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P-A Barn Find


mike6024

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http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/d/1926-pierce-arrow/6499513709.html

 

1926 Pierce Arrow Model 80, barn find. Sat in a barn for over 50 years. Engine turns over and has good oil pressure. Steering box seems to be frozen, will not turn. New inner tubes, new battery. $10,000 Alameda. Took oil pan off, emptied and cleaned it. Oil pump works great. 
call: 510-810-2445

 

 

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Neat find, but it’s not even a complete parts car. I don’t collect the series 80/81 cars, but with so many missing parts, and most of the missing parts are the “good stuff” the car sadly has very little value. You can buy a great driver for less than 20k. Transportation of a parts car to the other side of the country exceeds its value.

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The curse of the "Junior" model, and a sedan at that. These cars were expected to compete with the likes of the popular Buick Master 6.  Nice enough cars , especially the sporty wire wheel optioned roadsters. Sadly this one is deteriorated enough that it will probably end up as edinmass suggests , a parts car. The $ 10,000.00 asking is wildly optimistic. What would a Buick in this condition be worth ?  $2500.00 - $4000.00  Definitely in restorable condition however the cost vs ultimate value is heavily skewed toward cost.

 

Greg in Canada

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5 hours ago, Restorer32 said:

Great forum if you want to find out how people really value history. Truth is they don't. If a buck cannot be made off a car it's worthless, regardless of its history or rarity.

 

Sadly , as I have pointed out in previous posts, some of us have to error towards practicality when it comes to allotting resources toward preserving "history." I as much as anyone else on the forum would very much like to see them all saved. Reality makes it all too apparent that there is simply not enough resources within the old car hobby to save them all. Some of us may have ample time but little disposable income, others will have the $ Dragon already slain but little time. Few of us have an abundance of all the necessary resources, time, $, space, shelter, skills, understanding spouse, and neighbors etc.

 

To reduce the problem to a simple statement like the one above really doesn't reflect the complexity of the decision to restore (or preserve as-is) a given old car.

 

We are not all in the hobby simply to turn a fast buck. But some of us are uncomfortably short of specific resources. And I suspect even the individuals who do have an ample supply of all resources probably would not choose this particular Pierce as a good starting point for a restoration either.

 

Greg in Canada

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I was just about to post something very similar to Greg.

 

There is just too much history to be saved and very little resources, being time and capital to save it all.  

It's a good thing that the patina is welcome has taken hold. It's probably saved a lot of cars from being torn apart to be restored, then ending up a pile of parts down the road that few will know how to put back together. I know I've taken more than one apart to restore,  but never got it back together. 

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I'm a happy Series 80 owner for 24 years, and this one is not mine, although I have provided some mechanical advice by telephone to the apparent current owner in Alameda. I have not seen this car but saw photos when it was on rural property in northern California. And I had another Series 80, in the fairly rare four-passenger coupe body style, from 1995 to 2016 (many photos in our Gallery under my screen name); that car (coupe) received an impeccable restoration in 1983 commissioned by the owner I acquired it from, and was still show-ready with 12K post-restoration miles when I sold it for over $50K. BTW, I don't think the OP is the owner of the subject car.

 

Series 80 was indeed Pierce-Arrow's junior varsity model with a L-head engine (not the dual valve) of 289 cid with 70 hp out of six 3.5 x 5 cylinders, seven main bearings, roller cam followers, and built to the same quality standards as the senior (Series 33/36) cars. In fact, it was the S80 sedan that I still own that changed me from an eclectic collector (eight cars, no two of the same marque) to one focusing on Pierce-Arrows. I have driven my retained Series 80, an amateur freshening circa 1962, at least 20K miles including about eight challenging four or five day Modoc Tours at altitudes of 4,000 feet and up, and it has never come home on a hook. They are not fast cars (about 45 mph cruise) unless you fit an overdrive (I added a 26% Mitchell, which makes it a different car).

