Kustom Photography of George Barris

Well after a year of working on this DVD I finally have them done and available on DVD
Many people don’t know George the photographer.. He was a HUGE part of documenting our history all over the states and brought it all to the magazines for the world to see…

The movie is a journey through 1000’s of pictures that george shot for the mags and his own use..these are all mounted on a 14×17 sheet all hand cut out by Shirley Barrisand taped on to the sheet.. She was a trooper!!
So Brett approached me a while back and asked if I wanted to team up and put out a DVD so I started going though all the pix and was overwhelmed with all the fantastic pix.. but how do you make this into a move?? So I built a rig that allows me to mount my camera and move it forward and back and i’m able to move the sheet left and right… So once I shot that we needed Content So Ana Marco (from that mag) set us up with Larry Watson.. so we had him come to Barris and the two sat and went through all the pix and told stories about a bunch of them..(can be a DVD on its own) After that we got a hold of Brad Masterson who is renting the space next to George’s shop on Atlantic and has it set up with a bunch of old Barris Memorabilia and Pix.. George shows us around the shop then we hops into Brads Chopped Chevy and we hit some of the locations the pix were shot at.. After that we meet up with Greg Sharp from the NHRA museum and he gives us even more detail on George the photographer…Along with pictures the are in the movie the DVD will have a slide show feature that will have pix in sections Kustoms, Hot Rod, Bikes etc..that you will be a to hit play and just check out the pictures.. on-top of that the whole thing is Scored Live by the Dynotones…

1928 Essex Sedan

By Brian Earnest

Larry Jarvis will never pretend to be one of those “lifelong car guys.” He just wasn’t one of those garage jockeys who grew up with grease under their fingernails and were rebuilding engines before they could legally drive.

It’s only really been about three years since Jarvis stuck his toe in the old car hobby waters and mustered up the courage to buy his first collector car. And even though he’s still a bit of a rookie these days, Jarvis has to laugh at just how naive and green he was when he broke the ice and took delivery on his 1928 Essex sedan — our latest selection for Old Cars Weekly’s “Car of the Week.”

1928 Essex Sedan side view

“I never even asked anybody if it ran, I didn’t even know if it had any engine in it,” he says with a chuckle. “I just knew that I wanted it.

“It was scheduled to be delivered to my house [on a] Monday, and I was out doing stuff during the day, and when I showed up it was in my driveway… There was no key in it, and I didn’t know how [the transport driver] got it off the truck …

“He had left a note and I called him. He told me he left the key under the side mat. And I said, ‘How did you get it off the truck?’ He said, ‘I just drove it off. It runs real nice.’

“I said, ‘It runs?’ I was so excited, I jumped right in and started it up.”

1928 Essex Sedan back view

Jarvis’ inexperience and enthusiasm probably made him ripe for being ripped off, but instead he figures he got a sweet deal on a car that has given him a whole new hobby to enjoy.

“It was always one of those things where I’d see [an old car] going down the road, and you think to yourself, ‘Wow,’ I’d really like to have one of those,” said Jarvis, who works as a jailhouse chaplain in Medina, Ohio. “Then when I got to the point where I turned 55, I thought, ‘If I don’t do this stuff now, I’m never going to do it …This is the first kind of car like this I’ve ever had. I didn’t know a whole lot about anything, but I just kind of picked the one that looked the best.”

Jarvis originally spotted the car for sale on eBay and decided to put in a bid and see what happened. Turns out the car was only a few hours away in Michigan, so he decided to take a ride north and see what it looked like before the auction ended. “When I saw it, I went, ‘Wow, I really want that car,’” Jarvis said. “It just so happened that my first bid was the only other bid (above the minimum bid) that they got, so I got the car … I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I knew it was something I wanted to work on and play with.”

1928 Essex front

Jarvis’ ’28 Essex is probably not your average “first collector car.” Certainly, not many hobby greenhorns pull the trigger on an orphan car more than eight decades old.

