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The ancestor of Pierce-Arrow was the George N. Pierce Company, founded by George N. Pierce (1846-1911) of Buffalo, New York, which various products including bicycles and bird-cages. In 1901 he started the George N. Pierce Motor Company, producing a small single-cylinder engine automobile, the Pierce, with some modest success. In 1903 he decided to concentrate on making a larger more luxurious auto for the upscale market, and the Pierce-Arrow was born. This proved Pierce's most successful product, and these solidly built cars with powerful engines gained much positive publicity by winning various auto races. In 1908 Pierce Motor was renamed The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company.
In 1909 U.S. President William Howard Taft ordered two Pierce-Arrows to be used for state occasions, the first official automobiles of the White House.
Through 1914 Pierce-Arrow also produced a line of motorcycleA motorcycle (or motorbike is a two-wheeled vehicle powered by an engine. The wheels are in-line, and at higher speed the motorcycle remains upright and stable by virtue of gyroscopic forces; at lower speeds continual readjustment of the steering by the rs.
The Pierce-Arrow was a status symbolA status symbol is something that indicates the social status of its owner. Usually a status symbol is a mark of high status. Status symbols change rapidly along with technological and economic change in a society and are often a good indicator of such ch, owned by many top Hollywood stars, corporate tycoons; royaltyA royal family is the extended family of a monarch. Generally, the head of a royal family is a king or queen regnant. The term "imperial family" more appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress regnant, while the terms "ducal fami of many foreign nations had at least one Pierce-Arrow in their collections. In American luxury cars it was rivaled only by the Stutz Bearcat , then somewhat later the DuesenbergDuesenberg was a United States based luxury automobile company active from the 1910s to the 1940s. In 1913 the Duesenberg Brothers, Fred and August, founded Duesenberg Inc. Paul, Minnesota, to build sports cars. Born in 1885 in Germany, the two brothers w and LocomobileLocomobile was a company that produced automobiles in the United States of America from 1899 to 1929. The Locomobile Company of America was founded by Amzi L. Barber and John Brisben Walker and was based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The name "Locomobile" w.
Pierce-Arrow advertisements were artistic and understated. Unusually for automobile advertising, the image of the car was in the background rather than the foreground of the picture. Usually only a portion of the automobile was visible. The Pierce-Arrow was always depicted in elegant settings.
In 1928Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Years: 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 See also 1928 in aviation 1928 in film 1928 in literature 1928 in mu Studebaker acquired a controlling interest in Pierce-Arrow, although the two companies continued to maintain separate engineering and production facilities. Studebaker sold out their interest in Pierce-Arrow to a group of Buffalo businessmen in 1933.
Starting in 1936 Pierce-Arrow produced a line of camper-trailers, the Pierce-Arrow Travelodge.
In 1938 Pierce-Arrow was declared insolvent and the company was liquidated.
The Rio Grande Southern Railroad converted five Pierce-Arrow automobiles (and a couple of Buicks) into motorised railcars, effectively buses and trucks on rail wheels. The nickname Galloping Goose was soon applied to these vehicles, based on their waddling motion and honking horn. All still survive.