1915 Pierce-Arrow Model 66-A Tourer

George N. Pierce, a bicycle manufacturer, was a partner in Heintz, Pierce and Munschauer, a Buffalo, New York, company that made bird cages. In 1872, Pierce bought out his partners and renamed the company for himself, embarking on pedal-powered transportation. In 1900, he built a steam car. A gasoline-powered car followed in November, and in 1901, the manufacture of a DeDion-engined 'Motorette' began. In 1904, the Pierce Automobile Company introduced the four-cylinder Great Arrow. Pierce's son Percy drove one in the inaugural 1905 Glidden Tour and emerged victorious. Pierces would win the Glidden trophy for the next four events. The name 'Pierce' and 'Arrow' became so linked in the public eye that the company was renamed Pierce-Arrow in 1909.

In 1901, Pierce had been joined by a British-born engineer of Scottish ancestry named David Fergusson. He had laid out the design for the company's Motorette and Arrow models. In 1905, he toured Europe with manufacturing vice-president Henry May, where they visited all the British and Continental automobile factories. They were inspired by the large vehicles and their six-cylinder engines.

In 1907, the first six-cylinder Pierce was introduced, called the Model 65-Q. The engine had a T-head configuration, in a similar fashion to the fours that preceded it, and had a 648 cubic-inch displacement size. The wheelbase measured 135 inches and was a foot longer than the larger four-cylinder model. Around 100 examples were built compared to 900 examples of the four-cylinder models.

In 1913, the company introduced a design change that would become a hallmark for the Pierce-Arrow models - the fender-mounted headlamps. This was the work of designer Herbert M. Dawley. The company still offered conventional lights, and some jurisdictions forbade the new design.

In the early years after World War I, the Model 38, 48, and 66 would comprise the Pierce catalog through 1918. The Model 66 would become the 66A and grow to a 147.5-inch wheelbase.

This particular example is a Model 66-A-3 Touring model from 1915. It measures over 15 feet long and has a rear-mounted trunk. The body is finished in red with black fenders. The upholstery is done in black-tufted leather. It has a succession of known owners, including W.H. Cowles of Santa Barbara, California, Monty Holmes of Seattle, Washington, and eventually E.R. Bourne of San Diego, California, in 1971. Bourne sold it to Rodney Flournoy of California, who had Bourne cast a new body in aluminum. From 1983 until 2000, the car was part of the Willis Boyd collection in Santa Ana, California. The current owner acquired it from Mr. Boyd.

The car has a comprehensive instrument panel with six dials, including a Stewart-Warner clock with a second hand, a Warner Auto-Meter (odometer), and a drum speedometer on top, with oil and gasoline gauges and a Westinghouse voltmeter below. In the toeboard is a temperature gauge.

The engine is an 824.7 cubic-inch T-head six-cylinder unit that produces 60 horsepower. The engine is three paired castings equating to six cylinders. The car rides on red artillery wheels with B.F. Goodrich Silvertown whitewalls.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2016