The four-door, five passenger sedan was one of six body styles offered in 1928 by the Essex Motor Company, which manufactured cars in Detroit from 1919 to 1932. In 1933, the company became part of Terraplane. There are no confirmed numbers on how many sedans like Jarvis’ were produced for 1928, but Essex cranked out 229,887 cars in all for that model year.

The styling of the “Super Six” series has been compared with the Hudsons of the era, and featured a narrow radiator with vertical lines and a winged man mascot instead of the old moto-meter. The cars had short windshield visors, cowl-mounted “saddle lights” and four-wheel Bendix brakes.

The six-cylinder inline engine produced a little over 17 hp and displaced 153.2 cubic inches. The floor shifter controlled a three-speed manual transmission. The 1928 cars rode on 110.5-inch wheelbases and 30 x 5.00 tires covered the wood-spoked wheels.

Jarvis likens the driving experience to “just a little less than driving a tank. I had it up to 55 [mph] this summer, and I was not comfortable. On less than perfectly smooth road, once I get it up to 50 it starts jumping, because of the thin tires. Somewhere between 40 and 45 [mph] is a nice cruising speed … It’s terrible to try to turn because we’re all so used to power steering and power brakes. But it’s interesting, because it’s so different.”

1928 Essex Sedan engine

Jarvis initially had to jump through some hoops to get a title problem straightened out — the VIN on the car didn’t match the title — but beyond that he says his troubles with his Essex have been few and far between. On the advice of a local mechanic, he had the engine out, even though he said it probably wasn’t necessary. He got help installing new rods, main bearing and valves, then wound up having to re-install the engine himself, with help from his 14-year-old son. “We tinkered and puttered and got all the parts on it and got it all back together, and cranked it and it wouldn’t start,” said Jarvis. “I asked another guy about it and he said, ‘Did you set the distributor in right?’ Turns out, when I put that in I had it cocked 90 degrees. So I took it out and changed that, and when I turned it over it started right up! Everybody was shocked, especially me.”

It didn’t take long for Jarvis to realize he was going to need some ingenuity to keep his Essex on the road. NAPA and Auto Zone don’t carry most of the parts you need to keep an 81-year-old vehicle running. “I’ve learned since that parts are REAL hard to come by. I’ve learned to make some parts,” he said. “Gaskets are real hard to come by … And I actually wound up taking a piece of copper piping and making some fittings for my exhaust manifold …

“Actually, I’ve learned it’s not as hard as you think to change stuff and fix stuff. You know, about the most I ever did before was change the oil. And I’ve found myself, this spring replacing one of my piston rods … The engines are very simple, but I think we get a fear of stuff that we don’t know. Then when we start working on it, it’s not that bad …

“My carburetor started acting up. I thought, ‘Oh no, my carburetor!’ Well, I think there’s only six pieces to the whole thing! I think anybody even considering it [buying an old car], ought to go ahead and just do it, because there is always somebody there to help.”

1928 Essex wheel

At this point, Jarvis says he has no plans to undertake a big restoration on the Essex. The car isn’t perfect, but its condition seems to be just right for its owner. “It really didn’t need anything,” he said. “There was almost no rust. On the bottom of the driver’s door a little bit of rust peeking through, but otherwise no rust. It’s in the kind of condition where I like it this way and I’m going to leave it this way ….

“When a bunch of kids see it and say, ‘Wow, look at this old car,’ I just say, ‘Jump in it and beep the horn! It’s got an ‘Ah-Ooga,’ horn, and it just lights up people’s faces.”

Jarvis said he has joined the Antique Automobile Club of America and the national Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club. Recently, he took his son to the AACA’s big fall Hershey meet, further immersing himself in his new hobby.

The chaplain is even trying to fend off the urge these days to get his Essex a companion.

“Well, I sure would like to have two in the garage,” he says with a laugh. “I keep looking … Of course, dreams are what keep you going, I think … If I do it, I’ll probably get another Essex.”

