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I want to let everyone know who contributes their stories and opinions on this forum to know that I really enjoy them. The information that is exchanged on this forum is such a delight to read, very helpful, and I look forward to seeing the next question every time I log on.
A few weeks back I asked what is it worth and received some great input and opinions as to what the value (sentimental) of your Pierce-Arrows were.
Now I want to ask all of you who read this forum, “Why A Pierce-Arrow?…
What is it about this particular marque of automobile that drove you to own one?
What was the appeal?…
What first interested you in this marque?.. Rarity?… Value?… Style?.. investment opportunity?… family heirloom?… right buy at the right time?…
I saw my first Pierce-Arrow at a used car dealership here in Michigan that used to lease old cars to movie productions and, once they were thru with shooting, they would ship them back here to be sold.
My first encounter was with a black 1929 model 43 limousine that was used in the TV series The Untouchables back in the late 80’s. It was billed as Al Capone’s car. It had the original engine, original interior (A little rough but usable) and it was complete.
It was the first time I had seen those headlights and boy did they intrigue me, I wanted that car! But, my wife was adamant and said NO!
I never forgot that car, last I heard it was sold to someone in Texas but I never forgot my first encounter with a Pierce-Arrow and those headlights!
Strangely enough though, a few years later I bought a Pierce-Arrow and it had bracket headlamps, not the fender headlights.
I wrote an article that is posted on the feature articles section about this particular Pierce-Arrow, but what I failed to mention is what motivated me to buy it.
My motivation for buying this particular car was to save a piece of history. The idea that this car had not been tampered with since the day it left the factory really got to me. I had to do whatever it took to keep this car form being turned into a munster mobile.
Sadly, due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to sell this car. But, I know it is still safe, I sold it to a dear friend of mine and fellow PAS member.
By the time we picked up our second Pierce-Arrow I had done a lot of reading and research about these cars and knew that, if I could, I would collect a whole bunch of them and drive a different one everyday! (After we hit the lottery, of course!)
So, what brought you to own a Pierce-Arrow?…
I bought my first car (or should say, my Dad bought it for me), in 1964, when I was 13 years old. It was a 1931 Chevrolet, I restored it and drove it to high school and used it some at college, still have it.
In 1965, there was an indoor car show at a coliseum in my hometown. There were a few people there from New Orleans, one of whom owned and displayed a 1931 Pierce phaeton. I fell in love with that car, and have a picture of me gazing at it longingly at the show. Little did I know that 20 years later, the gentleman would sell it to me. I’ve owned numerous other Pierces, including a production Silver Arrow 12 and a ’35 coupe, but the phaeton is the one I’ve kept, and will own it ’till the end….
Styling, engineering quality, unique with lights….and just a great car…attracted me to the Pierce Arrows…
I grew up with our Pierce Arrow, it’s been in the family a little longer than I have.
Back in the mid 60’s my Dad purchased a ’26 Rickenbacker E6 Brougham and one of my uncles picked up a ’24 Chrysler Model B Roadster. A few weeks later another uncle bought a ’29 Franklin Victoria.
All three brothers joined the Roaring 20’s Car Club and enjoyed driving their cars and meeting other old car people. It was this new circle of friends that led to the Pierce Arrow.
At a gathering someone mentioned a lead on a Pierce Arrow for sale. It was a big car and was in great, all original shape. My Dad and one of my uncles went to see the car and decided it was a good car at a fair price. Since my Grandfather did not own an old car they talked him into buying it. It was an all original ’29 Pierce Arrow 143 ED Limousine in fantastic shape. Now they each had old cars to drive and tinker with.
The Pierce was my Grandfather’s pride and joy. He didn’t drive it very often but he’d call my Dad and we’d go over, pull the cover off and extract it from its hiding place. He loved the car and was, at times, a little paranoid about something happening to it. For this reason the garage that he kept it hidden in had no hinges on the door and from the outside the door appeared to be just another portion of the wall of an outbuilding on his former chicken ranch. The door was also only about 6 inches wider than the car giving you 3 inches on either side to slip it out into a large concrete slab. You had to enter the garage from a side door and have someone on the outside get ready while you removed four large pins at each corner holding the door in place. Then you had to push the door out and help the person on the outside slide the door to the side.
As far back as I can remember this was the beginning of our ritual when we’d take the car out for a ride. My Grandfather was an expert at tuning a motor by ear and he’d make sure everything was just right before we’d head out. Some of my fondest memories of my Grandpa revolve around the Pierce.
