1935 Pierce Arrow 845 Town Sedan 

Pierce-Arrow advertisements were artistic and understated.  Unusual for car advertising, the image of the car was in the background rather than the foreground of the picture.  Usually, only part of the car was visible.  The Pierce-Arrow was typically depicted in elegant and fashionable settings.  Shades of Mayfield Parrish.  Some advertisements featured the car in places a car would not normally go, such as the West and other rural settings, a testament to the car's ruggedness and quality.  The bad news was that in 1936, the pride of Buffalo, Pierce-Arrow, was only two years away from extinction as a maker of premium automobiles.  Better news, clearly, existed in the form of a full restyling that same year, which nearly took it out of the realm of custom coach building.

For consignment, a 1935 version of the Pierce Arrow, 845, a 4 door, 7 passenger touring Town Sedan automobile. The design is very sophisticated, and was typically in a collection of a Hollywood star or royalty.  The introduction of the multi-front light setup, and a wonderfully long undulating steel body with protruding exterior fenders and running boards, the world was changing and this car reflected some of that.  This fine automobile is the result of a little bit ago restoration which still maintains its luster.  This 5,987lb car, (nearly 3 tons of luxury!), is powered by a 385ci straight eight engine coupled with a 3-speed manual transmission.  Braking is mechanical drums and look closely and you will see all the high end handcrafted materials that go into its exterior bodywork and interior.  Dressed up like a million dollar trooper, trying hard to look like Gary Cooper …super duper!

Exterior
Bathed in beautiful deep end of the pool Viceroy Maroon, steel panels mix with curved fenders, chrome, plenty of glass and wide white tire, to wrap this car with an air of sophistication, a real big spender feel.  Upfront, a vertical ribbed shield style grille is tall shiny chrome and perpendicular to the road and is framed on the bottom by an eyebrow bumper and the classic archer hood ornament is leading the way.  A long cowled hood with chromed side venting runs to the cabin and flanking on either side are large curved fenders which have the bullet casing quad headlights that have lenses that appear to be gem cut.  On the bottom just above the font bumper we see a pair of large fog lights in yellow glass.  Dual chromed horns blow loudly and say get out of my way explicitly!  The cabins 4 doors have common B pillar hinge making the rear doors suicide versions.  Above, a black vinyl padded roof covering is highlighting the C pillars with chromed Landau bars. Curved fenders in front and rear have the common running board with more chromed ribs and give the doors a place to land visually.  A spare tire is strapped to the rear of the car and has a burgundy canvas covering.  The curved back of the car gracefully and elegantly lands on another eyebrow bumper which is in shiny pristine condition. Tail lamps and signal lamps in a large chrome batwing styled bezel protrude from the back of the voluptuous rear fender.  17-inch wire wheels are in deep burgundy, have a chromed center hub cap, and are wrapped in wide whitewall tires.  High hats and arrow collars, white spats and lots of dollars, spending every dime for a wonderful time…

Interior
Opening the doors reveals stitched and stuffed felted tan broadcloth door panels with dainty chromed cranks and door opener levers.  A band of lighter tan carpeting borders the bottoms and a felted armrest is in the middle.  Window surrounds are walnut burl lacquered and polished and spit shined to the max.  The same is seen for the dash, which is also a beautiful walnut burl and has an elongated squared off gold oval panel within which are rounded art deco styled instrumentation presenting in large round warm cream  with vintage pointers in dash center.  On the passenger and driver's sides are glove boxes.  A large bakelite steering wheel is on and presenting in shiny black with some levers in chrome.  Fronting the dash is an overstuffed front split seat bench in a large tub if you will and it is covered in perfect tan broadcloth which shows very clean.  Opening the suicide doors for the rear reveal plenty of space for the passengers who can sit on a large overstuffed rear bench, complete with a central fold down armrest.  This is covered in miles of tan ribbed broadcloth and has a few small tuck and roll ribs within its design.  Large armrests are on either side cozying upon to some fuzzy broadcloth covered vertical surfaces and some more walnut add ons for the smoking station and ash receptacle.  2 small center “occasional” seats fold into the black of the front bench and are available for your extra passengers. Slightly darker brown carpeting floods the floors and is very clean, and more fuzzy broadcloth is reserved for the headliner.  Come let's mix where Rockefellers walk with sticks or umbrellas in their mitts, putting on the ritz!

Drivetrain
Under the cowled hood in a fully restored engine bay sits a fully restored black brass and copper 385ci L-head straight eight.  It has a single 2-barrel carburetor, and on the back is a 3 speed manual transmission. This setup produces 140hpto move those 3 tons of steel and luxury via a 4.23 geared rear axle.

Undercarriage
Mechanical drum braking is all around as are leaf springs for the ride. The underside is well preserved and painted in rust free black paint.  A solid X frame holds everything together, it's an amalgamation of springs, levers, hoses and the clean exhaust for this large and in charge vehicle.  Looking fine underneath.  Start the tap dance!

Drive-Ability
I donned my chauffeur hat and slipped my partner in crime, our crack decoder, in the back and we went on a long drive, chattering away and wasting as much time as we could while thoroughly enjoying the ride.  I tested out all the functions and they were working at the time of the test drive. The car has smooth acceleration, good braking, and easy steering.  Even the horn sounds aristocratic.  In the end we got out, and decided we needed to go again, it was that great.  Downtown, uptown, dine and wine.

A fine design in the waning years of this Buffalo based company, it still holds up to its reputation. The feeling of luxury inside and the look outside.  No wonder it was so popular, however with the stock market crash, and all else going on in this pre war time, it would not last long, so you might as well enjoy it while it lasts….Let it ride baby, and lets live it up..large!

Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the vehicle in person.