Pierce Arrow Motor Car Poster

From www.railphotoexpress.biz; Pierce Arrow Runabout 1909. Pierce-Arrow was an American automobile manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, which was active from 1901 to 1938. Although best known for its expensive luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manufactured commercial trucks, fire trucks, camp trailers, motorcycles, and bicycles. The forerunner of Pierce-Arrow was established in 1865 as Heinz, Pierce and Munschauer. The company was best known for its household items, especially its delicate, gilded birdcages. In 1872, George N. Pierce bought out the other two, changed the name to George N. Pierce Company, and, in 1896, added bicycles to the product line. The company failed in its attempt to build a steam-powered car in 1900 under license from Overman, but by 1901 had built its first single-cylinder, two-speed, no-reverse Motorette with an engine licensed from de Dion. In 1904, it produced a Pierce-Arrow. This became Pierce's most successful product. The solidly built cars with powerful engines two-cylinder car, the Arrow. In 1903, Pierce decided to concentrate on making a larger, more luxurious car for the upscale market, the won positive publicity and the Glidden Trophy in 1905, an endurance run to celebrate the most reliable car. Thirty three entered the race from New York City to Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, which Percy Pierce won in a Great Arrow. The noted industrial architect Albert Kahn designed the Pierce Arrow Factory Complex at Elmwood Avenue and Great Arrow Avenue in Buffalo, New York about 1906. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. George Norman Pierce sold all rights in the company in 1907, and he died three years later. In 1908, Pierce Motor Company was renamed The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company. In 1928, the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, gained control of the Buffalo firm. The association was to last for five years, with moderate benefits to both companies' engineering departments, which continued to function as separate entities.