1935 Brewster

edited by David Barth, 10 January 2009.
Courtesy The Forney Museum of Transportation at 4303 Brighton Blvd., Denver, Colorado.
Information is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Photos were taken in January and February 2009.

Brewster & Company was an American coachbuilder, active from 1810 to 1937. Their first known bodywork on an automobile was on an electric car in 1896 and on a gasoline-powered Delaunay-Belleville chassis in 1905. Eventually, they would use chassis from a variety of manufacturers. From 1915 to 1925 and 1934 to 1935, Brewster produced its own line of opulent and expensive automobiles at its plant in Long Island City, New York.

In 1804 James Brewster became an apprentice to carriage builder Colonel Charles Chapman when he was 16 years old. He considered pursuing a life of military, achieving Lieutenant in the Northampton militia, but ultimately decided "coachmaker with a competency" sounded better than "General Brewster".

When he completed his apprenticeship in 1809, James went to New Haven, Connecticut, where he became a journeyman under John Cook, who owned a carriage making shop. By 1810, he had finished working under Cook, saved 250 dollars, gotten married, and opened up his own carriage shop, Brewster Carriage Co. in Long Island City, New York.

His coaches were of exceptional quality, and in a few years he needed to expand. James purchased the carriage shop of John, his former employer. Brewster carriages began to get noticed, and he opened up a showroom and warehouse on Broad Street in New York City.

To retain his workers, James paid the highest wages, in cash every week. By contrast, other small establishments paid on and off, and not always with cash.

When James retired, his second son, Henry, ran the New York branch, which became Brewster & Co. and the elder son, James B., ran the rival firm, J.B. Brewster & Co.

In 1883, Henry's 17 year old son William joined the company. After traveling about Europe to investigate the finest coachbuilders, William came home with extremely discerning eye for quality. He would scratch an 'X' on finished body panels that showed imperfection, forcing a complete re-finish. He adopted slogan "Carriage Builder for the American Gentleman."

Brewster & Co. presented the following horse-drawn carriage configurations at the Paris Exposition in 1878:

• Brougham
• Lady's Brougham
• Cabriolet
• Landau
• Racing Sulky
• Road Wagon
• Park Drag
• American Trotting Phaeton
• Lady's Phaeton
• T-Cart
• Two-Wheeler
• Double-suspension Victoria
• Whitechapel Wagon

To the surprise of everyone, Brewster won the Gold Award, the highest honor. His was the only American firm to win Gold at the Exposition. Henry Brewster was even personally awarded the Legion of Honor by the leader of France, and his employees received honors as well.

Brewster would receive many more honors at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair (also known as the Columbian Exposition, marking the 400th anniversary of Columbus sailing to the New World.)

In 1905, Brewster became an importer for Delaunay-Belleville, the most desirable French car of the time. This marked their first venture into automobile body building, and it began their history of providing coachwork for prestigious autos.

From 1915 to 1925 Brewster produced its own cars, chassis and body, called the Brewster Knight, recognizable by its oval radiator, patented leather fenders, and featuring the quiet and costly sleeve-valve Knight engine.

Before 1914, most of the company's vehicle sales were Brewster bodies on Delaunay-Belleville chassis. In 1914, Brewster was carefully chosen as sales agents for Rolls-Royce, Ltd. and became the main supplier of bodies for Rolls-Royce in the U.S.

By 1925, Brewster's sales had dropped. Following World War I, trading with Europe had resumed, and Rolls-Royce of America was expanding and purchased Brewster & Co., making it a subsidiary. Rolls-Royce had its chassis fitted with temporary seats and protection, and drove them from its Massachusetts plant to the Brewster building in Long Island City to have bodies installed.

The purchase of Brewster allowed Rolls-Royce showrooms to offer 28 standardized body styles, deliver cars to customers more quickly, and at a lower price. Customers were be able to purchase models directly from the showroom, as well.

At the beginning of the Great Depression, Rolls-Royce of America folded. From 1931 to 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II chassis were shipped from Britain to Brewster's large facility in Long Island City for bodies. Some dealers and individuals shipped their cars to the Brewster plant for bodies.

By 1934, during the Great Depression, Rolls-Royces were not selling well in the U.S. Brewster employee J.S. Inskip, who had taken control of operations to save the Brewster subsidiary from the Depression, purchased 135 Ford V8 roadster chassis and designed a body for it. This body was dentified by its swoopy fenders and a heart-shaped grille.

