- A one-off built to showcase copper, bronze, and brass trim, the Exemplar I marries Italian coachwork with American V-8 muscle.
- Underneath the stylish look is a Buick 430-cubic-inch V-8 with 360 horsepower—and 475 pound-feet of torque.
- Out of public sight for most of its life, the Exemplar I is a show-winning concept looking for a new owner with plenty of Brasso in the garage.
In automotive terms, the Brass Era is generally considered to have ended before WWI kicked off. Most automakers eventually turned their backs on metal trim finished in anything other than chrome, yet there is an elegance to copper and brass. Certainly the Bridgeport Brass Company and the Copper Development Association thought so, and together they commissioned an entirely unique blend of Italian coachwork and American personal coupe luxury.
That concept car, the Exemplar I, is now up for auction on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos), and there is nothing else like it out there. Drawn by the overlooked Italian automotive designer Mario Revelli di Beaumont, it is built on the chassis of a Buck Riviera Gran Sport, with the custom coachwork done by Carrozzeria Coggliola of Turin, and more copper on display than you’d find in the wiring looms of three modern EVs.
Think Iso Grifo or Intermeccanica 5000GT, and you’ll get a sense of this car’s provenance. Italian coachwork with American V-8 power was a potent combination in the late 1960s, and for the brass and copper associations that created this car, it made an ideal billboard.
The trim is copper. The lower bumpers are brass-coated. The grille is bronzed. The rear louvres are brass. The 16-inch wire wheels are brass plated. Even the brake discs are copper. It’d all be a bit much if it weren’t for the design, which blends in elements of Alfa-Romeo Montreal, AMX, and maybe even Lamborghini Miura into a long, low package. Seriously long: the hood is generous enough to fit in a spare tire in front of the V-8.
The real triumph is in the interior, which has been reworked with copper accents everywhere and sumptuous red and black leather. It must be a colossal pain to keep it all polished, but in comparison to modern interiors filled with piano black plastic trim and touchscreens, it looks wonderfully luxurious. Here’s hoping some modern car designer is inspired by this one-off’s interior.
With a 430-cubic-inch V-8 pumping out 360 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque through a three-speed automatic transmission and Positraction rear end, the Exemplar is the kind of ICBM-meets-sofa that late 1960s America did so well. It was shown at the New York Auto Show and elsewhere to admiring crowds, but then decommissioned as the 1970s began. It was purchased and stored by Bridgeport Brass Company president Herman Steinkraus, who held on to it for two decades. After that, it spent another 25 years in storage before a restoration was performed.
Having won its class at the Amelia Island Concours, the Exemplar is the kind of one-off collector car that’s sure to make jaws drop. And, with Buick running gear underneath, it shouldn’t be difficult to maintain the prestige of being able to roll onto the show lawns under its own power. It might even be fun to enter it into a vintage touring event, thought the mileage is very low at 1800 miles displayed.
If nothing else, it’s sure to keep the next owner very busy in the garage on the weekends keeping all that brass and bronze gleaming. The auction ends on April 15.
Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.