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Was it a Member’s Car used in this movie? I watch it most times it’s on, mostly to see the Car. It’s one of the few Pierce-Arrows I see in movies.
According to the Internet Movie Cars Database, it’s a 1935 Model 1245 sedan. Dark blue, very classy but carrying some low-class hoodlums in the movie.
See Car:
The car was supplied by Tom Sparks to the movie studio. Tom was in the business of supplying cars for film studios. This car is an 845, and was sold about 10 years ago by Tom’s widow. It was on ebay at one time as well.
I do not know if the current owner is in the PAS or not.
The photos from the ebay site were used by a scammer to attempt to get people to ‘buy’ the car, but no one was able to see the car.. Because the ‘scammer’ did not have the car, only a story and the digital photos. This scam showed up every few months for a few years.
There is are a few nice photos of this car in the Automobile Quarterly issue 28-4, on pages 96 and 97.
Tom also had a Series 80 roadster or runabout. That car is now owned by a PAS member.
Greg Long
Thanks for the information.
I have learned since posting that this Car was sold at the Bonhams’ sale at Pebble Beach in 2007, lot 489, for $53820 including premium. It had been bought in 1992 out of the Sterling McCall collection in Texas.
It is indeed a Model 845 chassis 2090212, engine 310265
I’m afraid to say this nice car is no longer in the USA. It was sold a couple years ago oversea’s by a dealer
Ok, more research revealed this Car’s pretty-much a star.
It was used in: an episode of Remington Steele;
Wonder Woman; The Phantom; The Rocketeer;
Mommie Dearest (I think); Emmannuele IV
and of course The Sting
Stands to reason, as it was owned as you said by Tom Sparks.
Here are some more Movie Pierces. I am partial to the ’33 coming out of the garage in Rodney Dangerfield’s “Back to School”””
It is obvious that auction premium really kicks your boo-hiney. Seems like more cars would change hands privately.
I suppose if you are buying and don’t care what it costs, or if you’re selling and don’t want to go to the trouble of showing it to someone, an auction is the way to go. I have enjoyed every auction I have attended, but because of looking at cars and meeting people, not because I was buying anything.
This Pierce has always spurred my interest since by coincidence as rare as it is it happens to be an 845 Club sedan like mine. Every now and then I haul out DVD’s to get inspiration to keep going on my rough heap. The Pierce should get top billing in these shows – although the repro Gee Bee air racer in “Rocketeer” maybe should share it.
I think the most shots of the car are actually in one not mentioned, an obscure low budget movie “Just You and Me Kid” with George Burns and a young Brooke Shields. There are a lot of shots as George drives it around including parking at the grocery store and putting orange traffic cones around it. To spur more prurient interest at one point Brooke Shields hides naked in the trunk/spare tire compartment. Having the same car I often wondered how she ever fit in that narrow trunk, skinny though she was. Looking at the DVD on the big screen it looks like they probably removed the rear seat and built a larger false trunk compartment into it.
It is so obscure that it wasn’t available on DVD until a couple years ago but it is now available through Amazon. They only burn a copy when someone asks for it – not in stock for immediate delivery.
Jim