 

The S80 was designed to compete with the Packard (Single) Six of the 1920s, but the initial "Deluxe" model (slightly domed roof, two-piece windshield, radiused quarter windows, mahogany window mouldings) was $650 more than a comparable Packard 6 body style, so the "Coach" series was soon implemented at a price $650 below the Deluxe series. My 1925 Deluxe five-passenger sedan had a base price of $3,895 at the factory, and my coupe was $3,695 -- quite expensive at the time, but far less than a Series 33. Bodies are sheet aluminum over a northern white ash framework. Parts are available from Pierce-Arrow Society members but are not usually advertised -- one must network within the club. Readily available Cadillac flathead V8 pistons and rings (1937-48) can be used.

 

The subject car is a Coach Series with extremely unusual sidemounted spares. The rear door seems to have been added later in its life, so some woodwork and metal work in the rear body section will be needed. Again, I have not inspected this car, and from what I see it's a crapshoot on whether it's worth restoring or should be relegated to parts car status.

 

A Series 80 is an excellent first or entry-level Pierce, but it is not for you if you must have the biggest, best, most luxurious, rarest, and other superlatives. S80 is a good choice for a low-initial-cost "Full Classic." This one will require someone with a large checkbook or time and skills.

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If you look closely , you will see that Mike has only linked us to a wildly unrealistic Craigslist ad.  As we can see , Mike has opened up another interesting discussion. There is a lot to be learned from the guys who know these examples , and the questions generated from their info. When I first saw this last night , my first thought was that the 50+ years in the barn were not kind to this old corpse. Ten grand ? Uhhhh , I don't think so. But if it could be made to just run by simply cleaning, lubing , and adjusting, etc. , it could be an interesting project for a youngster in the S.F. Bay Area. My kid's first car was a '73 Cadillac I bought for $100 years ago. He was 8 years old , and enjoyed driving it around sitting on my lap at night. With the T&T steering wheel , and the highly adjustable seat , we made it work. He also became a master of parallel parking that big beast.

 

My first car was a non-running '49 Cadillac given to me by a very nice guy who was on my paper route. I was not quite old enough to drive , so a friend of mine we called "The Monk" and I just took it apart for the fun of it. Well , I should have had one of those crystal balls that can see the future. The '49 Cad was a convertible ! Easily restorable , it was then a 10 year old car ! "Monk" Harer did go on to be a professional mechanic , and I wish I could afford a '49 droptop today. We would all love to have one. 

 

I hope the the owner of this sad & sorry barn beater feels generous to the paperboy , and that said lad has a barn in which to work on , and learn from his first car.     - Carl 

 

P.S.  And I hope the paperboy is lucky enough to live near George !  ?

 

 

Edited by C Carl
Clarification (see edit history)
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7 hours ago, edinmass said:

Neat find, but it’s not even a complete parts car. I don’t collect the series 80/81 cars, but with so many missing parts, and most of the missing parts are the “good stuff” the car sadly has very little value. You can buy a great driver for less than 20k. Transportation of a parts car to the other side of the country exceeds its value.

 

28 minutes ago, 1912Staver said:

Sadly , as I have pointed out in previous post's some of us have to error towards practicality when it comes to allotting resources toward preserving "history". I as much as anyone else on the forum would very much like to see them ALL saved.  Reality makes it all too apparent that there is simply not enough resources within the old car hobby to save them all. Some of us may have ample time but little disposable income, others will have the $ Dragon already slain but little time.  Few of us have an abundance of all the necessary resources, time, $, space, shelter, skills, understanding Spouse and neighbors etc.

 

  To reduce the problem to a simple statement like the one above really doesn't reflect the complexity of the decision to restore { or preserve as is } a given old car.

 

 We are not all in the hobby simply to turn a fast buck. But some of us are uncomfortably short of specific resources. And I suspect even the individuals who do have an ample supply of all resources probably would not choose this particular Pierce as a good starting point for a restoration either.

