1937 Buick Series 80 Roadmaster Limousine

Brewster body number 9062 was originally ordered for a 1935 Ford chassis. It was to be delivered to Charles Merrill Chapin, for his wife, Esther. Mrs. Chapin found the Brewster's trademark heart-shaped grille obnoxious, and she eventually had the body modified lightly and moved to what she considered a more appropriate chassis, a 1937 Buick.

Mrs. Chapin used her Brewster for decades to attend social events in the Manhattan area. The Buick was later sold by her family in the early 1970s to James Tushinsky, who later passed it to Russ Jackson, who retained the car until his passing in 1993. The Jackson Estate sold it to Rich Ritchie, of Ritchie Buick in California. It was later displayed in the Preservation class at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2008.

The car has been repainted in its original burgundy color, with mahogany trim on the inside. It retains its original intercom and luggage trunk. The eight-cylinder overhead valve engine displaces 320.2 cubic-inches and offers 130 horsepower. There is a three-speed manual transmission and four-wheel hydraulic brakes.

This is one of just two known Brewster-bodied Buicks.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2014