1934 Studebaker-based Pierce-Arrows Part 2

Last but definitely not least as the nice ladies with stretched ribbon would have attested, the 848/1248 7-passenger Sedan and EDL with pricing starting at around $2,750. Here the new owners would have needed to invest in 3 inch longer rear doors, either tooled in whole or by welding 3 inch extensions to stock rear doors. Also would have needed 15 inch roof and floorpan extensions. Convertible sedan for parades and the White House.

These and the 833/1233 2/4-passenger rumble seat coupe (shown in original thread) and convertible would have constituted the entirety of Pierce’s showroom for the first 6 months of production. Despite the low investment, the company would have been off to a fast start with nicely tailored, sleek and low, if not exactly eye-popping new cars that were competitively priced and well suited to the dour economic times and concurrent social upheaval. A dose of needed excitement would arrive in April, 1934.

Compare to the 119 wb Commander version. What a difference 17 inches makes.

Another possibility would have been a Victoria version on 129 chassis using Club Brougham’s front doors and 2/4-passenger convertible’s chrome windscreen. A fair amount of welding to stitch it all together but no new tooling.

1934-42 pricing and sales projections vs. competition coming soon, stay tuned.

Formal sedan on same 140 chassis, using 3 inch longer rear door from 148 wb car and longest front door cut short an inch. Again, no big deal for the body shop and important for Pierce to catalogue all the fine car styles to stay competitive with Cadillac, Packard et al.

First chart is the big picture. I mainly pulled from the Standard Catalogue but because it contains mostly production data, Brooks I hope you don’t mind my borrowing some registration data from your book on Auburn, Reo et al vs Cadillac et al. Hopefully it will help folks see the interplay between the two, some years production getting ahead of demand, then a correction as shown by the blue and black lines frequently crossing.

The graph shows both the cliff that the luxury market fell off and the stabilization that occurred after 1933. I work in the Buffalo businessmen’s assumption that the market would snap back in 1934 and Pierce would see upwards of 5,000 sales. Applying this uplift to the entire market and focusing on registrations (black dotted line), one can see the extreme optimism the new leadership felt, a critical mistake on their part. Yes, cars were getting old and in need of replacement, but the soup lines were not getting any shorter, and less expensive cars were closing the gap with the fine car field with respect to performance. The production data shows that the industry over-produced for 1934 compared to registrations, so there must have been a general feeing that better days were just around the corner.

I also show what the market would have done had everyone experienced the same sales decline that Pierce did from 1934 on, to illustrate how Pierce lost sales to the field.

Pricing.

Lincoln entry price was the most expensive for a time, an unsustainable situation that Edsel tried to address, then gave up, opting to do Zephyr instead.

Cadillac/LaSalle achieved a critical price drop in 1934 and the LaSalle about-faced with sleek, low styling and a sharing strategy with lesser GM brands. The market ate it up. I don’t show LaSalle after 1934 because they continued down market below where Pierce would ever compete. I also don’t show the lesser Cadillacs from 1936 on, and break out the ’38 Sixty Special to show its importance in carrying the Senior Cadillacs in these years in sales and competitive pricing.

Packard pricing wasn’t going anywhere so its sales continued the free fall. East Grand Blvd’s only attempt at reduced pricing, the Light Eight of 1932, was a profit failure because it was based on the more expensive Packards, a lesson that should have prevented the Buffalo businessmen from ever attempting the 834A, instead continuing the Studebaker-based strategy that enabled lower pricing AND good margins.

Excepting the 834A, the graph shows another fatal mistake on the businessmen’s part: they increased pricing significantly for 1934. Only Lincoln made the same mistake. That the entry cars took a retrograde step and became wood composite – and taller! – did not help sales either, all things considered.

I included the ’36-7 Cord 810/812 in this and previous graph to illustrate how a hot design could generate strong sales out of thin air, and to remind that those sales could evaporate if the product was deficient.

Pierce vs. Studebaker sales. Studebaker was the wunderkind of the industry in 1935, the rare case where bankruptcy resulted in success. The big Presidents no longer sold well and were dropped, Pierce passing them by in 1933 despite its much higher pricing. Then as now, brand cache drives sales and profits.

And first attempt at sales, not the final but I want to show justification for the turnaround vs. what ultimately befell Pierce. Studebaker sales demonstrate how Pierce’s general styling and technology would have been received in the market. Cadillac’s sales indicate what success looked like for luxury producers putting out great product.

Time to eat! Back to this later.

The 1938-40 Studebakers were designed in New York City by Raymond Loewy’s design team. Steeply raked windscreens stood and forward projecting hoods and grill with headlights mounted on catwalk for uplevel versions were some of the appearance hallmarks. Vehicle height was lower than previous year and over 5 inches lower than Pierce’s 1934-38 cars. That and beautifully sculpted bodies, sturdy construction and independent front suspension placed these cars in the middle of the arena. For Pierce the game, as prior, was simple: change only what was needed to create an entry car, typically by re-using the Studebaker body shell, then lengthen the shell and tool other elements to create longer wheelbase offerings.

First pic shows Studebaker coupe, the middle car (the President) being the original image resting on 122 wb. The Six and Commander (depicted) sat on 116.5 wheelbase and used same front fenders as President. I added 6 inches to the President to create 128 wb re-appearance of the 1933 Club Brougham. Convertible too, resulting in Continental-style car two years before Lincoln.