1928 ESSEX
Four-door sedan

Price new: $795
Weight: 2,660 lbs.

ENGINE
Inline Six. Cast iron block. B & S: 2-11/16 ½ x 4-1/4 in. Disp.: 153.2 cu. in. N.A.C.C. H.P.: 17.32. Main bearings: 3. Valve lifters: mechanical. Carb.: Stewart down draft.

CHASSIS
No series designation. W.B.: 110-1/4. O.L.: 156.5 in. Frt/Rear Tread: 56/56. Tires: 30 x 5.00.

TECHNICAL
Sliding gear transmission. Speeds: 3F/1R. Floor shift controls. Single plate clutch, cork inserts, running in oil. Shaft drive. Semi-floating rear axle. Overall ratio: 5.4:1. Mechanical brakes on four wheels. Wooden spoke wheels. Rim size: 20 x 4 in.

OPTIONS
Front bumper. Rear bumper. Leather upholstery.

HISTORICAL TIDBITS
— Introduced Jan. 1928.
— Essex made 229,887 shipments to dealers during the 1928 calendar year.
— The president of Essex was Roscoe B. Jackson.
— This was the greatest sales year for the Essex.

1934 Ford Sedan Delivery

By Brian Earnest

Cross-over vehicles have certainly been all the rage on the new car front in recent years. Every domestic car maker has been working overtime to come out with vehicles that seem to blur the lines between sedan, station wagon, SUV and truck. The “tweener” certainly seems like the car of the future.

But a look back through history shows that crossover vehicles that melded the best traits of cars and trucks and SUVs are certainly nothing new. Even back before World War II, Ford was offering such amalgamations it called “sedan deliveries.” The moniker is sometimes confused with the more popular “panel deliveries” of the period, but there was a major difference between the two: The sedan deliveries were basically sedans from the doors forward, while the panel deliveries were trucks all the way through.

1934 Ford Sedan Delivery flathead engine

Ford Sedan Delivery flathead engine” width=”450″ height=”265″ class=”size-full wp-image-463″ />[/caption]
The sedan deliveries were basically sedans converted into delivery cars. They featured Tudor bodies with blanked-out rear windows and a 36-inch-wide x 34-inch-high rear door. The spare tire was carried in a front fender well.

The sedan deliveries were available in both four-cylinder and flathead V-8 versions, and a total of 9,021 were built for the 1934 model year. It’s anybody’s guess how many are left, but they seem to be about as common these days as wolly mammoths. And it’s a fair bet you’ll never see a 1934 sedan delivery nicer than the near-perfect rig owned by Darrell and Lela Sago, of Festus, Mo.

1934 Ford Sedan Delivery engine

The Sagos’ sedan delivery might not necessarily be a car that turns heads when it makes a rare appearance at a show. Its authentic, but subdued, black-and-brown color scheme and panel car stying make it a car that’s easy to overlook. But for those who appreciate a finely restored vehicle, and a rare vehicle at that, this squeaky clean ’34 Ford is a true treasure.

“There really aren’t many of them around,” Darrell Sago said. “I know of about six of them around the country. “This one’s a national show winner. It’s been gone over pretty good. It’s pretty amazing, really.”

Sago owns a 1940 Ford and says he’s had “10 or 12” old Ford pickups over the years, but he took on a new challenge about seven years ago when he bought the panel delivery from man in California. The car was not finished, but a lot of the heavy lifting had already been done in its restoration by the time he purchased it.

1934 Ford Sedan Delivery rear interior

According to the Sagos, the car was brought back to showroom condition by noted restorer Don Thelan before they bought it. The restored sheet metal is in like-new condition. The interior has been upgraded with a Deluxe dash, cigar lighter, visors and wood grain on the dash and window moldings. Upholstery is all vinyl, and was done by a former member of Boyd Coddington’s shop. The wood in the cargo area floor was re-done by Doug Car of The Wood N Car in Signal Hill, Calif.

