They really do exist

[1937hd45 2,743]

Headlamps are never an issue with early Pierce Arrows. Bob 

[8E45E 982]

That would go back when they were still called 'Great' Arrow.  here is a 1917.

 

 

Edited October 13, 2019 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[trimacar 2,997]

44 minutes ago, edinmass said:

Same car...with wire wheels......

Ed, is that a picture of my top, or the top I replaced?

 

As to the fender vs. bracket and New York law, I've researched the issue quite a bit.

 

Simply put, the bracket lights were an order option, and has it's own code for ordering a car from the factory.  For those who don't know, cars were ordered via telegraph, and code words assigned to options in order to save money on the telegram.  Thus, a dark maroon car with bracket headlights and rear mounted spare and wire wheels might be "Omaha cumquat table knife" on the order telegram.

 

I've searched, and there was no New York law found stating anything about fender headlights.  New York City itself had some regulation about the distance apart of front parking lights, and that may be where the "legend" started.  Rolls Royce didn't seal heads on engines forever, free Stanley's if you held throttle wide open for a minute were never given away, Henry Ford did not say "history is bunk" (although the full quote contains those words), New York State did not outlaw fender headlights.....

[8E45E 982]

13 minutes ago, trimacar said:

New York City itself had some regulation about the distance apart of front parking lights, and that may be where the "legend" started. 

New York City had for years, VERY stringent laws regarding taxicabs.  I wouldn't be surprised if there was some lighting law in place for taxicabs, including a warning light on the dash that a rear door is open, etc., but I don't think their taxi laws included any on headlight placement.

 

Craig

[TexRiv_63 756]

I'm with Ed on the headlamps. EVERY other car of the period had bracket headlamps and all looked very similar. The Pierce was distinctive in many ways but the headlamps set them apart.

 

Regarding the mascot theft that has been a problem for a long time. I had plain caps for all my prewar cars. A friend with a 34 Pierce 12 takes his archer cap off and carrys it wherever he is stopping.

[trimacar 2,997]

I have an original plain radiator cap for my '31 Pierce, very distinctive with a pointy top like the gas cap, and the plain cap is rarer that an archer!

 

I have a little bag, and remove and carry the archer with me if away from car, as does the fellow mentioned above....putting the plain cap on....

[Grimy 1,377]

32 minutes ago, TexRiv_63 said:

A friend with a 34 Pierce 12 takes his archer cap off and carrys it wherever he is stopping.

Nitpick du jour:  Don, that would be a 1933 or earlier, because for 1934 the radiator filler was moved under the hood.  The archer for 1934-38 is bolted to the radiator shell, with minimal clearance to the radiator top tank, and it takes about 20 minutes with a flat wrench to extract one.  Much less time if you're Ed......  🙂

 

[edinmass 9,512]

Dave, that’s the top you replaced.

[Fargoguy 41]

Several years ago when we visited the Lemay collection at Marymount there was a Pierce roadster with conventional headlights. Whether true or not- the tour guide told us it was a California law that required those headlights. 

[tcslr 44]

Edinmass,  You made me smile about the LV luggage!  I apologize for perpetuating gossip - I repeated what I was told - gossip.  It's interesting how 'legends' start!  It is making me think.... Do I like the bar lights? because they are more common?  Maybe. The PAs are SO distinctive.  I really liked that Cord though,and generally like Cords of the mid 30s - they look so clean but those big buckets... WOWZA!    in the same vein, I just don't care for Bugattis.  There is something about that grill that just doesn't 'zing' me.

I like the Cadillacs a little more than Packards - a good friend pointed out that in his estimation, the Cadillac rear axle and wells are 'too far back but not so on the Packards'.  I see what he means. Still.

Your car is exceedingly lovely.  I'm curious? what is the road illumination like compared to say a same year with 'conventional' lights? Seems to me that it may be a little lower illumination due to the increased width - but maybe too little to tell.

 

That's too bad about the mascot.

 

Tom

[John_Mereness 4,247]

Here is probably one of those interesting points as well - the RR was a New York City delivered new car and it has a blue stop lamp

[zepher 711]

The light output of the dual filament headlamps on my '29 is quite good, actually.

They provide plenty of light out front, light up the road well with a nicely focused beam.

And I will get flashed by other drivers if I don't manage to take them off high beam in time.

[edinmass 9,512]

Our Henley and Special Newmarket have blue lenses......the Henley was delivered in Minnasoda, the Special in Florida.

[lump 742]

Growing up in our AACA chapter in Southern Ohio, I often attended parties, business meetings, tours, etc, with my parents. If there weren't other kids around to play with, I would sit and listen to grownups arguing judging points, discussing problems with their old cars, and later in the evenings the stories would start flowing. I heard variations of many of the same old stories over and over, told by different people with different details, but clearly the same story. For example, one story about a "really hot car" that someone had ridden in "back in the day," would have the story teller relating that the owner/driver of said hot car would put a $20 bill on the dash, and challenge the story teller that he could have it, if he could lean forward and grab it while the car was accelerating from a dead stop. Of course, the G-forces were too great, etc, etc. 

 

ANOTHER story I heard a few times over the years was about a pair of motorcycle riders riding side-by-side on a dark road, when they spot a pair of widely-spaced headlights ahead. Realizing that the lights were too far apart to be a car, one rider shouts to the other, "Look, two motorcycles coming the other way. Watch me scare Hell out of 'em!" The rider then pulls into the opposing lane, only to be crushed in a head-on collision with a Pierce-Arrow. 

 

I heard that story more than once, in different areas of the country. One guy told that same story but mentioned a Franklin as the mis-identified car with wide headlights. I ASSUME it has about as much basis in truth as the "hot rod" from the early 1960's with insane acceleration...but who knows?