1934 Pierce-Arrow Limousine12
Cylinder Model 1248A
Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company
Buffalo, NY
The
original company was founded in 1865 as Heinz, Pierce
and Munschauer. Their products were household items
such as iceboxes and birdcages. In 1872 Pierce bought
out the other two and named the firm the George N.
Pierce Company. Bicycles were added to the line in
1896. In 1900 an attempt was made to build a steam car.
That effort failed, but in 1901 they came out with the
single cylinder Motorette. They made a two-cylinder
car named Arrow in 1904. Their four-cylinder model
was named Great Arrow. They entered the newly formed
Glidden Tours and won it for the first five years in a
row.
It
was in 1909 that George Pierce added the Arrow to the
name and changed the company name to the Pierce-Arrow
Motor Car Company. The famous fender headlamp was
added in 1913 and remained their most identifying feature.
In
1928 the company merged with Studebaker, although Pierce-Arrow
apparently operated as a separate entity.
In
1931 Pierce-Arrow introduced the 12-cylinder car. They
entered it in the Bonneville Races and broke 14 international
records with it. As the story goes, in the final hour
of a 24-hour race, at the speed of 125 mph., the driver,
A.B. Jenkins, took out a safety razor and after winning
the race, exited the car clean-shaven.
After
Studebaker failed in an attempt to buy the White Motor
Company in 1932, they sold all their stock on Pierce-Arrow
for one million dollars. They still went into receivership
the next year and officers of White Motor Company were
appointed to run Studebaker in 1933. Pierce-Arrow Motor
Car Company was sold at auction in 1938.