“I had to re-do the fenders on it,” Darrell said. “Now, it is straight as an arrow, I’ll tell you. There’s no putty or anything on it. Not a wrinkle on it. It’s 100 percent, and underneath it’s a shiny as it is on top. It’s so shiny underneath that it looks like its powdercoated.”

1934 Ford Sedan Delivery interior

The Model 46 V-8 sedan deliveries had only mild revisions to distinguish them from previous years. The grille was changed slightly and had fewer vertical bars. The Ford script in a blue oval with a V-8 logo under it was located on the side of the hood. The engine received a new fuel induction system with counter-balanced cast alloy steel crankshafts, open skirt pistons, waterline thermostats, improved fuel pump and unitized valve assemblies. The cargo area was 59 inches long and 45 ¾ inches wide with insulating board side panels. There was a single bucket seat, one sun visor and a three-speed floor shifted manual transmission. Deluxe models had pinstriping, cowl lights, twin horns and two tail lamps.

Everything is present and accounted for on the Sagos’ Ford – and in perfect working order.

“We had to re-do the engine — actually, I had to do it twice, because it wasn’t done right the first time … I’ve had to change probably 99 percent of all nuts and screws and screws on it. It’s got new tires on it, new battery … I did a lot of work on it, really.”

“The running gear underneath it, transmission and rear, that’s the same as on the car … It’s small, it’s not very big. I’ve run into a lot of problems with it, but I think I’ve fixed everything.”

1934 Ford Sedan Delivery side view

That work has been noticed in recent years at two noteworthy shows. In 2005, the car received 954 points of a possible 1,000 at a show in Keystone, Col. “It had 46 points deducted, and 20 of those were for hydraulic brakes, which are for safety,” Sago said. “Then it won the Dearborn Award in 2008,” when it received a score of 967, including another 20-point deduction for the brakes.

But the beautiful Ford’s appearances in public are few and far between these days, as are its trips out of the Sagos’ driveway. “It’s so nice, I just don’t want to drive the dang thing,” Darrell said.

It might be a bit of an unlikely show pony, given that it was born to be a working vehicle, but the Sagos’ ’34 sedan delivery is rare, meticulously restored, and pretty darn cool.

And it’s this week’s Old Cars Weekly “Car of the Week.”

ENGINES:
L-head four: Bore & stroke: 3 7/8 x 4 ¼. Displacement: 200.5 cid. Compression ration: 4.60:1. HP: 50 at 2800 rpm. Carburetor: Zenith single-barrel updraft.

L-head V-8: Bore & stroke: 3 1/16 x 3 ¾: Displacement: 221 cid. Compression ratio: 6.33:1. HP: 85 at 3800 rpm. Carburetor: Detroit Lubricator or Stromberg two-barrel downdraft.

CHASSIS:
Wheelbase: 112 inches. Length: 176 inches. Tires: 5.50 x 17.

OPTIONS:
Low-compression cylinder head. Dual windshield wipers. Spare tire. Outside rearview mirror. Special paint.

PRODUCTION:
Four-cylinder
Model No. Body & Seating MSRP Weight Production total
68 Sedan Delivery $335 1,688 lbs. Note 1

V-8
Model No. Body & Seating MSRP Weight Production total
68 Sedan Delivery $360 1,798 lbs. Note 1

Note 1: Combined production of four-cylinder and V-8 sedan deliveries was 9,021.

1966 Olds 4-4-2

BRIAN EARNEST

It might not have been the dumbest thing he’s ever done, but Paul Tyler figures it was on the short list.

For some reason — temporary insanity being the most plausible excuse — the Tampa, Fla., resident sold his beloved 1966 Oldsmobile 4-4-2. He had dreamed about owning such a car from the moment he saw a picture of one for the first time, enjoyed every minute of the 10 years he had the car, and to this day isn’t sure what possessed him to sell it to an acquaintance back in 1976.

