c1915 Pierce-Arrow Model 38 Open Tourer Replica (RHD)

Description

One of the most prestigious American car makers of the pre-war era, Pierce-Arrow was founded by George N Pierce in Buffalo, New York back in 1901. Initially operating as the 1908 Pierce Motor Company, the earliest car was a single-cylinder Motorette rated at 2 ¾ horsepower and 150 were produced by 1902. A more powerful twin-cylinder model followed in 1903, followed by the four-cylinder Great Arrow the year after. By 1907 Pierce were offering a powerful six-cylinder car and two years later the make adopted the Pierce-Arrow moniker. From 1910 onwards the model range focused exclusively on six-cylinder cars, aimed squarely at the luxury market. That same year George Pierce died and designer Herbert M Dawley took the reigns, creating the signature Pierce-Arrow ‘look’ with his patented headlamp treatment. Integrated into the front wings, this featured endured right through to Pierce-Arrow’s ultimate demise in 1938; customers could order conventional drum headlamps by special request but few did. The Pierce-Arrow cars built between the wars were some of the most imposing and powerful of all American ‘Brass Era’ cars, including the mighty Model 66 powered by a massive 825-cid engine, with cylinder blocks cast in pairs. Even the smallest model in the line-up, the 38, was powered by 415-cid T-head engine. Four-valves-per-cylinder technology was adopted in 1918, although only one of these remarkable ‘Dual Valve’ sixes survives. Popular with movie stars and gangsters, famous Pierce-Arrow owners included “Fatty” Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin and baseball star Babe Ruth. As sales of expensive motor cars were hit by the shock waves of the Great Depression, Pierce-Arrow’s fortunes declined through the 1930s and the last car rolled off the line in 1938. The survivors have been treasured by generations of automotive enthusiasts and reside in museums and private collections scattered around the globe, often appearing at concours events.