 

Greg in Canada

What would I expect to see now happen to a car like this? Well, nobody wants to take on the expense and time of trying to restore it. As mentioned, the "good Stuff" is missing snd the car is of little value. This body then becomes a prime example of something that will end up in the hands of (heaven forbid!) someone who hot rod or "rat" rods it. I would then admire the car in that state. Maybe not everything gets restored and some get modified. I personally have no problem with that. I think it's it looks better moving down the road rather than being crushed.

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Well if you could swap this to rat rodder that is preparing to ruin a nicely preserved car,  I would be good with that.  It's probably best top save the best rather than run around trying to save everything then end up letting the cars in better condition get mutilated. 

A resto rod would be nice,  atlas it would retain it's original styling and proportions so it looks somewhat like it looked fro meh factory,  where a truck rat rod,  usually leads to alot of good and bad artistic expression, until you have to squint to see what it started life as. 

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1 hour ago, Grimy said:

BTW, I don't think the OP is the owner of the subject car.

 

I didn't think so, either, Grimy.  The ad was probably

posted here by an astute internet searcher

just for everyone's interest.  After all, the posting is in

"General Discussion," and the car for sale isn't even in 

the original poster's town.

 

I think that's why people have been more candid

in their discussions of the car.

Edited by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)
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If the price was right, this would be a good car to "fix up".  Restoring it would be, as a few have pointed out, a bottomless money pit. Getting it running and driveable and then tending to the various cosmetic deficiencies as time and money allowed would result in a fun, everyday, "beater classic"

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5 hours ago, mercer09 said:

I can understand why people choose not to list here any longer...

 

What's the point?

Mercer. The ad was a repost. If it were a person looking for help or information I would not post in the open. I would have used a PM. It was just an observation laying the cards on the table. 

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I had two of the Model 80 cars that had originally been taxi fleet cars in Melbourne.  When I wrote to Bernie Weis that they used effectively the same gearbox as the overhead valve 6 cylinder Mercers,  Otto Klausmeier ( name spelling?) affirmed that by letter to Bernie. In fact, the only items that were manufactured by Pierce Arrow were the engine and the body.  And they were most profitable to make.  I gave those two project cars to friends,  because I was not sufficiently enthusiastic to restore them.   People here have found the performance disappointing.  They should be good engines.  They have a nice 7 bearing crankshaft with a good Lanchester torsional vibration damper.  And they used a Rickardo patent combustion chamber design, but with compression ratio probably much lower than Chrysler used at the same time.   You might suspect that their concepts that gave good gas flow and performance on the big dual valve T head cars were out-of- whack for an L-head engine.   Anyone who has not seen the recollections written for Automobilists of the Upper Hudson Valley by Miles Harold Carpenter can track it via Google by searching  SGV and Phianna  automobiles.  The  very young primary school kid, who had a small business re-charging early electric cars for their owners;  corrected an ignition fault that stopped one of the first Pierce cars near his home, when the engineer driving it seemed to have no clue.  So it seems that kid had the run of the factory for his own education and experiments.  The six cylinder , ohv, with equal bore and stroke,  that would run to 4000rpm in the Phianna of the early twenties,  would have been a brilliant substitute for that L-head six of the model 80.   Pierce Arrow and Phianna had similar social range of clientele.    A co-production with Carpenter's  Phianna engine would have been an antique we would all like to own.

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2 hours ago, CarlLaFong said:

If the price was right, this would be a good car to "fix up". 

 

That's the challenge these days... finding something priced right is darn tough in my area. Too many flippers and dreamers looking to make a mint off enthusiasts.

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I like the positive attitudes a couple of people have made about the car. Though I agree that 1926 Buick Master 8 and 1926 Pierce-Arrow Series 80 sedans would look similar from 4 blocks away, I don´t think Pierce-Arrow was aiming at the Buick buyer any more than they were in 1916. They are somewhat different. 

