1932 Pierce-Arrow Model 51

Resources were depleted during the Great Depression, wreaking havoc throughout the market as fortunes were lost and bread lines grew to unprecedented levels. During the devastation, luxury marques were forced to pull out all the stops, building some of the finest and most powerful automobiles of all time. Ingenuity and creativity were rewarded with the attention and admiration of the limited pool of capable buyers, with twelve- and sixteen-cylinder engines necessary to propel the large and luxurious coachwork resting on the generous wheelbase platforms. Pierce-Arrow's contender was a twelve-cylinder model offered alongside the eights, with common bodies but differing wheelbases. Proving its capability, Ab Jenkins drove a Pierce Twelve to numerous speed records at Bonneville in 1932, 1933, and 1934, often driving the record-breaking machine back to Buffalo, New York.

Pierce-Arrow was a member of the 'Three Ps,' together with Packard and Peerless, forming the alliterative triumvirate of the luxury car segment. Pierce had always relied on large engines, though from 1910 to 1928 it had been T-head sixes. In 1929, the six was replaced by a straight-eight in a less complicated and less expensive L-head configuration. The market approved and sales doubled from the year before, but as other automakers debuted larger engines (particularly Cadillac and Marmon with their sixteen-cylinder engines, and Packard and Lincoln with its twelve), Pierce-Arrow responded with a twelve-cylinder engine of their own.

The new V-12 engine was designed by chief engineer Karl Wise and it was given an unusual 80-degree angle between the cylinder banks and a cast iron crankcase. The wide vee provided excellent access to the valve train and helped reduce vibration. Introduced late in 1931 for the 1932 model year, Pierce-Arrows lineup now included the eight-cylinder Model 54 on either a 137- or 142-inch wheelbase, and the twelve-cylinder Model 53 (137- and 142-inch wheelbase), and the Model 51 on a 147-inch wheelbase platform. Prices of the Model 53 topped out at $3,750, while the Model 51 far exceeded that figure, priced from $5,300 to $7,300.

Despite the restyled bodies, the new engines, and Jenkin's publicity, Pierce-Arrow was a victim of the Great Depression and would sell just 2,692 cars in 1932, losing millions and leading to the sale of the firm by the Studebaker Corporation.

Bodystyles
- Convertible Victoria Coupe ($5,300)
- Coupe ($5,550)
- Club Sedan ($5,800)
- Convertible Sedan ($5,800)
- Enclosed Drive Limousine ($6,300)
- All Weather Town Brougham ($6,800)
- All Weather Town Cabriolet ($7,300)
- Enclosed Drive Brougham

Pierce-Arrow produced 787 vehicles in 1936, falling to 167 in 1937. In the spring of 1938, the Pierce-Arrow Company was sold at auction.

by Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2023