1940 & 1941 Buick Brunn Bodied Coachwork

Hello to all.

I'd like to get a thread going on the 1940 and 1941 Buick Brunn Bodied Cars.

About 15 to 20 years ago I saw a listing for a 1941 Buick Brunn Bodied Brougham Town Car for sale in Hemmings. It was listed for $175,00 and ran for 3 or 4 months. That last time the ad ran the price dropped to $115,000. At the time the location of the seller was somewhere in Pennsylvania.

Does any one know the where abouts of this car, who owns it now etc. etc.? Did it land in the late John O'Quinn's collection?

It was a great Brunn bodied car and only one was made. I have never seen the car but several pictures.

Several years ago I saw the 1940 Buick Townmaster for sale on the internet. It was listed for somewhere around $115,000. The Townmaster was a Brunn Bodied Town Car on a Roadmaster chassis.

I understand this the car is in great condition.

Unfortuntaley for Buick and Brunn, Cadillac executives were weak in the knees over Buick competition and convinced GM that Buick should stay out of the "High Line" market. Buick would have had great success with those cars if GM had let them comtinue with Brunn.<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

Any one out there with info on the 1941 Buick Brunn?

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door side mounted touring sedan

Here are two photos of the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Bodied Brougham Towncar. I found these on the internet. Does any one have info on this car. Who owns it now and where?

Thank you to all.

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door side mounted touring sedan

Hello Dave,

Like you, I have had a strong interest in these cars and I the best I understand there are only two of the Brunn bodies cars built and both apparently survive today, but they are not often seen - lkely in private collections.

There were three or four other designed but never built. I would love to see one recreated, sort of, of one of the other designs that never wewre built - sort of what "could have been".

Lets hope some more info will develop for you.

John

Hi John. I'm a member of the Minuteman Chapter. You guys to a great job in your part of New England. Keep up the good work on your yearly show. I have been to a few; always a good one.

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door side mounted touring sedan

Dear Dave:

You are correct that the 1940 Townmaster car is in wonderful condition. It was purchased about 30 years ago by a BCA member and restored. So far as I know, he still owns the car. Since he is a low-key very private type guy and a friend, I won't use his name.

Regards, Dave Corbin

The 1940 car has never been restored, although it is in superb original condition and owned by a BCA & CHVA member. I've tried to get him to re-join the AACA as well. We've known each other since 1966. I visited with the owner and the car this past July and have many pictures of it. It is incorrect (repeat NOT CORRECT) that only one 1941 car was built. I personally corresponded with Hermann Brunn in 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971, and he sent me pictures of three different 1941 Buick Limited Brunn-bodied limos, and a 1941 Roadmaster convertible coupe. He told me at the time there were a half dozen or more of the cars built. In fact a Limited-Brunn convertible sedan was seen in Baltimore sometime in the late 1940s. You can read all about it if you can find the May-June, 1971 issue of ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE magazine. The car advertised in Hemmings years ago came from the collection of the late Sidney Aberman, founder of the Buick Collectors Club of America, in Pittsburgh, PA. When that club folded (I was member #303), the California Chapter went national under the leadership of the late Greg Fallowfield (later known as Greg Field) as the Buick Club of America, Inc. (BCA), of which I am #55. Earl Beauchamp, Jr.

The thread seems to be going well. The big question IS....Where is the car today? Who did Sidney Aberman sell it to and who owns it now?

If Brunn built more than a half dozen. How many survived and where are they today?

Regards.

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door side mounted touring sedan

Hello to all again. I have come across a few more photos of the 1941 Buick Brunn Bodied Brougham Town Car. Please excuse the quality of the photos.

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door side mounted touring sedan

My apologies to all.

I have been using the wrong user name.

I registered and joined the AACA back in 2008 and forgot that I registered a user name at that time.

In the continuation of this thread I'll be using XP-300 instead of X-100.

Below the 1940 Townmaster.

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan

Forgive me for not remembering all the details, but I recall a car for sale in California within the last year that was a custom Buick. The seller gave the body builder name which I think was Brunn, I sent a note to ask about the car. I seem to remember it being yellow with red interior and the seller said the custom work was minor... the front wing vents were removed and the front door windows were replaced with new ones that filled the gap.

Supposidly done for some movie star.... not a full blown custom Buick but done by a know body builder.

Does anyone else remember this car and was it Brunn?

I believe you are thinking of the purported 'Shirley Temple' 40 Limited which was built by Bohman & Schwartz.

Pictures of that car here: 1940 Buick 80 Limited Bohman & Schwartz Phaeton - a set on Flickr

From the last pages of my 1941 Buick Limited prestige catalog.