“I don’t know why I did it. I kicked myself 1,000 times,” says Tyler, in his friendly southern drawl. “I guess I thought I needed to get it out of the garage.”

But after 10 years of regret and penance, the Car Hobby Gods apparently thought Tyler had suffered enough, and fate gave him a second chance – not just a second chance at a nice 1966 4-4-2, but a chance to buy back the same car he had once owned.

Olds 442 sideview

“I had not seen the fella (who bought it) in some time, and a mutual friend said to me, ‘I know you wished you hadn’t sold that car … Well, that fella is out of work and I saw him and he said he needed money. I bet you could buy it back.”

Sure enough, the car’s owner was willing to sell it back, but he too, was destined to have seller’s regret. “He said, ‘I’ll sell it to you with one stipulation: That if you ever decide to sell it again, you have to give me an option to buy it back from you!’ I told him not to worry, the car was going into my will and will be a part of my estate, and that’s the way it’s going to go. I sold it one time, and that’s all. I won’t do it again.”

“I drove out of the dealership for $2,929, sold it for $800 10 years later, then 10 years later bought it back from him, when it was 20 years old, for $4,000,” he adds with a laugh. “He had repainted it the original color while he had it, and I figured it wasn’t a bad deal because I couldn’t have had it painted and insured for $3,200. It worked out pretty good.”

Tyler’s love affair with his bronze ’66 is sort of one of those quintessential matches made in car heaven. He was smitten with the new 1966 4-4-2s immediately, ordered his car before the new models were even available, and never regretted his purchase for a minute — even 43 years later. He took delivery from Brandenburg Chevrolet in Beattyville, Kent., where he lived, in late November of 1965. The car started life as a Cutlass Holiday coupe, but the 4-4-2 package added a host of goodies that turned the car into one of the best all-around muscle cars of the era.

Oldsmobile 442 sideview

When it was restyled for 1966, the Oldsmobile Cutlass F-85 took on a more massive, creased-edge look. The 4-4-2 high-performance option package included seat belts, an instrument panel with a padded dashboard, a windshield washer system, two-speed windshield wipers, a left-hand manual outside rear view mirror, foam padded seat cushions, carpeting on the floor front and rear, chrome roof bow moldings, a deluxe steering wheel, front bucket or custom seats, deluxe armrests, a courtesy lamp package, 7.35 x 14 tires and seat upholstery in either all vinyl or cloth.

Under the hood of the 4-4-2 model, the 400-cid V-8 had been tweaked by another five horsepower (to 350 hp) thanks to a slight increase in compression ratio. Late in the model year, the 4-4-2 received another adrenalin injection (to 360 hp) with the one-year-only triple two-barrel carburetor setup. From the standpoints of both performance and rarity, the 1966 Olds Cutlass 4-4-2 equipped with the 360-hp factory Tri-Power installation is the most desirable example of these production years to a real muscle-car enthusiast.

Car Life magazine took one of the Tri-Power screamers from 0-to-60 mph in a mere 6.3 seconds and called it the “civilized supercar.” Quarter-mile runs were made in as little as 14.8 seconds with a terminal speed of 97 miles per hour. Car and Driver magazine test drove a 1965 Olds 4-4-2 convertible with a four-speed manual gearbox and a 3.55:1 axle in May 1965. Its 0-to-60 time was recorded as 5.5 seconds and the quarter-mile run took 15.0 seconds at 98 mph.

Tyler never tried to set any speed records in his car, using instead it as daily transportation for a decade.

“I kept the car for 10 years and sold, and 10 years later I bought it back,” Tyler said. “During that time he only put about 10,000 miles on it — something like that. When I got it back it was exactly like it was when I sold it to him, except that he had changed the (wire) wheels on it and put on some different (mag) wheels that were a factory option. When I bought it back from him, he said, ‘Your original wheels and hubcaps are in the trunk,’ so everything is pretty much original on it. The only other thing that’s been changed is the carburetor. The original carburetors had a diaphragm in them, and I had some problems with that, so I replaced the carburetor.