The Pierce was the wedding car for my Aunt’s wedding and even though she passed before her oldest son got married, the Pierce was used for his wedding as a connection to his mom. I was chosen to drive the car for my cousin’s wedding since out of all the grandchildren I knew the car the best having spent the most time with the car. It was also at my Grandfather’s funeral parked at the curb right in front of the church doorway.
Once my Grandfather passed my Dad took possession of the Pierce and I began to really dig into the mechanics of the car and form an intimate knowledge of all the quirks Grandpa’s Pierce had to offer. I quickly became the main mechanic and driver.
Even though the Pierce had been in the family for quite a few years we were never active in the PAS. I’m not really sure why.
I did join the PAS in the late 90’s, I think it was, but after a few years I let my membership lapse. Shorty thereafter my Grandfather passed and my Dad got the Pierce since he had been the main one pressing Grandpa to buy the car. In 2005 my Dad joined the PAS and decided he wanted to take Grandpa’s Pierce to the National PAS Meet in Oregon. The car had a few things that needed to be ironed out so I worked on the car at my place and then joined the PAS in early 2006 to have easier access to technical info.
The Oregon PAS Meet was an amazing event for our family and it was incredible to be able to drive Grandpa’s Pierce through the Cascades surrounded by so many other stately Pierce Arrows. The scenery was breathtaking, the other Pierce Arrows were gorgeous and most of all the other members were warm and welcoming, treating us like old friends.
In 4 months it will two years since my Dad passed and I became owner of Grandpa’s Pierce and Dad’s Rickenbacker.
At this point I don’t know who the Pierce will be passed on to, I just know that as this generation’s caretaker I will do everything I can to keep it as original as possible and preserve our little piece of family history for the next generation to enjoy.
When I was all of 10 years old, I used to ride around in my fathers 49 Ford pickup and search for “old” cars that he would tinker on. He would purchase them and get them running and driving, but it always seemed someone would come by and offer him more money than he had into them…so down the road they went. He always explained what he was doing while working on them which I believe is when I first fell in love with antique cars.
One day while driving around he told me when he was my age (12 or 13) his father had purchased a Model 78 Marmon which lead to several questions about car companies no longer in business. Of course he mentioned Pierce-Arrow since we had lived in northern NY. After that I went to the school library to find a book on antique cars and hopefully see a picture of a Pierce. That was all it took. Once I saw a picture of those headlights and the archer mascot I knew some day I would own one.
Finally, 30+ years later I do and it now sits in my garage. I started this weekend to bring her back to her former glory with the goal of bringing to a PAS Meet someday.
James
My first Pierce showed up in a used car lot about 1/2 mile from my house. The owner of the car lot did a lot of Hot-Rodding [aka destroying] on older cars. and this stodgy, upright, wood wheeled 4-door sedan was definitely out of place in his lot..
I drove by it for several weeks, until I had a good friend with me, we were on our way to dinner, and he saw the old car and recognized it to be a Pierce Arrow. I asked him how he knew what make it was, and of course he said the fender headlamps were a Pierce Arrow trademark.. He also commented that when he was growing up, his father alway had Packards, but thought well of the Pierce Arrows, and had often considered buying one instead of a Packard..
My friend and I were already co-owners of a ’37 Bentley, and he said he’d consider buying the Pierce with me if I’d do the work needed . So we stopped and looked it over after dinner.
The engine compartment was untouched, and a mess, the body had had the fenders repainted, and some touchup paint on the body and doors, the interior was recent’y redone in nice gray wool. Many door handles and headlamp parts were missing.
I knew nothing about Pierce arrow cars but the name on the hubcaps confirmed my friends’ identification.
I did a little research, mainly by looking through a Hemmings, but still couldn’t learn much, prices and models were very confusing.
A day or two later, I stopped again at the car lot, and at that time there was a sign in the window of the car, stating that it was a ’27 model 80. Now I knew two more morsels of info about the car.
Back to the Hemmings, and a few phone calls to sellers of Pierce cars netted me a suggestion to join the Pierce Arrow Society..
Another day and I stopped by the used car lot again and I no more got out of my car and a guy comes running out of the office to see me.. He greets me with this comment: You’ve been here two or three times that I know of, looking at this car, today you are going to take it home with you!! I laughed, and told him he didn’t know how shallow my pockets were!. He said: that I was the ONLY person to even give the car a second glance and it was going to be mine.
He said it just wasn’t a car he could ‘do’ anything with, [IE: hot rod] and he just wanted to sell it.. He’d bought the car as a part of a group of four cars he’d bought to get just two, and he needed to move this one on..
