owned by
1931 Pierce-Arrow
Dave & Jan Harris
In the early 1990's I received a call from a Pierce-Arrow
collector and a personal friend of ours who indicated to me
that there was a 1931 Pierce to be offered for sale by a
bank in Boone, Iowa. The bank was to solicit bids to settle
an estate of a local gentleman who did not have any living
heirs. I called the bank and requested that they
provide me with information on the type and condition of the
car. They told me that the automobile had been in a
fire and was the only vehicle that escaped a total loss.
I bid on the car without seeing it and waited for
notification as to its disposition. After the due date
for notification, I called to see what had happened and to
find out who got the car. They told me that they had
tried to call me as I was the high bidder by $60.00.
They were just about ready to sell it to the second place
bidder. It was fortunate that I called that day!
I enlisted the help of a couple of my friends and borrowed
an enclosed trailer as it would not fit in my 22ft trailer.
We searched the grounds for missing pieces and as luck would
have it we found nothing. We looked in his home which
was not fit for human occupancy as there were no interior
walls and the lighting and plumbing were a disaster.
The owner had turned into a recluse and lived in a house
that was now condemned. They were going to bull doze
the structure as soon as we left.
Upon returning to Minneapolis, I reviewed what needed to be
done and it was overwhelming. I decided that if I was
to complete the restoration by myself I would have a ten to
fifteen year project! I called my friend the late Arlo
Boe, a Pierce-Arrow restorer and suggested to him that it
would save many years of work on my part if he would take
the chassis and the mechanicals and I would re-wood the body
and try and secure the missing parts. Nearly all the
chrome pieces were missing and it would be difficult to find
them as this was one of six 147" seven passenger tourings
made by Pierce. I purchased the wood from the Indians
in my old home town which to say the least was perfect.
The chrome pieces were another story and were much more
difficult to secure. A gentleman in CA. had a roadster
on the 147" wheelbase and had elected to cast and machine
some of the parts I so desperately needed.
After two years they finished the re-wooding the body and
had secured nearly all the parts required. I took the
body to the restoration shop where it was reunited with the
chassis. The car was then painted and upholstered.
It looked very nice and maybe all the work was worth it.
Its first showing would be the Pierce-Arrow annual meet held
in 1997 in Superior, Wisconsin.
There were 50 plus automobiles on the judging field and the
competition looked formable. I saw a number of cars
that looked like they were candidates for the Best of Show.
I was delighted, when at the banquet, I received this
prestige's award. Since then it has also received a
First Place award at the Classic Car Clubs 50th annual
Judging Meet. It is now recognized as a "Senior
Automobile."
As I like to drive my cars, we have driven the '31 Pierce
from Minneapolis to Bartlett, N.H., Buffalo, N.Y. and
Kalamazoo, Mi. The Pierce has 8,500 trouble free miles since
the restoration and still looks very nice. I would
never again try and bring back a car from the dead as it is
a project only worthy of a car of this quality.