__________________________________COMPARISON__________________________________________________________________

Vehicle: 1926 Buick Master 6 Sedan...............Pierce-Arrow Series 80 Sedan

Cost: $1,395...........................................................$3,895

Body: steel..............................................................aluminum

Engine: 75 h.p. six with 4 main bearings.........70 h.p. six with 7 main bearings

Production for Year: 266,763(Buick)...............about 8,500(7,500 Series 80 + about 1,000 Series 33)

Type of Company: Centralized merchandising co. with different departments/America´s Rolls-Royce, Presidential motorcar

I couldn´t find 1926 GM production, but know they are very successful at volume sales, averaging 5,800,000 per year more recently(1946-2009). Pierce-Arrow sales averaged about 2,300 per year(1901-1938).

Edited by jeff_a (see edit history)
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The 80 and 81 were meant to be companion models to the big T head Pierces of the time. They were aimed at the owner who drove his own car and wanted something smaller than the big limousine type car. Small is a relative term, there is a Pierce 80 sedan in the area and up close it looks as big as a bus, much bigger than a Buick. I should say, similar to a Cadillac or Lincoln V8 7 passenger sedan.

 

Many luxury car makers did this at the time. Rolls Royce offered the big Phantom for the chauffeur driven trade and the smaller 20/25 for the owner driver. Likewise Packard had their big V12 (later straight eight) but also offered a six cylinder job with an engine the same size as the Pierce.

 

Seen in this light the smaller car may be more desirable and usable than the prestigious senior models. They were still out and out luxury cars built to the highest standards.

Edited by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)
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16 minutes ago, Rusty_OToole said:

he 80 and 81 were meant to be companion models to the big T head Pierces of the time. They were aimed at the owner who drove his own car and wanted something smaller than the big limousine type car. Small is a relative term, there is a Pierce 80 sedan in the area and up close it looks as big as a bus, much bigger than a Buick. I should say, similar to a Cadillac or Lincoln V8 7 passenger sedan.

Yes, the 80 and 81 were on 130-inch wheelbases, and the 1921-28 Series 32/33/36 were on 138-inch wheelbases.  The 80s are certainly much more agile than their big brothers, but were equipped with the same brake components--except the 80/81 lacked the power booster of the Series 36 1927-28.

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19 hours ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

 

Ed, can you share a little of your Pierce insights?

Are the Series 80/81 cars less desirable, more problematic, or---?

 

Thanks.

 