Larger, click once after opening to enlarge.

Larger

Larger

Larger

Larger

Larger

Larger

A very striking, large (and pricey) catalog, highly desired;

it's a pity that Buick's program was deep-sixed...

TG

I've got original pictures of the 1941 Brunn-Limited that is pictured. If the back portion (with the landau bars) goes down it was originally a dark color. If it does not, it was probably silver. The pictures I received from Hermann Brunn are in black and white, and they are reproduced along with my article in ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE magazine, produced May-June 1971. In one of the two pictures of the '41 Brunn posted on this thread, the two-tone gray car to the left of the Brunn appears to be my car,which I sold into Illinois in 1981. The picture on this thread of the 1940 Brunn is a glamour picture set up by the current owner, who still owns the car.

Hi Barney.

I think the car was a 1940 Buick Limited Phaeton put up for sale by vaultcars.com If it's the same car, the photo is below. The custom work was done by Bohman & Schwartz Coach Builders. Your correct it was mild custom work. In my view it does not come close to the work performed by Brunn.

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan

Hello Dynaflash 8.

If the two tone car is yours you may recall the show. It was taken in 1993 or 1994 at the "Eyes On Classic Design" car show. It was held at the Edsel Ford Estate.

Who else has owned the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car and who owns it now?

"Have you seen the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car ?"

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan

The 1941 Buick Brunn Custom Brougham town car belonged to Buick dealer and collector Marv Tamaroff when shown at Eyes on Design and other metro Detroit area events in the mid-1990s. He has since sold off a number of his Buicks and classics. I do not know if he still has the Brunn car.

I wrote an article about the 1940 Brunn Townmaster for Special Interest Autos #51 (June 1979). I first became aware of the car in the mid-1960s, through the 1940 National Geographic ad dedicated to its promotion. In the mid-1970s, I recognized the car in a listing of six estate vehicles advertised in a Sunday NY Times classified ad. A couple of years later, I was pleased to encounter the beautifully original Townmaster on the show field at an Indianapolis car show. The photos accompanying my SIA article were taken there. The car belonged at that time to an Indiana hotel owner/car collector (now deceased). Not long after that, it was obtained by the present owner, a very keen Buick enthusiast. He has kept it well conserved, I understand.

An excellent article on the Townmaster when new appeared in a 1940 issue of Buick Magazine.

There are also photographs and illustrations of 1940 and 1941 Roadmaster Convertibles with Brunn custom bodywork. The bodies are quite similar and I have wondered if there was perhaps actually only one body built, which might have been updated to a 1941 configuration. During the mid-1970s, I talked several times with a Buick collector from the Fargo, ND area who told me he had owned the 1941 Brunn Roadmaster Convertible in the mid-1950s. He said the car burned up after catching on fire while he was driving it, due to a fuel leak. That was in 1958, if I recall his story correctly.

Barney,

The car you are thinking of is a 1940 Buick Limited convertible sedan that was modified by Bohmann & Schwartz to convert the car from a convertible sedan into a true phaeton with side curtains and wind wings. The work was said to have been commissioned by a Hollywood movie studio.

Grandpa

Hello Allcars:

You have brought in a very interesting story and history on the "Brunns" to this thread. I'm not sure but it may have been Marv Tamaroff who placed the for sale ad in Hemmings some 15 to 20 years ago. This would have been about the same time it was on display at the Eyes on Design show.

I surmise. "The Brunn" is still around somewhere with a very private collector. It's my hope it "comes out" so that more of us can see and enjoy this marvelous custom Buick.

Who else has owned the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car and who owns it now?

"Have you seen the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car ?"

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan

Hello.TG57Roadmaster

I have a 1941 Buick Limited catalogue as you. Your right; It's pricey but a great Buick Limited collectible. I enjoy your posts and photo uploads. Keep up the good work.

Who else has owned the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car and who owns it now?

"Have you seen the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car ?"

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan

Dave,

No, I haven't seen any of the Brunns, but will share a period photo of the Townmaster in the Flint Buick showroom soon. Thanks for the good words, and for starting this informative thread.

TG

Hello to all.

Here is some of the info that this thread has provided on the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Bodied Brougham Town Car.

A. It was once owned by Sidney Aberman, founder of the Buick Collectors Club of America, in Pittsburgh, Pa.

B. When the "The Brunn" was listed for sale for 3 or 4 months in Hemmings some 15 to 20 years ago, the first listing had a phone number from Pa. .

C At some point ownership shifted to Marv Tamaroff a Buick dealer and collector from the Michigan area. It was shown at the" Eyes on Design" car show in Michigan, during 1993 and 1994.

