1931 Pierce-Arrow Model 43 Club Sedan

The evolution of The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company is similar to that of the automobile itself. George N. Pierce started his business in Buffalo in 1872 making refrigerators and birdcages before switching to bicycles. Around 1898, Pierce began applying his bicycle manufacturing know-how to a new product - the automobile.

By 1910 Pierce-Arrow was among the most prestigious American motorcar producers. The enormous Pierce-Arrow six-cylinder cars first appeared in 1907, and by the mid-teens, these beauties were top sellers in the luxury car market. The appearance in the 1920s of Cadillac's eight-cylinder engine and Packard's twelve-cylinder engine prompted Pierce-Arrow to produce even more powerful cars. These vehicles appealed to people such as the founder of Pressed Steel Car Company of Pittsburgh, who purchased this particular Model 43 in 1933.

Despite evolving designs and a prestigious reputation, Pierce-Arrow suffered financial difficulties beginning in 1920-1921. By 1927 the company had an insurmountable deficit of $783,000, prompting its sale to Studebaker in 1928. However, assembly-line technologies were bringing an end to the era of the small luxury carmaker, and by 1938 The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was defunct.

Source - The Frick Car and Carriage