinced Henry Crecelius Sr., the head of Lincoln's coachbuilding section, to join the company. Brewster hired Raymond Dietrich as a draftsman before being fired for secret designing for other makes. Harry Lonschein founded Rollston after starting out at Brewster. The 1935 Ford grill was used to create 15 of the vehicles using a Ford V8 chassis. The first delivered example was purchased by Edsel Ford. A 1934 Brewster Town Cabriolet DeVille (chassis number 18-802233; engine number 49493; Brewster build number 9002), a "one off" custom with a lengthened 127-inch wheelbase, was the third Ford Brewster and the only one without the standard Brewster front end. Edsel requested a 1934 Ford grill, therefore that is what was installed. It is also the sole model produced with a banjo steering wheel, normal Ford dash rather than the Brewster dash, and 16-inch wheels rather than the standard 17-inch wheels. It was stored by Edsel Ford at a Ford dealer in New York so that he and his family may use it while in New York. In 1939, he had it retrofitted with a 239 Mercury flathead V8 engine that produced nearly 100 horsepower. It is one of Edsel Ford's few personal cars and still survives today in remarkable condition, unrestored. The Brewster-bodied Ford chassis Town Car with heart-shaped grill is the only classic Ford designated by the Classic Car Club of America