D. 1993 or 1994 is or is about the time it was listed in Hemmings. The last two ads in Hemmings, the phone number to call on "The Brunn" was in Michigan.

E. In the May - June 1971 issue of Antique Automobile fellow member and Buick owner Earl Beauchamp, Jr. wrote an article with photos on the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Bodied Brougham Town Car.

F. According to Mr. Beauchamp "If the back portion (with the landau bars) goes down it was originally a dark color. If it does not, it was silver" .

G. The back portion DOES NOT GO DOWN as this is a Town Car.

H. I think it is safe to assume that the first owner of "The Brunn" was Colonel LeRoy Burdeau of Chicago and Palm Beach Florida . (Please see Chapter 11 in the book The Buick A Complete History) It shows "The Brunn" as a silver or gray Town Car and lists the owner as Colonel LeRoy Burdeau, and that the car was ordered in gray.The photo shows "The Brunn" without the spears on the fender skirts: common on 1941 Buicks at the time. The photo below shows "The Brunn" without the spears. (This photo was taken in 1994 at "Eyes on Design" car show in Michigan. I think it is safe to say the car was repainted.

I. The book Buick A Complete History indicates that this "Brunn" was the SECOND Brunn produced.

J. I feel it is safe to say the "The Brunn" has had the following owners. Colonel LeRoy Burdeau, Sidney Aberman, and Marv Tamaroff .

Who else has owned the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car and who owns it now?

"Have you seen the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car ?"

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan

Dave, I have no new information to contribute to the discussion, but want to thank you for initiating the topic, since these Buick Brunn customs have long been a source of fascination for me.

I recall the ad for one of the 1941 Brunns when listed for sale in Michigan. If I am not mistaken, the asking price at the time was $175,000.

I'm disappointed that we've not seen these cars at the Buick National Meets. I had particular hopes that the 1940 Townmaster and any surviving 1941 Brunns would appear at the Buick Centennial Meet in Flint in 2003, but, unfortunately, none of these spectacular automobiles were displayed.

XP-300 & all,

When I bought it 20 years ago at Hershey, I was told this photo was from the main Buick dealer in Flint, MI.

Among all the 1940 models, at the upper left you'll notice the Brunn Townmaster, showroom new.

Larger, click once after opening.

TG

Hi TG57Roadmaster.

Great photo, great custom bodied car, at a price tag of $3750 in 1940. A BIG sum of money then.

The thread is going well. I hope more will come forward to contribute with new info and stories. We all will find the 1941 Limited Town Car yet.

Who else has owned the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car and who owns it now?

"Have you seen the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car ?"

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan

To Brian Lawrence:

I too was surprised that the Townmaster did not show at the 2003 national since it is owned by a fellow BCA member.

I am hopeful that this thread in time will "flush out" the 1941 Limited Town Car. It's a car for all to enjoy and see.

Who else has owned the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car and who owns it now?

"Have you seen the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car ?"

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan

This isn't preaching to the choir, but I thought you may like to see from whence the Brunn Customs came;

the 140" whb Buick Series 90 Limited. The 1941 prestige brochure is the largest in my meager collection,

and the beautiful illustration below of the Model 91F Formal Sedan measures a whopping 14" long...

Larger, Series 91F with 165hp, 320cid straight eight.

Larger, the interior of the Limited Formal Sedan; small wonder Cadillac execs were jealous!

TG

Cadillac exces were more than just jealous, They were down right scared. That's why than ran to GM and complained about Buicks partnership with Brunn. If it weren't for Caddy the Brunn project would have been a success.

Who else has owned the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car and who owns it now?

"Have you seen the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car ?"

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan

Hello To All.

Below you will see a scanned photo from the book, "The Buick A Complete History". The photo is of the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Bodied Brougham Town Car owned at the time by its first owner, Colonel LeRoy Berdeau.

If this is the same Town Car that has been mentioned in this thread and the same car that I have posted photos of; then this Town Car was also owned by Sidney Aberman, and Marv Tamaroff, also mentioned in this thread.

If Aberman and Tamaroff owned this car then it wold be the same Brunn Bodied Brougham Town Car photographed and last seen at the "Eyes On Design" car show in 1993 & 1994. Also mentioned in this thread.

As you can see, it is Gray as dynaflas8 indicated in his entry to this thread earlier, and without the spears on the fender skirts as I spoke of earlier in this thread.

Who else has owned the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car and who owns it now?

"Have you seen the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car ?"

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan

Here is the magazine ad that Buick ran for several months to promote the 1940 Buick Townmaster. It is a common ad to us Buick collectors....but if you have not seen it before, here it is.

Who else has owned the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car and who owns it now?

"Have you seen the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car ?"

