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What a great offer for anyone needing something transported.
It’s gestures like these that make the PAS one of the best groups of car enthusiasts out there.
That looks very nice!
Can’t wait to see the rest of it all put together and running again.
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.
All this talk about spring shackles makes me want to tear into mine to see how they look.
Is there a Service Bulletin that I can reference so I can tear mine down and make any needed correction?
Talk about over driving your headlights!
Running 120mph at night with those old headlights had to be frightening.
And I couldn’t believe how close some of the people would stand to where the car flew by them.
I, too, was impressed to see a Peirce post faster speeds than a Bugatti. 
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone in the PAS family.
Hope you all have a happy, healthy Christmas season and a happy New Year.
I am very sorry to hear of Eric’s passing.
He was a great contributor to the PAS and, as others have mentioned, he was an invaluable resource for all things Pierce Arrow.
My deepest sympathies and condolences go out to his family.
Congratulations, Fay!
A well deserved award for an invaluable member of the Society.
I believe I went by the body numbers to determine when ours was built.
Is your car a late ’29?
Our car was made in Nov. of 1929 and it has a 1930 manifold just like the one you have on your car.
Our ’29 is a very original car and I firmly believe that the engine was produced with the ’30 manifold because of the very late 1929 production date.
No answer as to whether the correct points are listed in the Parts Directory?
I’d like to know so I can install the correct points and avoid any issues down the road.
If the parts listed in the Parts and Services section are not the correct ones then why are they even listed?
I was going by the information listed and did what I had to do to make them work.
I have zero issues with starting or power compared to the old set that was burnt when I cracked the rotor on the way to the Temecula meet.
I’d love to use the ‘correct’ points, just let us know which ones we should be buying, because the parts listed in our directory must be modified to work.
I purchased the points listed in the Parts and Services pages and had to do a slight modification so they would work.
You will need both the C778 and C779 since one is a left and one is a right.
The part you have to cut off is a tab where one end of the band mounts to the body of the points.
I went to Napa to buy the parts and the guy had to look through an old paper catalog so I will pick up another set before Napa decides not to carry them anymore.
I’ll take a picture of my distributor tonight if you like so you can see what they look like after they’re modified and mounted.
I don’t think I could put a value on our Pierce.
The car has been in the family for 49 years and I am merely this generation’s caretaker.
My grandfather purchased the car in ’63 and when he passed it was handed down to my father. My father passed away last year and the car was handed down to me since I have been the one grandchild that had the longest history and interest in the car.
My father purchased a ’26 Rickenbacker about six months before my grandfather acquired the Pierce so I grew up working on and riding around in his Rickenbacker and my grandfather’s Pierce. I’ve always liked the look and uniqueness of the Rickenbacker but there was always something special about the Pierce. I know that Pierce cars are special vehicles but the fact that my grandfather cherished the car makes it all that much more special to me.
Our Pierce is a very original car and I am doing everything in my power to see that it remains as original as possible.
I do get the occasional question about the car’s value but to me the car is a family heirloom and it would be impossible to put a real monetary value on the car. There are far too many family memories tied to the car for me to every sell it since to me it belongs to the family.
My name may be on the title, but to me, it will always be ‘Grandpa’s Pierce.’
Some great pictures.
Thanks for sharing.
Looks like a nice, solid car.
Same color combination as our ’29.
I’ve gone through the UU2 on my ’29 so if you need help let me know.
The gasket places are pretty self explanatory once you get into the carb.
The float mount tang under the float cover can be very fragile so just be careful when you pull the float cover.
Be gentle.
Also, your venturies may be brittle as well but John Cislak sells replacements.
He has quite a few replacement parts for the UU2.
Not quite the sound I imagined it would have.
It sounded like it was starving for oil.
Nice video, though.
Dave, very sorry to hear that your car got hit at the meet and to top it off you were also injured in the incident.
Hope you recover quickly and you get your car back into service soon.
Aside from the mishap to Dave’s car it sounds like everyone had a great time and enjoyed one of the better meets put on by the Society.
I hope to one day venture to the ‘other’ side of the country and take part in one myself.
A quick internet search turned up an Aug 22-23, 1904 record of an RH Magoon running a stock Pope-Toledo touring car at the Glenville Driving Track in Cleveland Ohio.
In one contest he ran all 5 laps and placed 3rd.
Sounds like your guy.
He also drove in other contests during that same time frame.
Here is the link I found. Happy hunting!
http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ancestraltree/doc/acstewart/1904.pdf