Oldsmobille 442 window sticker

The engine has been rebuilt once. The car has about 117,000 miles on it, and about 11,000 since it was rebuilt.”

Tyler’s other nod to non-originality was a more mileage friendly rear end. “It came with the 390 differential, and I ran it that way for three or four years,” he recalled. “And that 390 was just eating me up with gas.”

These days, Tyler doesn’t drive his 4-4-2 as much as he used to, but he still enjoys the style, power and ride that made him choose the Olds over more popular muscle cars back in ’65. “I had friends that and Chevelle 396s, Super Sports, and had a very close friend that had a ’66 GTO, and I always felt that interior-wise, the 4-4-2 was much nicer. It just had a nicer, you might say more luxurious, look. The ride I thought was better, and I firmly believed the handling of the 4-4-2 was the best of any of them.”

“As far as I can remember, they were the only cars that had the sway bar in the rear directly from the factory …I lived up the Appalachian country in Kentucky, and drove on roads that went up and down and round and round. That handling was a big selling point to me at the time. All the automotive magazines were talking about the handling because of the sway bar in the rear.”

It’s clear from the way Tyler talks about the car that he hasn’t lost any affection for it, even though it’s no longer a daily driver and is no longer required to make tracks up and down the Kentucky high country.

“There is just something about it,” he said. “It’s become a part of the family. I’ve just always liked the design of the car and have always thought it was one of the nicest-looking cars that I had ever seen, and still have ever seen.

“Nowadays some people that look at it think. well, it doesn’t have an automatic, or doesn’t have power steering or power brakes, and of course doesn’t have air conditioning, so it has some drawbacks for Florida. But I’ve had several people try to buy it and lots of people ask for it, but I always tell them no, it’s not going to be for sale.

“I feel very lucky. I know I’m extremely lucky to have gotten it back.”

Oldsmobile 442 interior

1966 OLDS 4-4-2 SPEC’S

ENGINES
BASE V-8: Overhead valves. Cast-iron block. Bore and stroke: 4.00 x 3.975 inches. Displacement: 400.0 cid. Compression ratio: 10.50:1. Brake hp: 350 at 4400 rpm. Taxable hp: 51.20. Torque: 440 at 3600. Hydraulic valve lifters. Five main bearings. Carburetor: Rochester 4MV four-barrel. Engine code: V.
OPTIONAL V-8: Overhead valves. Cast-iron block. Bore and stroke: 4.00 x 3.975 inches. Displacement: 400.0 cid. Compression ratio: 10.50:1. Brake hp: 360 at 5000 rpm. Taxable hp: 51.20. Torque: 440 at 3600. Hydraulic valve lifters. Five main bearings. Carburetion: Three Rochester two-barrel. Engine code: V. (NOTE: This rare engine was installed in the foillowing cars with the 4-4-2 package:157 standard F-85s, 178 Deluxe F-85 s, 383 Cutlass coupes, 1,171 Cutlass hardtops and 240 Cutlass c onvertibles.)

OPTIONS
Power brakes ($41). Power steering ($94). Air conditioning ($343). Tinted windows ($30). Power seat ($69). Head rests ($52). Power trunk ($12). Floor mats ($7). Vinyl roof ($74). Sports console ($68). Cruise control ($41). Tilt steering column ($41). Wire wheel discs ($61). Tachometer ($52). Electric clock ($15). Radio ($64). Power antenna ($29). Rear radio speaker ($15). AM/FM radio ($147). Power door locks ($68). Rear defroster ($21). 4-4-2 package fror F-85 and Cutlass two-door models ($152). Automatic transmission ($230). Four-speed manual transmission with Hurst shifter ($184). Close-ratio four-speed manual transmission with floor shift ($184). Positive traction rear axle ($46). Heavy-duty clutch ($5).