Sure........ I did the math, there’s been a Pierce Arrow in my garage 96.12 percent of my life. Starting with a car my father purchased when I was still a very young child. I grew up in the hobby, first starting with steam cars and a few horseless carriages. My early intrest was 1899 to 1903. Some years went by and my intrest turned to CCCA classics. I was thirteen when I got my hands on a very poor and disassembled 1931 Cadillac V-8 Sport Coupe. To put it plainly, it was a toilet.......... Although I didn’t know it at the time...........but I did manage to make it semi presentable (sort of) and a reliable driver, and it was my only hobby car for many, many years. I toured and showed that car all over the northeast not knowing any better, and I’m sure many people in the hobby thought I was a crazy kid.........they were right. What that car did manage for me was exposure to all the great things this hobby had to offer. I met many of the early collectors who were still living and were the foundation of the hobby. I was always the youngest car owner at virtually every meet I attended. It was awkward for a very long time, and I had some very unpleasant experiences along the way, but I kept moving forward refusing to let any one or anything get in my way. After college I started making a few bucks, and slowly over the years putting in thousands of hours of time and effort I managed to have a few decent cars. I have been fortunate to own some very unique and world class cars, and probably much more than my fair share. I posted the preceding comments because of the implications I was dumping on the car in this thread. I was not. The car listed has been known to Pierce people for quite some time, and it’s my understanding it has traded hands once or twice. My biggest concern was a newbie thinking that they might be able to buy the car and have a good first project. Well, reguardless of what anyone says, that car is not a “project car”. It’s an interesting and rare car, with so much missing, and obviously very difficult structural problems that very few if anyone could save it. Not all wonderful rare cars are worth restoring, reguardless of economics. For the cost of making that car correct, one could easily buy five or ten series 80/81 Pierce cars that are ready to go down the road. I like the series 80/81 cars, have driven many of them, and tried on several occasions to purchase one. For what ever reason, the deals never worked out. The same goes for the senior model Pierce cars of the same era.......the series 33/36.  If I come across a “fun to me” series 80/81 or 33/36, I will purchase it......and drive it. It just seems the eights and twelves get my attention more and thus end up in my garage. As far as comments go where people are commenting about flipping a car...........absolutely nothing wrong with that. I have done it many times.......but I will only buy a car to flip that I am willing to keep and drive, thus it’s the perfect solution......if it doesn’t sell, I have a car I like and am willing to keep. I have had a lot of toys pass through my garage over the years, made and lost lots of money on them(I am quite sure I am still in a very deep hole) and most importantly out of the entire process, I have made great friendships with people all over the world. Opportunities and adventures that the hobby has given me are endless, and I am very thankful for all of them. If tomorrow I lost all my cars, I would start over again. Grimy.....aka Uncle George........ has made better comments and comparisons than I could on the cars, as he has owned them and driven them for twenty five years. Over the long run, it seems Cars from before 1916 and 1929 to 1937 are what I seem to collect. Currently I have a 100 point V-12 Pierce setting next to a original 1915 Ford T. I like them both equally, and receive the same amount of pleasure from both. I enjoy the people from the Pierce Arrow Society, and consider most of them “family members” as I have spent my life coming of age in that club. My friend who introduced me to the Pierce Arrow Society is now 97 years old, and I met him when I was 12...........that’s forty years ago last January. I am forever in his debt. I like to think that over the years I have given back to the hobby as much as it has given me. Others can be the judge of that...........I write this tome from Amelia Island, getting ready for another great show. I’m looking forward to spending time with my “extended car family” from all over the world this weekend, and I’m quite sure making some new friends and contacts that will further my enjoyment of this crazy ride we call “The old car hobby”.  My best to all this weekend on the show field...........from the looks of the trailer parking lot were going to need some luck!  Ed

 

Due to rain, the Amelia Concours has moved to Saturday again this year. I’m glad and agree 100 percent with the change.

Edited by edinmass (see edit history)
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I second Ed's take of it.  It's so easy for a New comer to buy a car beyond their ability or finances to get to a state they are looking for.  Once they get burned often bad by their first old car,  they walk away and never look back,  unless they were the super hardcore guy some of us are.  Many are not.  They want to have an old car,  have some fun like they see many of us having, then get a little deeper with each new project.  You don't throw a guy off the deep end of the pool to see if he can swim.  You bring him in the shallow end and go from there. 

I'm glad we hash out the merits of cars on here.  I'm sure many of us,  especially the silent ones often gain a little knowledge from each one of these discussions.  

Be it a Corvair like Bob was looking for, or something slightly more exotic like this Pierce Arrow. 

If you want to see savage,  go to a Corvette Forum.  We are choir boys/girls around here.

 

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10 hours ago, jeff_a said:

I like the positive attitudes a couple of people have made about the car. Though I agree that 1926 Buick Master 8 and 1926 Pierce-Arrow Series 80 sedans would look similar from 4 blocks away, I don´t think Pierce-Arrow was aiming at the Buick buyer any more than they were in 1916. They are somewhat different. 

__________________________________COMPARISON__________________________________________________________________

Vehicle: 1926 Buick Master 6 Sedan...............Pierce-Arrow Series 80 Sedan

Cost: $1,395...........................................................$3,895

Body: steel..............................................................aluminum

Engine: 75 h.p. six with 4 main bearings.........70 h.p. six with 7 main bearings

Production for Year: 266,763(Buick)...............about 8,500(7,500 Series 80 + about 1,000 Series 33)

Type of Company: Centralized merchandising co. with different departments/America´s Rolls-Royce, Presidential motorcar

I couldn´t find 1926 GM production, but know they are very successful at volume sales, averaging 5,800,000 per year more recently(1946-2009). Pierce-Arrow sales averaged about 2,300 per year(1901-1938).