The car was very stylish and sold for only $3,500. It was a hit at the 1934 New York Auto Show. The Brewster shown here is one of those Ford chassis/Brewster bodied cars. The Brewster bodies were worth more than the Ford chassis. These cars were registered as Brewsters, not Fords, and sold at Rolls-Royce showrooms.

The Ford was considered to be the best engineered car in the world, but wealthy people did not want to be seen driving one because it was in the low-price field, so they bought the chassis and had Brewster build a custom body for it.

Edsel Ford acquired the third Ford Brewster ever built. It is one of Edsel Ford's few personal cars and still survives today in remarkable condition, unrestored. Inskip marketed the car to New York celebrities, with whom it became popular.

The Ford Brewster project was initially profitable, but soon Brewster was experiencing losses and the bondholders and directors insisted on closing down the firm. In July 1935, bankruptcy proceedings were instituted, and on August 18, 1937, the company was sold at public auction.

Brewster was immortalized in the Cole Porter song, "You're the Top" in which there is a line: "You're the top! You're a Ritz hot toddy. You're the top! You're a Brewster body."

The manager of New York's National Horse Show, Edward King, was once asked whether he considered Brewster to be the Tiffany of carriage manufacturers. "My opinion is that Tiffany was the Brewster of jewelers." (indeed Tiffany was the younger company.)

In 1956, Colonel Paul Downing wrote in American Heritage Magazine, "However, it is doubtful that it can honestly be said that America took her place in the world of really fashionable carriages until the firm of Brewster & Company of Broome Street took the lead. It became a saying in the trade that a new style was of no value until it was established by Brewster."

Interesting sidelights

• Brewster kept records of all family crests and colors of its customers. The Astors' was a blue, J. P. Morgan's dark green, and the Vanderbilts' was a shade of maroon. These reserved colors would sometimes make it difficult for new customers to choose a body color.
• Brewster formulated a secret oil-based finish, which required much less maintenance than varnishes used at the time. Other firms tried and failed to duplicate it.
• The company built its own cars after the sinking of the Lusitania. They were smaller than the chassis it normally built on, for navigating the streets of Manhattan. Brewsters cost as much as "a Packard Twin Six limousine plus a fleet of five Model T Ford road¬sters."
• In response to chauffeurs regarding glaring street lights at night, Brewster styled a windshield with a four-pane design after much research. Although it wasn't patented, it became known as a "Brewster windshield" and was widely copied by body builders and production automobiles.
• Brewster was unique among coachbuilders, because they often sold complete cars, as well as building their own.
• The Brewster and Co. Aircraft Division was founded in 1924, and did not fare well during the Depression. It did produce a scout bomber (XSBA-1), and won a Navy contract to build F2A fighters.
• Brewster also made speedboat hulls.
• Brewster made children’s pony carts as well as coaches designed to hold 20 or more people.
• The Brewster-bodied Ford chassis Town Car with heart-shaped grill is the only classic Ford designated by the Classic Car Club of America.
• Many automotive engineers and designers had their start at Brewster. The designer and engineer of Pierce-Arrow's cast-aluminum bodies from 1904-1920, James Way, first worked at Brewster. Head of Lincoln's coachbuilding division, Henry Crecelius Sr., was persuaded to work there by Edsel Ford. He came from Brewster. Raymond Dietrich started at Brewster as a draftsman before being fired for secretly designing for other makes of cars. Harry Lonschein founded Rollston after starting out at Brewster.

Notable Owners:

• Louis Comfort Tiffany - Brewster's second gasoline auto chassis, a Panhard et Levassor
• John D. Rockefeller, Sr. - His Crane-Simplex had two Brewster bodies, for summer and winter. It is one of the last remaining Rockefeller Family cars.
• John D. Rockefeller, Jr. - Also owned a Crane-Simplex.
• Vincent Astor
• Edsel Ford - Purchased the first Brewster-bodied Ford available, it was the only one made with the standard Ford grille instead of the Brewster heart-shaped grille, and had the standard Brewster dash rather than the Ford dash which was usually installed.

Entertainers who were Ford Brewster owners:

• Al Jolson - A known enthusiast of the new Brewster, owned four-seat and two-seat convertibles
• Cole Porter
• Lily Pons
• Gertrude Lawrence
• Fred Waring
• Victor Moore

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