He stated a price, I grinned and said I just couldn’t do it.., I asked if the car ran, he got in and got it running, it sounded TERRIBLE, more like a threshing machine than an engine. It showed zero oil pressure and was running on maybe 3 or 4 cylinders.
He said it needed a tune up.. I laughed and said, I know engines, showed him my dirty fingernails and told him it needed a full rebuild, and where and how would I find parts for a 60 year old car?? . He shrugged and lowered the price.. I asked about the missing handles and headlights, he said: what you see is what you get.
I said if you really want it gone, . and..gulp.. I offered half his asking price and he quickly held out his hand and said SOLD!! [ I should have offered 1/3 his price!!] I did drive the car home that day, a very noisy rough 1/2 mile to my garage.
What impressed me was the solidness of the the car, when I disassembled the engine to asses its situation I was very impressed by the roller cam followers, the huge crankshaft and bearings, and enormous frame and rear differential, it looked more like a two-ton truck chassis than a motor car.
I’m still very impressed by Series 80 cars, And have acquired several since my first. All Pierce Arrow cars are very strongly built, and have proven themselves to last a long time.
Greg Long
Smsll world, Curtiss! I’ll bet that’s the same 1929 limo that fired my interest in P-A’s! It had been a good summer in business (1995 or 6, I think) and I was looking to add a driver-level CCCA eligible sedan to my mini-collection. I saw an ad for that car in an Auto Trader and called the dealer in Monroe. Asked him a bunch of questions and made him an offer which he blew off with no counter. A couple of weeks later Patti and were wandering around the Hershey car corral with cashiers checks in our pockets when she spotted trumpet headlights way on the other side of the field. 10 minutes later we owned our first Pierce, a 1930 Model C 5-pass sedan. It served us well for the next 10 years until we bought our current Series 33 in 2005. For sure, it was the headlights that sealed the deal; the headlights plus the ever so slight Greek revival Doric column curve to the sides of the grill, picked up again in the instruments on the dash. Just plain beautiful!
Yep,it were those headlamps!They said Rushmore on the glass reflector that was silvered to multiply the burning acetylene flame.
Six or so lenses were ground in such a way to magnify and diffuse the
beam.There were no better headlamps available and they didn’t even offer
a line of sidelights,to concentrate on perfecting their product.A device
on the dash allowed the chauffeur to turn on the gas and electronically
ignite the flame.I’ve never seen this device on any other make and it was on every Pierce in ’12.Tt’s been around 40 years and I’m still trying to
figure a way to get the headlights attached to the fenders.
G’day Curtiss
I am a 5 month Pierce Arrow owning newbie at 74 years of age. Maybe at this age I should know better! NOT SO. I have been smitten by the Pierce Arrow bug since c. 1954. Back then I did not even know there existed such a car with a name to be conjured with! With my first pay packet I purchased Popular Mechanics publication “How to Restore Antique & Classic Cars”. I still have it. I peruse it every now & again when I feel in a nostalgic mood. I am using it for reference right now in front of the computer so as to refresh my fading memory.Therein were photos of a couple of Pierce Arrows. A 1915 touring owned by E.A.Wiener. A big black 1931 mod 42 sedan owned by Fred R. Curtis of Chicago & a color plate Austie Clark’s Silver Arrow. I had never seen such wonders as a 14 year old!! I read this book in bed for years! Over the years other cars came my way which I restored & still drive. Around 1957 I discovered A c. 1930 black sedan parked in Albert Street (one of the main streets of Brisbane City. I used tom hang around it for what seemed hours hoping the owner would return, but we never crossed paths. Decades later it lived in a run down condition under a house in Chapel Hill( a suburb of Brisbane) but I never got the chance to talk to the reclusive owner. Around 3 or 4 years ago the owner went into care and it was auctioned & went to Adelaide in South Australia. It was restored 7 was mentioned on the PAS site a couple of years ago. Last year we were Going to the USA for a holiday & I fantasized buying a Pierce Arrow while we were over there. Lots of web surfing & emailing went on & I joined the PAS so as to educate myself. The long & the short of it was that We gave up the idea seriously and hired a modern. However we were due to have a look at a car in NYC on the day Hurricane Sandy hit. But while in North Carolina and with the forecast full of doom & gloom we headed west instead. A couple of weeks later while in Holland Michigan while surfing eBay there was a Pierce Arrow. With a price & “Offer” After a couple of offers & counter offers we suddenly & unexpectedly became the new owners. So you see