Tag: Ciprian Florea

1934 Ford Brewster Hidden for Decades Is a Super Rare Time Capsule – Ciprian Florea @autoevolution

1934 Ford Brewster Hidden for Decades Is a Super Rare Time Capsule – Ciprian Florea @autoevolution

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Introduced in 1932 as a replacement for the Model A, the Ford Model B did not look radically different than its predecessor. It was, however, a brand-new vehicle with a redesigned chassis. More importantly, Ford also introduced the Model 18, which featured the now-iconic “Flathead” V8. While V8s were nothing new then, the Model 18 was the first low-priced, mass-produced car with such an engine. A milestone that changed the American car industry.

While not as common as the Model A, the Model B/18 isn’t spectacularly rare nowadays. Sure, many examples have been hot-rodded over the years, but plenty of survivors are still out there. However, some versions, like the Roadster and the Pickup, are pretty scarce. But no Model B is as rare as the 1934 Town Car.

A fancied-up, limo-style four-door with a convertible front section and a privacy divider, the Town Car wasn’t actually made by Ford. While built on a Ford chassis, it was modified and bodied by Brewster & Company, a coachbuilding business from Long Island, New York.

Established in 1810 as a carriage manufacturer, Brewster entered the automobile market in 1905, when it began importing Dlaunay-Belleville cars in the US. In 1914, the company started supplying bodies for Rolls-Royce luxury cars sold in North America. The British eventually acquired Brewster in 1925 and owned it until the early 1930s.

The company went bankrupt during the Great Depression and was liquidated in 1937. But before that happened, Brewster built over 100 custom vehicles based on the Ford Model 18 chassis. A few inches longer than the regular 1934 Ford, the Brewster Town car also featured a unique, heart-shaped front grille, larger bumpers, and restyled front fenders.

Brewster reportedly bodied about 135 chassis between 1934 and 1935, but only 83 got the Town Car configuration. And according to a registry put together by owners, only 26 of them are known to still exist. And that’s why stumbling upon an example that spent decades in storage is spectacular, to say the least.

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1932 Ford Model B Truck Rolls Out of Long-Term Storage, It’s a Fantastic Survivor – Ciprian Florea @Autoevolution

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Introduced in 1932, the Ford Model B wasn’t as popular as its predecessors, the Model A and Model T sales-wise. However, it brought a couple of important changes to the company’s full-size car.

While similar to the Model A on the outside, the Model B was a brand-new car riding on an outward curved, double-dropped chassis. But the biggest innovation was the 221-cubic-inch (3.6-liter) flathead V8. The 65-horsepower mill turned the Model B into the first low-priced, mass-marketed car with a V8 engine.

Granted, the V8-powered version was actually called the Model 18, but it was mostly identical to the Model B beyond the engine. The latter came with a 201-cubic-inch (3.3-liter) four-cylinder unit, essentially an upgraded version of the four-banger that motivated the Model A.

Just like its predecessor, the Model B became a popular hot rod platform in the 1930s, so many of them soldiered onto the 21st century with notable modifications. Many of them were also abandoned in junkyards as Detroit rolled out increasingly more powerful cars after World War II, so Model Bs that still have original underpinnings and sheet metal aren’t exactly common nowadays.

Fortunately, some of them managed to survive the test of time and emerge out of long-term storage as mostly original survivors. This 1932 Model B pickup is one of the lucky ones.

The video below shows the truck coming out of an old garage with a thick layer of dust and a bit of rust on its body panels. There’s no word as to how much time it spent in storage, but we’re probably talking about at least a couple of decades. Still, the pickup appears to be in surprisingly good condition beyond a few rust spots, weld marks on fenders, and a few dents here and there.

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1955 Ford F-100 Previously Owned by Patrick Swayze Is up for Sale – Ciprian Florea @autoevolution

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Second-generation Ford F-Series pickup trucks aren’t the most desirable vehicles from the 1950s, but they sure are pretty. At least in my book, because I love the bulged hood and wide fender design from the era. Well, if you’re in the market for one of these mid-1950s haulers, here’s your chance to own a 1955 F-100 previously owned by Patrick Swayze.

The truck was recently listed by Patrick’s wife, Lisa Niemi, on eBay, where it’s being auctioned off at no reserve. The F-100 is located at the Swayze Ranch in Sylmar, California, where Patrick and Lisa found it when they bought the property back in 1986.

“Patrick and I inherited this super-cool pickup when we bought our horse ranch in LA 35 yrs ago. We always intended to restore it but never got around to it. However, it did serve as an awesome backdrop in many photo sessions,” the ad reads, suggesting that the truck has been sitting ever since the couple purchased the ranch.

Needless to say, the F-100 is a proper yard find, showing a lot of surface rust and needing a great deal of TLC before it can hit the road again. But it appears to be complete inside and out and still has the original 239-cubic-inch (3.9-liter) V8 engine under the hood.

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