Vehicle Description
To be OFFERED AT AUCTION at Auctions America's Auburn Fall event,
August 31-3, 2017.
Chassis No.
363024
Estimate:
$ 70,000 - $ 90,000 US
Serial no. 363024
Engine no. 363060
In many ways, this Model 36 Seven-Passenger Touring from 1928
represents the ultimate, "pure" Pierce-Arrow, as it was among the
final cars produced by the original company before its ill-fated
merger with Studebaker.
Records of Pierce-Arrow Society historian Bernard Weis indicate
that the car was originally delivered to a wealthy family in New
Jersey who drove it for two years and then put it into storage for
another 14. In 1944, it was sold to a Dr. Miller, passing in 1945
to William Wann, a student at the Princeton Theological Seminary.
Following his graduation, Reverend Wann drove his Pierce-Arrow to
California, and it remained in his ownership until 1973, along the
way covering some 117,000 reliable miles.
In 1973, the car was sold by bid to George Wheeler, of San Diego,
and it was restored in his ownership to very professional,
show-quality standards. It remained in Mr. Wheeler's good care
until 1998 and was then purchased by the noted Pierce-Arrow
collector Patrick Craig, of Stockton, California, who embarked upon
his own comprehensive body-off restoration in order for the Model
36 to meet his exceptionally high standards.
The car was completed in 2002 and has been exceedingly well
maintained since, remaining in outstanding cosmetic condition as
one of the finest automobiles in its present owners' collection.
The authentic color combination of Chickle with black fenders and
Seal Brown belting and moldings contrasts beautifully to a proper
and correct black folding top, black leather interior, and proper
side curtains, which Mr. and Mrs. Kughn's shop remade to original
patterns. Painted wooden artillery wheels and a correct taillight
both add their own special touches to a car that is still virtually
show-ready in every important, well-detailed respect.
Appropriately, the car was shown at the Stan Hywet Concours
d'Elegance in 2014.
Fresh from a display at the Pierce-Arrow Museum in Hickory Corners,
Michigan, this is a remarkably impressive and beautifully restored
car from the last of its manufacturer's golden days.
