I can't remember if I've ever posted about this before (I searched) but I'm wondering if anyone remembers the cool `32 Pierce- Arrow coupe that was built for the salt some years ago. It was featured in Street Rodder mag. If memory serves correctly it was a Pierce- Arrow collector that funded the project. I believe A.J. Foyt handled the driving. The neater things were that it was built on a reinforced original frame cross pollinated with some contemporary NASCAR chassis and driveline bits. The engine was a genuine P-A V12 with 4 turbos. I remember they noted that the engine could take a beating because it had 9 main bearings. I believe the body was a composite replica pulled from an original bodey then chopped. Anyway that's the jist of it. Does anyone know the car? Have pics? Know how well it did? I have a soft spot for the Pierce- Arrow. They were built in a factory in Buffalo New York (which still stands). Being from Rochester N.Y. originally they were big players in the Western New York automotive history picture. Alot of people may not know but the P- A V12 of the `30's lived on well into the `70's in Seagrave fire trucks. Their inherent ruggedness and size fit the bill well for Seagrave. Remember these were valve in block V12 engines living successfully into the `70's.
Great story and I hope we hear more. Hmmm, sure would make an interesting hot rod engine..... Can you say torque monster?
I think Henry is referring to the fully fendered coupe , was it blue ? , I got it in a mag here somewhere , huge car , AJ rings a bell as the driver
Yes it was fully fendered and I do believe blue and ran in the late 90's I believe. The Ab Jenkins car was cool too.
I think that the money man behind the car was Dee Howard. He is/was a San Antonio business man that was into Pierce Arrows among other things.
Ralfs 56 gets the prize. I did the article for Rodderes Digest, I will try and look up the numbers tomorrow. dont know how to post pistures, but if anyone wants to help, I'll try to learn. To answer the question, A. J. blew the head gaskets when the boost came up, ending the session. (There is a cute story there too). A year or two later, one of the Nish family drove the car, spun twice, then put down a good number. If memory serves, it was in the 160 range. The car was an outstanding piece, even the bow was strung.
No. The car is fully enclosed, painted black. I think it was owned by Marvin Jenkins (Ab's boy) of Salt Lake. Somewhere I have a print photo of the Mormon Meteor and the black car (also a Mormon Meteor?) on the salt. Also have a print photo of the black Pierce-Arrow with A.J. at the wheel before a run. Sorry - folks, my scanner took a dump awhile back.
This is an older post, so I don't know if there's been any new info since. But since I couldn't find anything else on the H.A.M.B. about what I was looking for, or any where else for that matter, I wonder if the car you're describing is the same one that turned up on an episode of American Pickers (Episode: Pandora's Box). It was mostly a skeleton, but the owner "Randy" of FL described it as a Pierce-Arrow land speed record/prototype. It looked like it would have had enclosed wheels...
The Pic I remember seeing in a magazine was of a big black sedan with a strange bulge/fairing on the cowl to direct the airflow over the windshield & roof. AJ was named as the driver, and as a funny anecdote it mentioned that AJ had to do his Rooky Test to get his LSR licence...
No the car on "Pickers" is not the car described here. I remember the car and have always been amazed that it did not receive more ink. Quite an effort.
I wish I could tell what I know about the car but I better let the owner or builder do the talking if they choose. It's very exciting though....I promise! And yes this is the P-A coupe the AJ drove. Stay tuned....maybe one of the projects new builders will pipe up on here!
I just saw that POS when I watched the show on my DVR tonight... jeez... not even close to a Pierce-Arrow, let alone the one from the salt. Can't believe that goober wanted 20 G's for that crappy thing. It must have some history, but at this point - why bother?
Pierce-Arrow also built a series of nice travel trailers called Travel-lodges in several sizes from about 1936-40.
pierce-arrow is a LARGE phaeton type car . awesome to see them . a guy i know has 2 80'/150' barns full of them , all running . spectacular cars . they make a model "a" look like a toy ..................
Well, the Pickers car could have been a Pierce, it looked to me like someone took a big late 20s, early 30s car and made up a streamline body for it - maybe in the '50s, since it looked like kind of an overgrown Mercedes gull-wing coupe - with the driving position set back to the rear. But clearly not the same car as in this thread. I don't know about "why bother", if everyone said that only about 10 of us would have cars, but it looked like a lot of work given the motor is sitting uncovered with at least one plug out of it.
I agree with Andy G,as there is a rest of the story,but not ours to tell. Perhaps someday it will surface to surpass previous expectations. I will say ,it is in capable hands,and the future looks bright.
I have the Street Rodder that has the story with AJ Foyt driving the PA, I will try and dig it out and scan it.
Here is what the issue looks like. http://alanasvintagemagazines.com/i...d=7336&zenid=65d99245ca97e867c1d85fd2d595acdb Link won't reopen for me. Could be this old machine. The issue is August 1997
I was going to put a pic of the car on here but all the pics I have (and I'm not very good at editing out things) are of the car in and at places that are not for me to reveal on here. Sorry I couldn't post any pics. It's a beautiful car though. Number 342 and it's a coupe.
Just a bit of Pierce Arrow trivia; Some of my earliest memories are of sharing a two-family dwelling with the once-wealthy, very eccentric Finnegans (George and Heleen), neither of whom drove: but they did have a Pierce Arrow that was used as a chicken house. (They also kept ducks in the house! )
The Jalopy Journal