Series Body/Style Body Type Factory Shipping Production
Number Number & Seating Price Weight Total
F-85 + 4-4-2 — SERIES 3400 — V-8
34 07 2d Coupe-6P $2,570 3,153 lbs. 647
F-85 DELUXE + 4-4-2 — SERIES 3600 — V-8
36 17 2d Coupe-6P $2,735 3,196 lbs. 1,217
CUTLASS + 4-4-2 — SERIES 3800 — V-8
38 07 2d Coupe-6P $2,785 3,219 lbs. 3,787
38 17 2d HT-6P $2,922 3,243 lbs. 13,493
38 67 2d Conv-6P $3,117 3,349 lbs. 2,853
NOTE 1: Prices include basic cost of 4-4-2 package.
NOTE 2: Base F-85 production included 103 with three-speed, 456 with four-speed and 88 with automatic transmission.
NOTE 3: Deluxe F-85 production included 88 with three-speed, 798 with four-speed and 331 with automatic transmission.
NOTE 4: Cutlass coupe production includes 221 with three-speed, 2,422 with four-speed and 1,144 with automatic transmission.
NOTE 5: Cutlass hardtop production includes 297 with three-speed, 8,025 with four-speed and 5,171 with automatic transmission.
NOTE 6: Cutlass convertible production includes 62 with three-speed, 1,448 with four-speed and 1,343 with automatic transmission.

COLLECTOR PRICING
1966 Oldmobile 4-4-2
Two-door sedan
No. 1 Condition: $27,000
No. 2: $18,900
No. 3: $12,150
No. 4: $5,400

Two-door hardtop
No. 1 Condition: $31,000
No. 2: $21,700
No. 3: $13,950
No. 4: $6,200

Two-door convertible
No. 1 Condition: $39,000
No. 2: $27,300
No. 3: $17,550
No. 4: $7,800

1932 Pierce Arrow Model 54

Somehow, Pierce-Arrow managed to lose $3 million in 1932, and the following year the company was sold to a new group of investors. Six years later, in the summer of 1938, the revered automaker went belly-up. But it seems hard to imagine that the company could have been struggling so mightily in the 1930s, even with the Depression gripping the country, when it was producing vehicles as nice as Joe Cyr’s 1932 Model 54 coupe.

Cyr was introduced to the refined and stately Pierce-Arrow at a very young age when his father carted the family around in a 1932 P-A convertible. “That car was basically the same thing as the one I have, except it was a convertible,” noted Cyr, a resident of Old Town, Maine. “He used it go on his honeymoon, and they only had four flat tires!

“We kept it for some time, and I don’t remember when it was let go, probably in the late-40s … I wanted a Pierce-Arrow, and I was looking for a convertible, but convertibles were probably out of my price range. When I saw this one, I went down and drove it and I really liked it.”

Joe Cyr’s 1932 Model 54 coupe

That purchase occurred back in the mid-1980s, and Cyr has had to do very little to his stunning two-seat closed car since then. He hasn’t had it out on the road much in the last few years, instead spending most of his free time behind the wheel of one of his Corvairs, Corvettes or his 1922 Paige, but Cyr admits he is getting the itch to drive the Pierce-Arrow again soon.
“The little that I have driven it on the road, it naturally gets quite a bit of reaction,” he said. “There is not too many of those things sitting around here — a little rural town of 8,000 [people].”

Pierce Arrow front view

The big news for Pierce-Arrow in 1932 was the addition of two new 12-cylinder models to its menu — the Model 51 and 53. The carryover Model 54 lineup continued to use the 366-cubic inch straight eight that produced 125 hp. The cars also featured front and rear semi-elliptic leaf springs and four-wheel mechanical drum brakes. A three-speed synchromesh transmission was standard, as was “freewheeling” and adjustable “fingertip” hydraulic Delco shocks that could be controlled by a switch on the dash.

