BITS & PIECES . . .
. . . takes a light-hearted look at a sometimes crazy world of motoring and other forms of transport, nationally, internationally, and here in North East Victoria
Words/photos: Bill Buys
BILL Buys, one of Australia's longest-serving motoring writers, has been at his craft for more than six decades. Although motoring has always been in his DNA, he was also night crime reporter, foreign page editor an later chief reporter of the Rand Daily Mail. He has been shot at twice, attacked by a rhinoceros, and had several chilling experiences in aircraft. His experience includes stints in traffic law enforcement, motor racing and rallying, and writing for a variety of local and international publications. He has covered countless events, ranging from world motor shows and Formula 1 Grands prix, to Targa tarmac and round-the-houses meetings. A motoring tragic, he has owned more than 90 cars. Somewhat of a nostalgic, he has a special interest in classic cars.
BACK in 1930 the population of the US was 123 million – it has since grown nearly threefold to some 347m – but even at 123m and despite the onset of the Great Depression, there would have to be more than a few folk with enough cash to afford one of the latest cars produced by Pierce-Arrow.
The Buffalo-based company, set up in 1901, had become a status symbol in just a couple of decades.
Favoured by Hollywood stars and tycoons, Pierce-Arrows were also popular among royal families the world over.
Actor Fatty Arbuckle had one designed especially for him.
Things started to go south in the late 1920s, but while most other iconic car makers either focused on building less pricey products, or simply closed their doors, Pierce-Arrow lifted its sights with its stunning all-new Silver Arrow.
The Great Depression had hit the US hard in 1929 and by 1933, one in every four Americans was unemployed and former millionaires were counting pennies.
It was all doom and gloom and the motor industry wasn’t doing any better.
Production had dropped dramatically in just a few years.
In 1929, Americans had bought more than four million cars but by 1932, sales had dropped to barely a million.
Ford had to slash yearly production from more than 1.5 million to only 300,000 while premium carmakers like Peerless and Marmon disappeared altogether and many more companies declared bankruptcy by the end of the 1930s.
However, Pierce-Arrow was one of the luxury outfits that refused to give up.
There had to be some rich folks among the 123 million, right?
Big mistake.
Acquired by Studebaker in 1928, Pierce-Arrow started to leak money as the Great Depression hit and decided to defy the odds, opting to build its most opulent vehicle yet, the Silver Arrow.
Introduced at the 1933 New York Auto Show, the Silver Arrow was announced with the slogan ‘Suddenly it's 1940!’
With its Art Deco styling, streamlined body, and innovative features, the Silver Arrow provided a glimpse into the future, and the car caused an absolute sensation.
Conceived at a time when Piece-Arrow was losing millions, the Silver Arrow was penned by Phil Wright, who was still in his 20s, and immediately approved by design chief Harley Earl.
With fully integrated mudguards and headlights mounted high with the line flowing up and back past the doors, the Silver Arrow resembled no other car in the US, or the world for that matter.
It also featured a few groundbreaking aero features, such as flush-fitting rear wheel skirts, recessed door handles and a sharp sloping rear section.
The cabin was flanked by a V-shaped windscreen with a slit-like window in the rear.
The latter was useless in terms of visibility, but it added to the car's almost Batmobile-like styling.
The Silver Arrow also pioneered the passenger floor set below the frame side members, a feature that Hudson debuted in production cars as the ‘step-down design’ 15 years later.
The cabin was decidedly luxurious, being draped in leather, diamond-quilted broadcloth, and hand-finished curly maple.
The rear section included a radio speaker, a clock, and even a speedometer.
Pierce-Arrow's out-of-the-box thinking continued with the placement of the spare wheels.
Most cars of the era had spares mounted on the rear or placed mounted either side of the bonnet.
The Silver Arrow had them hidden in lockers in the impressively long front mudguards. These could be opened by remote controls in the dash.
Power came from a 7.6-litre V12 engine that made the 2585kg Silver Arrow fast enough to clock 115 mph (185 km/h).
Pierce-Arrow rushed to have five examples of the Silver Arrow ready for the 1933 New York Auto Show.
But with a price tag of $10,000, about 25per cent more than the most expensive Cadillac of the era, it essentially remained a show car.
Pierce-Arrow did develop a production variant of the Silver Arrow, but it featured a heavily toned-down design and a shorter body.
Unfortunately, the Silver Arrow wasn't enough to stop the company's declining sales and Pierce-Arrow declared bankruptcy in 1938.
Three of the five original Silver Arrow cars still exist to this day and they're among the most expensive American classics.
They seldom come up at auction, but when they do, they change hands for more than AU$3 million.
It's not only the most sensational car designed in the early 1930s, but also America's first futuristic concept vehicle.
And another question is: where are the remaining two?