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In mid-1927, Henry Brewster - whose coachbuilding family had sold out to
Rolls-Royce a couple of years earlier – and Harry F. Holbrook announced the
formation of the H. F. Holbrook-Henry Brewster Corporation. The new firm
would produce high-end custom bodies in the former Blue Ribbon Body Co.
plant located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Holbrook served as the firm’s
salesman while Brewster served as designer and body engineer. They built a
striking Mercedes-Benz Town Car that appeared on the Mercedes-Benz stand at
that fall’s New York Auto Salon and are also known to have bodied a Bugatti.
Both the Holbrook Co. and Brewster & Co. strongly objected to the new
firm’s presence at the Salon as they felt it created unnecessary confusion
with their existing clients. An illustration of a "Holbrook-Brewster"
Mercedes-Benz All-Weather Cabriolet appeared in the November 1927 issue of
Spur magazine (an equestrian magazine published by Country Life). It was a
beautiful vehicle was painted black and yellow and featured a buffed
aluminum hood with tan broadcloth upholstery. 1927 was not the best time to
be entering the coachbuilding business (see Waterhouse & Co.) and the new
firm failed to attract enough orders to stay solvent. Only 8-10 custom
bodies emerged from the Bridgeport plant in their first year although they
had some success with their well-built funeral coaches. By the end of 1928,
the H. F. Holbrook-Henry Brewster Corp. had closed it doors for good.
Many years later coachbuilding authority Hugo Pfau asked Holbrook about
the Brewster partnership and his activities during the First World War.
Holbrook replied that he had gone back to England, his native country, to
serve with the Royal Air Force during the war. The Brewster partnership was
still fresh in his mind and he wouldn’t elaborate on the details.
© 2004 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com
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