Original owner research

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In researching our cars original past the question comes up as to which Pierce Arrow dealer the car may have been purchased from. The original owners lived in Los Angeles and or Pasadena California. My question is where were the Pierce Arrow dealers in this area in 1933 and are there any surviving records. Also are there any list of California chauffeurs in the 1930s and 1940s. Thanks Doug Vogel

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Doug,

Here is a place to start. Good luck.

Bill

http://www.roadarch.com/showrooms/ca.html

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Thanks for the link Bill. That web site shows a lot of buildings I saw as a kid growing up in So. California. And shows the Pierce Arrow dealer in Pasadena, not far from where we lived in so. Pasadena in the 1950s. Doug Vogel

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Doug –

Studebaker’s longtime Los Angeles dealer-distributor Paul Hoffmann added Pierce-Arrows to his showroom network after Studebaker bought control of Pierce-Arrow, and appears to have represented Pierce right up to the end. The University of Southern California special collections library has some photos of the 1933 cars there. Checking local City Directories should tell you if Hoffman or another entity ran the Beverly Hills and Pasadena outlets then (an important detail is Studebaker’s sale of Pierce-Arrow in 1933; it rearranged many dealerships. You might want to check the 1934 City Directories for later 1933 changes to find them). I do not know if any of Paul Hoffman’s business records survive but his obituary should have good clues plus the Studebaker National Museum records.

Brooks

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Hi Doug,

This is always an interesting discussion which started a discussion on this topic in January 2014.

If you search for “California Pierce-Arrow Dealership – 1920’s” you might find some more information/clues. Personally I am always finding new information related to this topic, mainly due to population growth and distributors for dealers. Below is a link to the discussion on this forum.

If I get a chance, I will upload some new pictures I found inside a Los Angles Pierce-Arrow dealerships service area.

Ben

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Thanks Brooks and Ben, you’re advice gives me new research possibilities. Doug Vogel

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