I was definitely off base with my PA 80 vs Buick Master comparison.  Much closer ; keeping with a GM theme, would have been Cadillac model 314 vs the Pierce. The Pierce 80 is clearly much more of a car than I gave it credit for.  I have only ever seen a handful of them in person, but the Model 80 Roadster with wire wheels struck me as a very nice car when I saw one for sale in Washington State several years ago.

 

Greg in Canada

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I think I saw that car on Craigslist a while back sitting "a little farther away from the house". It is interesting and as it sits, all cleaned up with penetrating oil soaking into vital spots, I would, very much, enjoy admiring and daydreaming over it in the back of my garage. All the privileges of ownership and a handful of twenties dedicated for parts annually at Hershey would suit me just fine.

 

Quite some time ago a Pierce-Arrow owner told me a story about a '39 Buick convertible. About 50 years ago this Buick came up for sale and this long time P-A owner took a couple of his expert friends out to look at the car. After a thorough inspection, they stopped in a coffee shop to discuss the car. I guess a vortex of negativity formed over the table and they went to town tearing that car apart. They all got up from the table knowing that car was the worst thing any of them could own. Junk, bad deal, only a car for a fool.

A short time later the fool who bought the car showed up in our town, smiling from ear to ear, and just enjoying the hell out of it. He wasn't smart enough to recognize all the problems and loved the car. I still see that car, stashed away in a barn, every couple of years. And the story my P-A friend told me has stayed with me over the years.

Grimy, you can hear that story first hand if you mention it at the right time.

 

Well, time for me to take my Thursday ride over to Calendon, on the edge of the Muckland, for the two slice pizza lunch special. I will take the V12 BMW I bought last week. Now, you KNOW I asked No ONE"S advice when I bought that.

 

LIFE is too important to take seriously.

Bernie

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8 minutes ago, 60FlatTop said:

Grimy, you can hear that story first hand if you mention it at the right time.

Our friend The Godfather failed to attend the PAS mini-meet at Callaway Gardens, GA last week and I missed conversing with him on his experiences/stories with you, inter alia.

10 minutes ago, 60FlatTop said:

I will take the V12 BMW I bought last week

AH, the complexity--Heaven forfend!  Well, you're experienced on RRs, so you have a head start.  See the attachment.

BMW sales.jpg

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I was actually thinking of the younger guys that were looking to get into cars That I tried to steer away from something that either I was selling or they were showing me,  while putting up something , usually nothing I owned , that would be a better choice,  knowing there finances and abilities.  

Maybe I was wrong to steer them away, but every day I see craigslist full of cars that in many cases started out as a first project for someone, that now are selling for pennies on the dollar of what was invested because they are in a state that may never resemble a roadworthy car again. 

I can guarantee most non hardcore  old car guys that buy their first car for 7500.  work on it a little and ends up selling it for 3500 or less,  will ever, forget that lesson,  nor will his significant other let him forget it.  

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Glad I didn't listen to the naysayers when I  bought my Packard 45 years ago. After all it was just a 900 convertible and not a "real Packard".  I was told then it was junk and way beyond my resources and abilities. Same with my Jag. "You'll never get that thing back on the road". 

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Clearly, BOTH sides of these life-stories are true. 

 

  • A lifetime in the hobby has shown me that a tremendous percentage of folks who buy project cars never get them completed and running. And, a large percentage of that group feels regret and remorse nearly every time they look at the heap in their garage, covered in boxes and clutter. (Ask me how I know!) Too often they end up losing money on the project, one way or another. So from a practical point of view, starting out with a rough project car is not a good choice, especially for a newbie. 
  • Conversely, many folks really, really like taking on a project as rough as that old Pierce, especially if other people tell them it would be a mistake to attempt it. These folks don't worry too much about whether or not it would have been more financially practical to buy a running car. They simply enjoy putting the super-complex "puzzle" back together. I have even known a few guys like this who typically sell their "dream project" after they get it done, because they are anxious for a new project. 

