Vehicle Description
Brewster & Co. of Queens, New York is one of America's oldest and
most storied coachbuilders. Originally formed in 1810 in New Haven,
Connecticut, Brewster was America's premier constructer of high
quality coaches and wagons. At the turn of the 20th century, the
horseless carriage was beginning to find favor among the wealthy,
so with a move of operations to New York they began to focus their
attention on building motor bodies for New York's elite. By 1911,
all carriage building had ceased and the company turned entirely to
bodying the best motorcars in the world. It is perhaps a fitting
testament to their quality that the first petrol powered car to
wear a Brewster body was a Delaunay-Belleville; widely regarded as
the very finest car of its era and of which Brewster would become
the North American importer in 1905. In 1914, Brewster was selected
by Rolls-Royce, Ltd. as sales official agents and by 1919 were the
preferred body builders for their American market chassis built in
Springfield, Massachusetts. This set Brewster on a pedestal above
all other American coachbuilders. Concurrently, they began to offer
cars of their own construction, mainly town cars of more compact
proportions that were designed specifically for chauffeuring their
clients around New York's tight streets. Using a proprietary
chassis, Brewsters were powered by expensive but exceptionally
smooth Knight sleeve-valve engines and were instantly recognizable
by their distinct oval radiators. Brewster pioneered many
innovations in car building such as roll up windows, disappearing
jump seats and the canted "Brewster Windshield" which reduced the
glare of city street lights for chauffeurs. By 1925, Rolls-Royce
bought the entire Brewster works outright, going on to sell nearly
450 cars with Brewster bodies. Led by John S Inskip, the designers
at Brewster produced some of the most striking automobiles of the
era. Following Rolls-Royce's withdrawal from US production in 1931,
Brewster was saved by Inskip (who was also the outgoing chairman of
Rolls-Royce North America) and new, more affordable chassis were
sought to keep the workshop busy. A partnership with Ford was
initially promising, however that failed to materialize into long
term success. Brewster continued to offer bodies for individual
clients on mainly Ford and Buick chassis, though they could not
recapture their earlier magic and the company was closed in 1938,
leaving behind a legacy of exceptional quality and tasteful,
beautiful styling. Likely one of the very last Brewster cars ever
produced, this 1938 Buick wears an unusual and fascinating town car
body by the famed Long Island coachbuilder. Finished in an
attractive two-tone color scheme of blue main body sides over black
fenders and hood, this Buick has been nicely restored and well
preserved over the years and is ready to be enjoyed. The quality of
the restoration is very good, with attractive paint and finishing.
The Town Car body features an enclosed passenger compartment with a
tan faux-cabriolet roof and disappearing roof for the front
compartment. The rear passengers are treated to lovely gray
broadcloth armchairs and panels, and a pair of occasional rear
seats folds neatly into the floor - a Brewster signature. Bud
vases, wood trimmed door caps and a sliding divider window add to
the air of luxury. The quality of presentation is very good, clear
evidence this car was properly restored and has been very well
tended-to since then. The chauffeur's cabin (this is a town car
after all, and would have been exclusively chauffeur driven) is
trimmed in black leather, which is appropriate as it was harder
wearing for the duties of driving. A disappearing roof panel slides
out to cover the driver in case of inclement weather. The dash is a
handsome mix of painted metal surfaces, wood-grained panels and
elegant Art Deco detailing. Buick's trusty 248 Cubic Inch Dynaflash
straight-eight presents well under the hood with proper graphics
adorning the valve cover and presented well in Buick green paint
with satin black ancillaries. The engine runs strong and the car
has benefitted from a recent mechanical freshening. This rare and
interesting Buick represents the end more than one era in
automotive history- as one of the very last cars produced by
Brewster, it marks the end of one of America's great car builders.
Also, as bespoke automobile bodies were falling out of favor, the
outbreak of WWII and subsequent economic troubles would be the
death knell for the industry as a whole. Thankfully, this Buick
with its rare, high-quality and lovingly restored Brewster body has
survived through the years as a monument to a bygone era. .