[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

David – I understand you will also have an exclusive number for those with more kinky tastes:

1 – 900 – L-E-A-T-H-E-R

Hahahaha!

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

David,

Your new number will be 1-900 – T-R-I-M-M-E-R. For a good time call today!

Hahahahaha!

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

Bill, wonderful photos and great story! Thanks for sharing.

Robert

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Thank you all for your help. I am tracking down some early history on my car. We located a nephew of the owner of record in 1951. The nephew says that his uncle bought the car new (in 1929) from “the dealership””. The nephew also said the uncle worked for Pierce company at one time. We are trying to piece this all together.

Robert”

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

I sent an email, but to reiterate on the message board, I will take Thursday morning from 9-11AM.

Robert

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

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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I also want to thank Liz, Rick and all the committee members. They did an outstanding job. I was most impressed by all the last minute driving changes Liz had to make due to deteriorated road conditions from severe storms prior to the meet. It all went off flawlessly. Kudos to all.

Robert

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David, I appreciate that work! Robert

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David, Thanks. We look forward to seeing you in St. Louis. Robert

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Ed, Thanks. I appreciate all your help, enthusiasm, knowledge, and especially your friendship.

Robert

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

So, Ed is referring to me

This has been a wonderful journey for me. Some of you might recall that I joined the PAS a little over two year ago. At that time, I had seen a few Pierce Arrows for sale on various collector car dealer web sites and they piqued my curiosity. I have collected cars for over 30 years. Mostly, I have focused on post-war 60’s sports cars. I always appreciated the 20’s-30’s Packard since my family had a Packard dealership in the 1950’s. Also, I am well aware that Pierce Arrows were manufactured in Buffalo (where I was born and grew-up). In fact, the factory on Great Arrow and Elmwood Avenue is around the corner from our family Pontiac dealership that I worked at as a teenager. In the winter of 2015, I decided to take the plunge. I joined the PAS and posted my first introduction and query on the message board. I asked about general Pierce information, open cars, 8’s vs.12’s, and if any open cars were currently available for sale. The first respondent was Ed Minnie. He posted an excellent explanation regarding availability and prices of late ’20s and ’30s open cars. In addition, he mentioned there was a 1929 roadster for sale on the Cape and included a photo of an open Pierce. My response to Ed was “Based on your response, my search will likely be for an 8 cylinder car. While I want to experience Pierce-Arrow ownership and driving, I do not think I need to immediately jump into the deep end! Is the picture you posted the ‘29 for sale on Cape Cod? It looks like a beautiful car and pushes the right buttons for me. If so, who can I contact for more information on that car?

First, the car in the photo was definitely not the 1929 roadster for sale. It was a 1935, model 1245 coupe convertible which was a 1935 Chicago Auto Show car and originally painted a bright canary yellow! Second, with the help of Ed, I ended up purchasing that 1929 roadster on the Cape. That was a wonderful experience. Everything fell into place. The car was fantastic. It had been 95% restored when I purchased it. The owner/seller was a great person to deal with. The weather in February cooperated. Ed picked me up at the Providence airport. We went to see the car. I purchased it that day, and the next week the car was in my garage. Then with the help of several of the PAS member’s advice, I finished sorting the car and brought it to the annual PAS meet in Buffalo in 2015. I have since put over 2000 miles on the car. It is my wife’s favorite car to go for rides in. It has given me a great appreciation for pre-war cars in general, and Pierce Arrows specifically. As an added bonus, I have made many new and wonderful friendships among the PAS members.

After having so much enjoyment with my 1929 roadster over the past two year, I am bitten by the Pierce “bug”. Knowing how extremely limited the number of 1930’s open cars are, I have been keeping my eyes open as they come up for sale both privately and at auction. As I talk to other members about their cars, it quickly became apparent that there are long waiting lines for many of the member’s open cars. Always remembering the photo of that open car that Ed had posted on the first reply to my initial PAS message, about a year ago, half jokingly, I mentioned to Ed that if/when the owner ever gets tired of that 1935 Pierce coupe convertible, please give me a call. I figured that I would be somewhere low down on the list of potential purchasers and years if not decades would past until or even if I heard something about the sale of that car. To my complete shock and surprise, Ed called me last fall and told me the owner was ready to sell the car! This was the point where I was “jumping into the deep end”! I had an opportunity to drive the car and it was incredible. In fact, I was almost disappointed. It drove so well, that it did not feel like a pre-war car but more like a post-war car with its smoothness and power. Obviously, it felt completely different than my 1929 roadster. I made an offer, but the owner had changed his mind and decided to keep the car. I was both disappointed and relieved at the same time. I moved on and actually purchased another (post-war) car. Then three weeks ago, Ed calls me and tells me the owner has decided to sell the car (again) and will accept my offer. This was a “twice-in-a-lifetime chance”. I was not really ready to purchase another collector car so soon, but I could not pass up the possibility of obtaining this fantastic car. So, the deal was struck and I am now the lucky owner of this 1935 coupe convertible model 1245. I am including the photo that Ed originally posted when he responded to me. I look forward to many thousands of motoring miles in this Pierce. Also, I must say that my wife has been completely supportive of my car hobby in general and the purchase of this new Pierce specifically. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful wife and so many great friends in the PAS.

Robert

P.S. Sorry for such a long post, but I wanted to share the whole story with you because you have all made it such a wonderful experience.

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

Wow, two Pierces in less than one year, you are on a roll! Enjoy.

Robert

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Congratulations Linnea and Ben. I wish you both a long and happy marriage. It was a great pleasure meeting you both and being chauffeured by Linnea at the annual meeting in Kerrville!

Robert

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I concur with all the sentiments expressed above.

Jim, is was great to meet you, welcome. I also found it a wonderful experience how such a great car and group of enthusiasts can so quickly turn post-war car guys into pre-war car guys

Robert

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He does not show it on his website. David, where did you see this for sale ad?

Robert

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Dave,

You can put me down for 11-1 on Thursday.

Robert

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Peter,

Yes, I also flush the radiator out well when I change the fluid. In addition, I have been adding the NAPA anti-rust product to the distilled water only and the coolant/water mixture each time (https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/MCR1300/MCR1300). I don’t know if this is better, worse, or just different than the products you mentioned.

Robert

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Peter,

Thank you for that explanation. For the past year, I could not figure out why I was loosing coolant and needed constant replacement when it was an ethyl glycol anti-freeze mixture but not when it was distilled water. Now it makes sense. Obviously, I won’t be doing that any more.

Robert

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I also want to thank John and the PAF. I searched for an original cap for over a year (yes, I know that is a short duration in obscure parts hunting time with no luck. There were none around. Even the Studebaker caps were getting hard to find. The reproduction cap looks and works great. As I said before and cannot say enough, this is a great group of people!

Robert

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Bob is correct and I learned from other PAS members at last years meet that Phillips head screws on my car were by definition not correct since they did not exist yet! It was interesting to find out that GM was one of the first customers for Phillips head screws on the assembly line for the 1936 Cadillacs. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_F._Phillips)

Robert

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