 

Nevertheless, giving newbies advice from  both perspectives is our right; and even the moral duty of those of us who have gone before. If you haven't ever restored a rough old vehicle before, there is simply NO WAY you can possibly understand the magnitude of the project, and the time, money, equipment, shop space, skill, tools, and tenacity required to reach a satisfactory conclusion. 

 

 

Edited by lump (see edit history)
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I doubt in 45 years though anyone will be lusting after this Pierce Arrow.  There are other examples in probably much more complete if nothing else shape they would be better to pursue.

The problem to is if it really is missing all the good parts,  they were probably salvaged to be used open other cars that are now restored.  Parts and parts cars to put this one back in proper order are going t become tougher to come by,  thus driving up individual parts prices. 

I only try to encourage the borderline guys that are actually asking for guidance.  If your heart is set on this, no questions asked,  then jump on it.  If you are on the fence,  it's not the car for you. 

I think  Restorer32,  you are like a lot of the other guys on this site.  If they do a blood sample, it comes up more like SAE 30 than A or b positive or negative.  You lusted after old cars right after the first one you pushed across the floor.  

That's a different breed. 

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If I were just starting out and was listening to the advice usually found on this site, I'd have given up long ago. Fortunately, I started long ago - have never seen old cars as a "profit center", am not interested in competition cosmetics simply don't care what anyone else thinks of mine. I do it because I like them.

 

If this PA were in my back yard I'd probably go an look at it... I wouldn't pay that much and I'd walk away if I couldn't get it for what I wanted to spend. I don't need or want another project but I wouldn't make that decision based on what others thought of it.

Edited by JV Puleo (see edit history)
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I agree completely with JV in the above comment.  The car definitely has its problems; and no doubt even more than meets the eye, but it is a Pierce Arrow after all. I am sure there are better ones out there for not all that more than the asking price of this one, however how many will be a reasonable distance away ? 

  First time restorers are usually not set up for a recovery on the other side of the country. They need to find a car close enough for a tow home or perhaps a local trailer rental. And this car presents an chance for someone in California to get involved with an entry level classic. If this car was local to me I would also probably take the time to at least give it a lookover.

  The unrealistic price may drop to a reasonable figure given enough time. Unless a person follows up on cars like this the bottom line remains a mystery.

 As far as listening to advice from older, wiser old car guys it's often a bit of a downer for entry level people.  The older guys probably have a gem or two that they have picked up years ago at what would be these days a near give away price.  Many of those cars have changed hands a few times over the years, but nearly always quietly between long time acquaintances or fellow club members. The new guys rarely if ever get the inside track when these cars change hands and 99% of the time must choose from the ones that appear on the open market. It gives the older, wiser guys a definite cost advantage, and a therefore skewed toward the negative appraisal / opinion of open market offerings.  Every now and then a younger or less experienced person will catch a break from an older, long time local club guy but unless the younger person already has a bit of "higher level" involvement he is often not taken too seriously by the 30 Wt in the blood guys.

 

Greg in Canada

Edited by 1912Staver (see edit history)
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Being it's in CA there are a lot more cars to pick from in it's condition or better,  so that makes the price even more optimistic and the chance of it selling even less.  I know I shipped my last coupled of cars from the west coast,  because they are more plentiful in better shape than here in the East,  even after absorbing the 2500-3000. shipping cost. 

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Grimy, I think the cartoon is based on owners with lesser models, however, I enjoyed it. One of my "sports" is to look at everything literally. I can assure you, "like" very rarely applies. See how I used the term "lesser models".

Bernie

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42 minutes ago, 60FlatTop said:

I think the cartoon is based on owners with lesser models,

Perhaps....  When I was first driving, 60 years ago, most jerk-drivers drove Cadillacs, then switched to MBz, and then to BMWs.  Of course, that was California....

 

When we meet--and we must someday--I'll tell you about "lesser (Federal) agencies."

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