Specifications:
95bhp, 239 cu. in. L-head Mercury V8 engine, three-speed manual transmission, front and rear transverse leaf spring suspension with solid axles, four-wheel mechanical brakes. Wheelbase: 127"
Edsel Ford, unlike his famous father, was an aesthete, artist and connoisseur. Given the presidency of Lincoln in 1922 he transformed one of America’s least attractive cars into one of the most beautiful. Beginning in the late 1920s, he applied a measure of style to Ford cars, establishing the company’s first design department in 1931. Early in 1934, he ordered a town car from Brewster, built on a Ford V8 chassis.
Brewster & Co. was one of America's earliest carriage builders. Established by James Brewster at New Haven, Connecticut, in 1810, the firm won international acclaim at the Paris Carriage Exhibition in 1878. In 1905, Brewster built its first body for the burgeoning automobile industry; by 1911 it had abandoned carriages entirely and moved the workshops to Long Island City, New York. In 1914, in what would become a long association, Brewster took a Rolls-Royce franchise. From 1915 to 1925, Brewster also built complete automobiles, Knight-engined town cars selling at premium prices.
Not surprisingly, many imported Rolls-Royce cars bore Brewster coachwork. When Rolls-Royce of America was established at Springfield, Massachusetts in 1919, Brewster became one of the companies supplying “Rolls-Royce Custom Coachwork,” bodies built in small series and listed in the catalogs. The Brewster relationship was sufficiently close that Rolls bought Brewster in October 1925.
By the early thirties, however, all luxury automakers were reeling, Rolls-Royce among them. Chassis assembly at Springfield ceased, leaving only a few imported Phantom II chassis for Brewster to clothe. Rolls-Royce of America was shut down in 1934; by then its president, John S. Inskip, was running Brewster and steered the coachbuilding company back to auto manufacture. With the deepening Depression, Inskip reasoned that America’s wealthy, faced with belt-tightening, might be interested in a coachbuilt car on an economy chassis. This led to the Brewster Ford.
Inskip and Edsel Ford were well known to one another from Edsel’s involvement with custom coachwork for Lincoln chassis. Furthermore, Edsel’s design chief, Eugene T. “Bob” Gregorie, had worked at Brewster in the late 1920s. Finally, Inskip knew that Henry Ford would not favor a Ford with custom coachwork, but Edsel would. During negotiations for supply of Ford chassis to Brewster, Edsel ordered a town car.
The Brewster Ford line included town cars, convertible sedans and roadsters. Bodies were very similar to styles Brewster had built on Rolls Phantom II chassis, but the front featured flying fenders, a split Art Deco bumper and a distinctive heart-shaped grille, all apparently penned by Inskip himself. Inskip promoted them extensively, placing cars with celebrities such as Al Jolson, Vincent Astor, Fred Waring and Cole Porter. Porter was so pleased with his that he added the words “you’re a Brewster body” to the lyrics of “You’re the Top.”
For his own car, however, Edsel specified a standard Model 40 grille and a hood without louvers. Bearing Brewster number 9002, it was reportedly the third built, and was still being finished while in transit to Michigan in a railcar. Delivery took place on June 1, 1934, the first Brewster Ford to reach the public. It has headlights of the 1936 Ford style, 16-inch wheels and a 1938-type banjo steering wheel. Some have suggested these are later additions, but period photos show the headlights and wheels at time of delivery. Ford records show that Edsel ordered a Mercury engine installed in 1939, when the new make was introduced.
It is believed that Edsel ordered twelve more Brewster Fords, with standard 1935 Model 48 Ford grilles. In any case, just two were built, delivered to Ford Motor Company. It is uncertain how many Brewster Fords were built. The Brewster Car Society records numbers as high as 9174 and deliveries as late as April 1937. The remnants of Brewster & Co. were sold at auction that August.
Brewster Ford No. 9002 was sold through the New York Ford agency in 1941, at Edsel's request. The new owner, reportedly a New Jersey resident, kept it until his death. After his passing, it was left to his only daughter and transported to her home in California. It then remained in storage until 2005, when the current owner was able to buy it. The car was transported directly to the Meadow Book Concours d'Elegance, where it was welcomed back to Michigan for the first time in 55 years and displayed as a special, non-judged exhibit. It appeared in March 2006 at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, receiving the Amelia Award as runner-up in a class for custom-bodied Fords, in competition with seven other cars with high-quality restorations.
But for installation of the Mercury engine ordered by Edsel and minor changes by the previous owner, the car is original and has never been restored. The maroon lacquer paint had faded and developed many small cracks. After polishing, the cracks are well hidden; from four or five feet they are hardly visible. There are several small dents in the driver's door, which were left alone as they do not detract from the car's overall presence. The interior is all original but has moth holes in places, and some tears in the back seat cushion. It was decided that the interior not be replaced, in view of the car's historic significance. Instead, a wool lap robe conceals the damage and provides an attractive accent in the passenger compartment.
The engine compartment was degreased, the battery, hoses and fan belts replaced, oil changed and the chassis greased. The carburetor was rebuilt and the air cleaner painted. No major cosmetic work was done beyond this. Some alterations from an earlier period (incorrect spark plug wires, plugs, coil, etc.) were left alone. These could all be easily replaced with authentic parts. The tires are presentable, and the car runs and drives well. Lately, a minor exhaust leak has developed at the muffler joint.
The heart-front Brewster Fords are the only Ford V8-based cars recognized as Full Classics by the Classic Car Club of America. An application for Full Classic status has been submitted to the CCCA on behalf of this car, and given the Edsel Brewster’s historical significance, it is hoped that it will be fully approved by the time of the auction. This car, though without the Classic grille, has an even deeper distinction: a singular example of a coachbuilt 1930s Ford, built to Edsel's own specifications. It has been carefully preserved, even to its original fabric, and comes with copies of Ford documentation. Few Ford owners can say that “Edsel Ford, and probably Henry, too, sat here.”
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