Silver Arrow show car being auctioned

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I looked at the photos of the cars for sale in the Auburn auction. I am not sure it is my eyes (I am getting older) but it looks like the Derham Town car has an eight cylinder engine on the 3rd photo from the driver’s side and a 12 cylinder engine on the 4th photo from the passenger’s side. Now that would be an amazing car!

Robert

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Hershey lot 265, the Thos. Derro collection ’33 Silver Arrow, sold for $2,310,000.

http://www.rmsothebys.com/en/home/lots/HF17#page=1&view=20&collection=The%20Thomas%20F.%20Derro%20Collection

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The Pierce arrow silver arrow is destined for a collection in southern Florida. It’s my understanding that it will be restored soon. I have received this information third hand. I believe it is accurate

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Stu knows the story, but I guess I’ll tell the rest of it here, too.

I’d arranged the financing for this car from a guy outside the auction venue, on a corner, Guido I think his name was….

So could get the money, but the vig was a little much and I could never afford to show it after paying each week…so, another dream lost…

Oh well…

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David, you know, in addition to this ’33 Silver Arrow, there are two others out there plus “rumor / urban legend”” of a third one hiding in a secret undisclosed location – so all hope is not lost.”

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Well, my understanding is that four do exist, I think the group discussed this in a previous thread. Three are well known and one is “hidden” in a private collection, as you say. The fifth one was apparently destroyed somewhere along the way…

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I looked over the Silver Arrow at the Hershey auction pre-view. The car could stand to be given some TLC to the underside items.

The first think i noticed is that the exhaust pipe and muffler were undersize.. The 462 cubic inc V12 had a 2.1/4″ exhaust and at least two straight through mufflers. This car has a 2″ diameter exhaust and a single small buffer, there might have been an up-front resonator hiding, but i did not see it. This exhaust would definitely restrict this big engine above say.. 1500 rpm.. That’s an educated guess.

I’m sure with the carburetors cleaned, and properly jetted for our lousy ethanol-tainted fuel, and the distributor properly set up with a recurved advance that works so much better with these low compression engines running ethanol fuel. I’d be willing to bet that if this car was run as is on a chassis dymomomber, that properly setting up the engine would improve the horsepower by 1/3. The dried gasoline, gum and varnish in the carbs and fuel pump, along with sticky points, sticky advance weights and pivots.. There would be a HUGE difference in power, drivability and smoothness.

The car is an amazing piece of rolling art. I’d love to see it a few times during it’s fluff-up or restoration.

Greg Long

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The attached link (scroll down about 2/3rds), which has been shared on this message board previously, relates the fate of one Silver Arrow, sold left-over in March ’34, for $4,480 to Gideon Stieff of Baltimore; car is thought to have survived until 1946 when the rear was cut-off to haul firewood, it’s believed to have been subsequently scrapped. This may be of interest to those who haven’t read it. There is a lengthy thread on this Message Board from 2015 with provenance details of the three surviving Silver Arrows.

http://www.thestieffcompany.com/The_Stieff_Company/Stieff_Family_Photos.html

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Just to add to the confusion, back in the 1970’s there was a rumor the damaged car was in a back yard of a home in West Springfield Massachusetts. Since that was only ten miles from me, I attempt d to track down this legendary car. After a few years I determined it was a very rusty and incomplete factory production eight from 1935. It went to the local scrapp yard after it was picked over in the late 1960’s. This was confirmed by no less than three different local car people.

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It is truly a shame that a car as significant as a Silver Arrow was hacked up and destroyed.

I know the war effort had a little to do with the decision to scrap the car but I find it amazing that an original Silver Arrow would ever be considered just another ‘used car’.

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Stuart,

Thank you for sharing the article. It was a great read.

Ken

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Is the fate of the one for sure goner Silver Arrow known in detail?

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Does anyone know to whom the Derro Silver Arrow sold?

Or, to put it another way, PAS member, museum, private party, or??

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Stuart,

Would that be the same Silver Arrow that is in hiding with the Nazi gold train?…lol…

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If these cars get any more valuable, someone may have one miraculously

appear in their garage. Kind of like the rare Tucker Convertible that

showed up recently. That’s an idea whose time has come: a Silver Arrow

convertible with external exhaust pipes! Such a beast might have saved

the greatest line of cars known to the well-connected.

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