Davenport man’s classic automobile takes a star turn

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By David Burke | Thursday, April 17, 2008 6:42 PM CDT | () comments

Filming began today in Columbus, Wis., for the file “Public Enemies” that will star Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard. The car used in this scene belongs to John Brewer of Davenport. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

John Brewer can’t help but feel like a bit of a stage parent.

His 1933 Nash Advanced 8, model 1180, twin-ignition, four-door car is driving toward stardom.

The Davenport car collector’s Nash is being used in the filming of “Public Enemies,” a movie being made in the Chicago suburbs and various Wisconsin and Indiana

locations this spring. The film, which stars Johnny Depp as infamous Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger, is due in theaters in July 2009.

“The car’s already appeared in one major segment, and it appears it’ll be appearing in the original sequence they had planned,” said Brewer, 54, a chief tool engineer for Douglas Machine Engineering in Davenport.

Brewer saw a posting on a classic car collectors Web site seeking vintage vehicles to be featured in the movie, which is set in the 1930s.

“They were looking for a ’30 to ’34 sedan, not necessarily a Nash,” he said.

He e-mailed the producers some pictures of his car, which he purchased on the East Coast about a year earlier, and they gave their approval.

“I think he was surprised,” Brewer’s wife, Jan, said. “He did it on a whim and was surprised they were interested.”

“I only had a little bit of time to get the car ready to go,” Brewer said, and that included repairing the radiator.

He and Jan, who works for the Rock Island Fire Department, hauled the Nash to Chicago in an enclosed truck. Brewer was able to watch some of the filming there, and he said his auto is being used as Dillinger’s getaway car in the movie.

Producers made some changes to the auto, painting the silver spokes black and also flipping the whitewall tires to the inside of the vehicle “so it wasn’t quite so flashy,” he said, “especially for a bank robber.

“Not too many people back in those days had actual whitewall tires, even though today, when we do fix them up, they have whitewall tires.”

Brewer began collecting classic cars about five years ago and now has 10 in his collection.

“Most of the cars are not well-known, cars that not too many people have heard of,” he said. “I’ve just always liked the different-looking cars. I’ve always had an appreciation for the older cars.”

David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.