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As I was going through my Franklin literature I found this letter and had to share. The Franklin dealer was on Main St. in Buffalo, NY so I would assume that used Pierce-Arrows were fairly common. The two cars described are a 1912 36 5-passagner touring and a 1913 38 5-passagner touring with air starter.
Enjoy!
Buying used high-end cars has always been the thing to do if you want a great car at a reasonable price.
Also note that the asking price of $650.00 or $850.00 F.O.B. Buffalo for these seven to eight year old Pierce-Arrow cars is $200.00 to $400.00 more than the cost of a NEW Ford of the time.
My ’12 36HP is a better car than a ’20 Franklin in every way except
the lack of a self-starter. Maybe they wanted an enclosed car?
Franklin was unusual in that they produced more closed cars than
open ones as early as the mid-teens.
That Franklin would have a wood frame as would all Franklins if I am correct until 1928.Either Pierce Arrow could have been fitted with an electric starter at that time as retrofit units were available.Some would
mount on the front of the car where the crank went.Both Pierce Arrows would leave that Franklin in the dust.The Franklin of that era while a nice car was not in the Pierce Arrow class.I have read accounts of these Pierce Arrows going 500,000 miles and requiring minimal repairs.
If you google on Ostendorf motor car company you will see that they were a Packard dealer into the 1950’s and a photo of the dealership is shown.