1918 Pierce-Arrow Model 48

FROM THE DICK SHAPPY COLLECTION: The 1918 Pierce Arrow Type 48 Roadster

Pierce-Arrow was an American automobile manufacturer from Buffalo, New York, known for their luxury cars. They produced expensive vehicles from 1901 until 1938, when they closed their doors due to the Great Depression.

The 1918 Type 48 Roadster was known for its powerful dual valve 6-cylinder engine, innovative fender-molded headlights, and high-quality construction. Surviving examples of the four-passenger Roadster are rare, and this one is in excellent running, show-quality condition.

ENGINE: Six-Cylinder

ENGINE NO.: B5-8891

HP: 48

TRANSMISSION: Four-Speed Manual

George N. Pierce was a bicycle manufacturer. His industrial experience, however, was far more diverse, beginning as a partner in Heintz, Pierce and Munschauer, a Buffalo, New York company that made bird cages. As the nineteenth century progressed, the firm branched out into ice boxes and bath tubs. After Pierce bought out his partners in 1872, he renamed the company for himself and embarked on pedal-powered transportation. Taking notice of the interest in self-propelled vehicles, he built a steam car in 1900.

By that November, a gasoline-powered car was operating, and in 1901, the manufacturing of a DeDion-engined Motorette began. A defining moment in the evolution of the Pierce automobile came in 1904, with the introduction of the four-cylinder Great Arrow. Pierces son Percy drove one in the inaugural 1905 Glidden Tour, winning the reliability contest hands down. Pierces took the Glidden trophy for the next four events

The early Pierce cars were principally the work of David Fergusson, a British-born engineer of Scots ancestry. He joined Pierce in 1901 and laid out the design for the companys Motorette and Arrow models. In 1905, as the chief engineer, he toured Europe with Manufacturing Vice-President Henry May. They visited all the British and Continental automobile factories, looking at design trends and manufacturing methods. In particular, they noted the move to larger cars with six-cylinder engines. This would set the pattern for Pierce-Arrow cars for the next 15 years

The first six-cylinder Pierce was the Model 65-Q, introduced in 1907. Like the fours that preceded it, the new powerplant was of T-head configuration, displacing an impressive 648 cubic inches. A smaller, 40 horsepower six, the 40-S, was added in 1908. The last Pierce fours were built in 1909, but that year there were three sixes of 36, 48, and 60 horsepower

Pierce and Arrow became so linked in the public eye that both car and company were renamed Pierce-Arrow in 1909. By then, Pierce-Arrows, which sold for $3,050 to $7,200, had joined Packard and Peerless in comprising the Three Ps of luxury American motor manufacturer.

-RM Sothebys