Individuals who venerate historic cars are some of the most resilient you’re ever likely to encounter. They’re downright enthusiastic about investing hours and dollars by the bushel into preserving the conveyances they love so much. Getting to know some collectible cars involves more effort than others. As a case study, we offer the tale of this highly unusual relic from the great American coachbuilt era that ended in the 1930s: this 1935 Brewster Ford, a car that establishes a sinuous thread that chronologically ties the past histories of Rolls-Royce and the Ford Motor Company together. At least slightly.
Of equal significance, however, is the odyssey that was required to get this largely original chauffeured town car, with hand-built bodywork, more than halfway across the country to its new home. No, the Brewster wasn’t trailered. Instead, it took a three-week hegira to get the flat-head-powered jewel across more than 2,300 miles, with new friends undertaking emergency fixes to keep it rolling.
Not many people woulddetermined as Dr. Lee Harman, a retired ophthalmologist who lives on an island in Washington state, or his longtime “friend and co-conspirator,” as Lee calls him, Bill Ward, a retired Army artillery commander. You could say they’re a little bit nuts when it comes to cars. After all, when you’ve successfully taken a Ford Model A on the 2019 Peking to Paris Motor Rally and actually finished (one of only 21 cars still running under their own power by the time the grind reached Paris), the notion of a cross-country trip in a 1930s car that had been parked for years doesn’t look so intimidating.