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan

QUOTE: Hello Dynaflash 8.

If the two tone car is yours you may recall the show. It was taken in 1993 or 1994 at the "Eyes On Classic Design" car show. It was held at the Edsel Ford Estate. UNQUOTE

Dave

BCA 26773

No, the two tone Limited (Lancaster Gray/French Silver Gray) was not mine in the 1990's. I sold it to a man in Illinois in 1981. I later heard it had migrated to a collector in Flint, MI. If you go on google to "1941 Buick Limited" (I think that's the key) you'll see a good picture of that car, taken somewhere, after I sold it. I restored it however. It came from California to collector Wally Rank of Milwaukee to me in 1973. I was told it had belonged to Gov. Goodwin Knight, but have since found out his was a different car, which is still unrestored and owned by a California collector. I took a photo of that car this past November in Palm Springs, CA

As I have posted before on this thread, there was not A 1941 Buick Limited Brunn, but several of them, probably less than 10, according to Hermann Brunn himself. I have an 8x10 photo of two of them. I also have a photo of the 1941 Roadmaster convertible, taken at the Waldorf Astoria Auto Show that he sent to me. I have also heard the story that this car was at one time located in North Dakota. I had not heard that it burned, and hope somehow it survived. I also have a photo of the 1940 Brunn Roadmaster convertible which was given to me this past summer by the owner of the Townmaster. And yes, it does look an awful lot like the 1941 Roadmaster convertible body design. I also have a factory photo of a regular Fisher 1940 front end on a 1941 sedanette body, so I guess it wasn't all that difficult to change one front clip to another.

Here are some pictures of the Towmaster today. They were taken in June 2009 by me. (Earl D. Beauchamp, Jr.)

Some more pictures of the 1940 Townmaster

I can't seem to get more than one or two up upload at a time. This is one reason I don't post pictues often. I've got about 10 pictures of the car. I've got a picture of the owner and me too, but he might not like me posting, since he doesn't care for computers.

I can't get these pictures to upload. What a pain.

I have two pictures of the driver's side of the car and neither one of them will upload. There must be some kind of a glitch in this system.

dynaflash8:

We do not disagree on the number of 1941 Buick Limited Brunns produced. (Less than 10) If I have not been clear I apologize. What I have stated and what has been published in the book "The Buick A Complete History, is that the 1941 Buick Limited Town Car (that I have posted in this thread) was the second Brunn produced and the ONLY 1941 Town Car produced. There were other Brunn Bodied Limited's, just not town cars. It has also been published in the Buick book, that two Limited Brunn Landaus were built in addition to the Roadmaster convertibles

Who else has owned the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car and who owns it now?

"Have you seen the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car ?"

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan

XP-300 - The other car I have a photo of was also a town car. It has an open cockpit, landau bars on the back over the the passengers. I have a photo with the back top up and the back top down. They are 8x10 photos in black and white. If trying to post these pictures of the 1940 Brunn is any indication of the problems, I'd never get them posted from my scanner. It is also cold in the garage, and I don't know exactly where they are in the file cabinet. I assume you can't get a copy of my 1971 AACA article. By the way, much of what appears in Terry Dunham's book was taken from my letters from Hermann Brunn and my article. In a later Edition of the book he does give me credits.

I have lightened up the picture so as to see if it will upload, and it did. Whew! A computer guru I am not.

There is a radio in the trunk of the car, with a radio head located inside of the rear seat center armrest (I have a picture of that). There are buttons located on the passenger side rear arm rest. The owner stated he had never figured out what they were for; except, however, the rear radio has never been repaired so it will work. I sincerely doubt a wealthy owner would have been expected to open the armrest and manually tune the radio; although that would be possible. I think the push buttons in the arm rest are radio station selector push buttons.

The interior is intirely original. You can't see the divider window in the picture, but it's there. Only the fabric top over the driver has been replaced, and there is no radio in the dash. The Brunn nameplate can barely be seen at the front of the rocker panel in this picture.

The car has quite a few miles on it, and there is no data name plate on the firewall. The title lists the Brunn serial number as the ID number.

Hello dynaflash 8.

I'm trying to find a copy of your article, so far unsuccessful.

Your quote "It has an open cockpit, landau bars on the back over the the passengers. I have a photo with the back top up and the back top down."

This would be considered a Landau not a Town Car. A Town Car would be a closed rear compartment that does not open.

Just a bit of technical semantics. We really are in agreement. Were just using different words.

Who else has owned the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car and who owns it now?

"Have you seen the 1941 Buick Limited Brunn Town Car ?"

Dave

BCA 26773

1938 Buick Special 4 door sidemounted touring sedan