Based in Buffalo, New York USA, Pierce-Arrow was one of the many American Automobile manufacturer from 1901-1938. Reputed for it’s expensive luxury cars, the company ventured into commercial vehicles such as trucks, trailers, motorbikes, bicycles, etc.
Heinz, Pierce and Munschauer made the foundation of Pierce-Arrow in 1865. At that period the company was best known for its household items. The specialty being golden bird cages. George N Pierce renamed the company after his name in the year 1896 as he bought the other two. 1901 saw the first birth of Pierce’s single cylinder motorette. In 1904 after obtaining a license from de Dion, a two cylinder automobile, the Arrow was born.
Percy Pierce continued to win the endurance run from New York to New Hampshire in 1905 making Pierce automobile one of the most reliable cars of its era. He won it in a Great Arrow. By this time Pierce entirely focused in producing big luxurious cars for its customers. In 1907 George Norman Pierce sold all his rights, before his death in 1910.
1908 saw the renaming of the company again as the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company. The factory complex, built by renowned architect Albert Kahn in 1906, was enlisted as a historic place in the National Register in 1974. Pierce-Arrow manufactured many models, with engines ranging from 11.7l to 13.5l.
US President William Howard Taft ordered his Pierce-Arrow in 1909, to be used in state occasions. This became the first car of the Whitehouse.
