Automobile Ford Model T Brinks Express 1923 in vendita

Filter

To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' The Boeckmann Collection | Online event, 4 February 2027.
Offered Without Reserve | $40,000 - $60,000 USD

The 1971 Ridler Award winner
Built by John Greer of Hamilton, Ontario, and Creative Customs of Detroit
Hand-made metal bodywork with extensive brass and chrome decorations
High-performance Chevrolet engine
Acquired by The Boeckmann Collection from its owners of over 45 years
An iconic and legendary automobile from the golden era of show rods

…If you like quick cash deliveries, take a look at John Greer’s “Brinks Express,” worth about $14,000 with a 500 HP Chevy engine and loads of high-performance extras.
–Tampa Tribune, 26 October 1973

Based upon a 1923 Ford Model T, the “Brinks Express” was hand-built in 1971 by Canadian customizer John Greer of Hamilton, Ontario, in partnership with Creative Customs of Detroit and using a design by Jack Kempney, the talented artist whose airbrushing and pinstriping work often appeared on T-shirts and signs in this era. Bodywork was hand-made of metal, with a reportedly 500-horsepower Chevrolet V-8 under the hood, and many of the chassis and drivetrain components were chrome-finished. The interior was finished in button-tufted vinyl, sweeping up from the seat over the curve of the “C-cab” roof, as was the fashion at the time—as were the extensive airbrushed graphics seen decorating the bodywork. A Tenna 8-track tape player was fitted, below a bank of iconic Stewart-Warner instruments, as were a radiator, head lights, and side lights all in brass.

At completion, the car was exhibited at the 1971 Detroit Autorama, where it was bestowed the Don Ridler Memorial Award—now known to the hot rod and custom world as simply “the Ridler,” one of custom automobiles’ highest honors recognizing the finest level of craftsmanship and innovation in the hobby. Greer was the first Canadian to receive the Ridler Award.

His creation later appeared in International Show Car Association events and other hot rod and custom shows across the country over the next three years, with its livery changing over time to freshen its appearance, as was common for “show rods” in this era.

Around 1974, the “Brinks Express” was acquired by Milton “Jeff” Gowman of Brookings, Oregon, and remained in the ownership of Mr. Gowman and his family for decades. Only in 2021 was it sold, followed Mrs. Gowman’s passing, to The Boeckmann Collection. There it has resided, preserved very much as-acquired, alongside many other significant “C-Cab” customs of the golden show rod era of the 1970s—of which it is one of the finest survivors.To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/auctions/bc27/.