I grew up in River Forest during the depression, and one of the big events that I remember was the Century of Progress Exposition. We visited the fair many times in 1933 and 1934. My brother, Frank (Glenbard '40), and I were both interested in cars, and we saw Chevys being built on an assembly line, we rode in an Airflow DeSoto on the Chrysler test track, and we watched people trying to break safety glass by throwing baseballs at it. We also saw a fastback 16 cylinder Cadillac on display. But what especially interested me was hearing about a Pierce-Arrow model called the Silver Arrow which was somewhere at the fair. As I recall, we never found it, but I have since learned that it was at the House of Tomorrow.
1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow Harrah's Automobile Collection, Reno, Nevada
There were only five of the special Silver Arrows built and they sold for $10,000 each at a time when a Ford was as little as $500. The car had advanced streamlining including concealed side mounted spare tires, and hidden running boards. It also had the Pierce-Arrow V-12 engine like the one that Ab Jenkins drove to set 14 world records on the Utah salt flats in 1933. He averaged 117 mph for 24 hours!
Having been interested in Pierce-Arrows since a boy, it was not too surprising that when I spotted a 1934 Pierce V-12 convertible coupe for sale in Chicago, I bought it just before graduating from IIT in 1950. Although it was not in great condition, at $275 the price was right. It got me to Detroit where I started work with Chrysler Corp. A year later I returned to Glen Ellyn to work for Raytheon, because at the time there was not enough interesting work for an electrical engineer at an auto company. How that has changed today!
My fiancée, Helen Casey, a chemist with Chrysler, came to visit in 1952. While sightseeing at Belmont Harbor, we saw another Pierce that was exactly the same model as mine but in much better condition. A year later, after Helen and I were married, my brother saw the Pierce advertised in the Trib and we were able to strike a good bargain with the dealer who had been driving it and had decided to sell.
My 1934 Pierce-Arrow V-12 Convertible
Over the years we took the car to many events at the DuPage County Fair, drove it in some of the Glen Ellyn 4th of July parades, and were in several Pierce-Arrow Society meets. One was held at the Indianapolis 500 Speedway at which, after the judging, everyone drove two laps around the track at a moderate 40 mph.
My car at the Pierce-Arrow meet in Indianapolis
As our children grew up and our activities changed, we found less and less time for the Pierce-Arrow. It has been sitting in our garage for a number of years now, but next year I hope to take the spark plugs out, put some oil in the cylinders to prevent scoring the cylinder walls, clean the carbureters, put in a new battery, and start it up again.
In case you are wondering what I did with my first Pierce-Arrow, that will have to be another story.
For those auto enthusiasts who are interested in technical matters, here are some of the features and specs of my car.
1934 Model 1240-A Convertible Coupe Roadster
with rumble seat and golf club compartment
Serial No. 3110142 Engine No. 400315 |
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Wheelbase |
139 in. |
| Weight |
5,078 lb. |
| Tire size | 7.50/17 |
| Engine configuration | 80 degree V-12 |
| Displacement | 462 cu. in. |
| Compression ratio | 6.0:1 |
| Horsepower/rpm | 175 / 3400 |
| Valves | L-head |
| Main bearings | 7 |
Automatic hydraulic valve lifters
Full flow oil filter and heat exchanger type oil temperature regulator
Crankcase breather recycles vapors into the engine intake system
Stewart-Warner power brakes
Borg Warner synchro mesh transmission with free wheeling
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If you would like to learn more about Pierce-Arrows, which were built in Buffalo, New York from 1901 to 1938, I suggest that you go to the Society's website at
www.pierce-arrow.org.
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