Pierce Arrow Revisited

Last Monday's 'Mercedes-Simplex' mystery appeared to be a 1909 Pierce-Arrow Model 40. Not a very strange mix-up as many makes of car were following the Mercedes radiator style prior to WWI. This making the identification of some cars extremely difficult as their designs are sometimes even more close to each other than is the case with modern cars.
Anyway, a few readers asked if any more photos were available and to our surprise Hugo Modderman produced two more of the same car, being the most charming picture above and a second one showing here. At the same time a little more history about the picture came up. It appears the car was transported for touring in Europe and the two (temporary) registrations are found to be from Liverpool and the one painted on the radiator is from Marseille. Imagine doing that trip alone in 1909-1910.... What can happen to you with this grand lady on your side and a sumptuous amount of spare tires. Look at the sidemounting. Counting two wrapped up ones with a snug-fit round luggage keeper in the center. Plus in view of the bad roads in France(?) or in England(?) yet another third one attached to the earlier ones. Our gutfeel and the architecture say that the picure above is still in France. Also the Liverpool plate is not yet attached. A second picture is showing a little bit more of the side and judging by the landscape and atmosphere most probably shot on the same location as the earlier photo.

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donderdag mei 19th, 2016

Onbekend

21 Mei 2016, 04:27

For people on the east coast of North America it was quite easy to ship a trusted car to Europe for a tour and then ship it home. People who lived much further away quite often bought a new European car and made arrangements to pick it up over there. They would do their tour and ship it back. I believe that has continued to today.
There was the interesting case of Arthur Clemes who in 1904 was in Paris and heard about the big auto show. He had an interest in the automobile and decided to take it in. He went and the result was that he came home with a brand new Wolseley. His car is still here in British Columbia.

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Bill Coates

20 Mei 2016, 21:04

[quote name="Gunnar G"]Does anyone know if they generally took their cars back when they went home? Or did they leave the cars in Europe?[/quote]
They definitely took them back home Gunnar; I've sent a phot from the same travel book showing the packing case that was used for outward and return journeys Bill

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Onbekend

20 Mei 2016, 18:14

To carry the conservations a bit further:
Europe was just a bit older than the US, the Romans left a tradition, EVEN SO, punch in "PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY" and everyone is sure to be shocked(I like wildlife myself, and low maintenance).

There is an OBVIOUS connection between M-B and P.A. that transcends the "following of style with many other makes". The most advanced products of Mercedes were the 1934-WW2 Silver Arrows, that name OBVIOUSLY "copied"(? ) from the three(3) SILVER ARROWS produced by P.A. in "1933".

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Onbekend

20 Mei 2016, 09:15

Does anyone know if they generally took their cars back when they went home? Or did they leave the cars in Europe?

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Onbekend

20 Mei 2016, 07:12

Traveling Europe before WW1 was a favorite pastime for many rich Americans. Again many of these shared their experiences in book form, e.g. John H. Baekeland in 1906 with “A Family Tour through Europe” or Russell Richardson in 1914 with 'Europe from a Motor Car”. Most famous of the travellers was probably William K. Vanderbilt jr. who wrote his experiences down in “Log of my Motor”. Several of these books can be downloaded through the site of Hathitrust. France and Italy were of course favourite destinations, but also Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Spain were regularly visited. Many of these American travelers, but not all (Vanderbilt bought his cars in Europe) took their American cars with them from home.

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Onbekend

20 Mei 2016, 06:44

In my vast papers I have old magazine clippings and photographs of people who toured to and even through India. A lady hooked up with the Maharaja of Baroda and they drove along to Calcutta. This trip was by an American lady who came alone with some staff and went on to Japan. She was an American and this was before 1910. There were some cabaret type of girls from America who toured via Egypt. They have a name, they danced, played jazz music, entertained, but they were not call girls. There is a name for them which I can't get right now. I need a secretary to sort my papers.Another lady came to India in a Locomobile. India was a destination indeed, 1000's came from Europe including a famous German film maker/techie who stayed on.

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Onbekend

20 Mei 2016, 03:35

If they were Americans, with any experience driving outside the big cities, they probably thought the roads of France and England were fabulous. Just last evening I was reading a 1913 English book on motorcars in which the author says "our worst cart tracks are better than most American roads." The large ground clearance with big wheels and tires were all products of the terrible American road system before WWI.

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Onbekend

20 Mei 2016, 00:16

Contrary to popular European opinion, Americans did travel back in the day. Pack a fine modern American car aboard the ocean liner, and do the summer tour of the "Old World". I had a great uncle that honeymooned in Spain, in this manner. The Pierce was a perfect choice for the gentleman in the pictures. I am sure it was a reliable companion on his voyage.

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Pierce Arrow Revisited

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