Beschreibung:

Pierce-Arrow today is recognized as one of the highest quality motorcars ever produced. Throughout their existence Pierce was uncompromising in the quest to make the finest car available. The cars Pierce built in the period from 1909 to 1920 are referred to as being their "golden age" products. All the cars built during this time were based around a similar design just in three different sizes 38(36 initially), 48, and 66 hp. These models were all identical in terms of quality just differed in size. The largest model, the 66 bears the distinction of having the largest engine ever to equip a production motorcar at 825ci. The mammoth 66 meant that the mid-size 48 was really as large as the biggest offering of its main competitors. The 48 is powered by a magnificent 525ci six-cylinder t-head engine. The motor ran through a fine four-speed transmission. By 1915 Pierce would get the wonderful complete instrument cluster and an excellent self-starting system. Further refined in 1916 with the introduction of the new fourth series cars. Pierce was well known for their bodywork and offered a huge variety of styles so custom coachwork Pierce-Arrows are scarce. This Pierce is one of those rare examples and it happens to be done by an elusive and exceptional American coachbuilder. FR Wood and Sons bodied some of the finest cars sold in this country. A few F.R. Wood bodied Mercedes, Rolls-Royce and Duesenbergs survive today but only one Pierce Arrow. The skill of F.R. Wood as both a designer and builder is apparent in these few surviving cars. The company never made a real effort to promote their custom coachbuilding as they had a successful truck building business. It is believed that they would only produce bodies for customers of their commercial products. Wood like most quality coachbuilders was a carriage builder and got into motor body building very early. One of the most famous surviving Wood body cars is a 1904 Mercedes. It is documented that FR Wood coachwork was built on the following makes chassis: Thomas Flyer, Crane Simplex and Panhard. This car is both handsome and stylistically advanced and the coachwork is much sportier then anything offered by Pierce-Arrow at the time. The body has several noteworthy features. The deep cowl envelops the trademark Pierce instrument cluster and the cowl vent above is glass to light the gauges. The dash is polished aluminum and is flanked on either side by elaborate opening vents. The front doors feature special hardware to allow for driving with the doors slightly ajar allowing ventilation. The hood sides have removable panels with mesh inserts to promote engine cooling in hot weather. The windscreen is low and nicely raked and the pheaton top continues the long low appearance. The car unusually has dual side mounts and a unique front bumper with ends reminiscent of bullhorns. Most unusually the car is finished with full brass bright work as opposed to the usual nickel plating. The body's design works harmoniously with the Pierce-Arrow hood and radiator. The cowl appears that it may be a modified Pierce unit as it is cast aluminum though quite different from the stock unit. The car has been known in collector car circles since the 1960s and it was actively used in California at this time. The car's numerous warm weather equipment support the idea that it was built for that coast and the heat and mountains. The flamboyant looks and features of this car are in sharp contrasts to the more conservative East Coast look of the usual Pierce bodywork. The car made its way to the East Coast in the 1980s and has been part of two long-term collections since that time. Actively used in the last years, it has benefited from considerable amounts of work. A complete engine rebuild – including all new babbit bearings was performed less than five years ago. The car was painted the handsome dark green and black three years ago. A new leather cone clutch was done at the time of the motor work. This car runs ve