Pierce Arrow back view

The 137-inch-wheelbase lineup included a convertible coupe roadster, five-passenger touring car, phaeton, Brougham, five-passenger sedan, club sedan, club Berlinetta, convertible sedan and Cyr’s car, a rumbleseat coupe. Three more Series 54 cars rode on a longer 142-inch wheelbase: a seven-passenger tourer, seven-passenger sedan and a limousine.

New body styling for the 1932 model year showed off a rounded roofline and V-shaped radiator shell. New sheet metal made the cars appear longer and sleeker than ever before.

Cyr’s coupe is really a small car stretched out on a big-car frame. It features a cozy two-person cockpit flanked by ample running boards that carry spare tires on both sides. The familiar “Archer” hood ornament adorns the front of the car, while a fold-down luggage rack is anchored to the rear, behind the rumbleseat. Out back is also a unique asymmetrical tail lamp arrangement that has all three round lights mounted horizontally to the driver’s side on a curved stem.

Pierce Arrow hood ornament

“It’s a big, heavy car,” Cyr said. “You know it when you go to stop. I don’t know what it weighs, to be honest … It rides pretty good, because it has a variable suspension — you can adjust the shocks. It’s got the straight eight and it has pretty good pickup, pretty good power.

“I don’t know if it’s ever been totally restored. I’m not smart enough to tell. The underneath looks to be pretty much original, and I think it might have been repainted probably once. It’s still got the good woodwork inside, and there’s very little corrosion on it. It wasn’t somebody’s main car, that’s for sure.”

Pierce Arrow interior

Apparently, there weren’t enough buyers making the Model 54s their secondary cars, either. Financial hemorrhaging forced Studebaker, which had controlling stock interest in Pierce-Arrow, to sell out to a group in Buffalo, N.Y. The move brought temporary dividends to car lovers in 1933 when the company was able to unveil the legendary Silver Arrow — one of the great automotive designs of any era. The company was on borrowed time, however, and eventually folded in ’38, leaving behind a long history of fabulous automobiles, including Cyr’s beautiful ’32 coupe, a worthy “Car of the Week.”

COLLECTIBILITY
Prewar automobiles, especially the Classics, still have a loyal following within the old car hobby. But based on the usual lineup of muscle cars, 1950s convertibles and European exotics at collector vehicle auctions you’d think most of these cars that were built before the 1940s have become out-of-sight, out-of-mind. The majority of the buying and selling of these early beauties has become a matter of private transaction or the few dealers of these vintage cars selling to their regular clientele. The other aspect effecting value of these early cars is their low survival rate — and, in most cases, this small number is based on a limited production number to begin withr. The value of most of these early cars is forged when the car’s seller and buyer come to some equitable agreement, which is a different sum in every deal.

Pierce Arrow dash

COLLECTOR VALUES
1932 Model 54
8-cyl., 125 hp, 137? wb
Condition 6 5 4 3 2 1
Conv Cpe Rds 2,650 14,400 28,800 48,000 76,000 96,000
5P Tr 2,750 14,100 28,200 57,000 74,000 94,000
Phae 3,050 14,400 28,800 48,000 76,000 96,000
Brgm 3,050 7,350 14,700 24,500 34,300 49,000
Cpe 2,485 8,250 16,500 27,500 38,500 55,000
5P Sed 2,485 7,200 14,400 24,000 33,600 48,000
Clb Sed 2,650 7,350 14,700 24,500 34,300 49,000
Clb Berl 2,850 7,500 15,000 25,000 35,000 50,000
Con Sed 2,950 14,400 28,800 48,000 76,000 96,000
Model 54 — 8-cyl., 125 hp, 142? wb
7P Tr 2,850 15,000 30,000 50,000 80,000 100,000
7P Sed 2,750 7,500 15,000 25,000 35,000 50,000
Limo 2,950 8,250 16,500 27,500 38,500 55,000

Pierce Arrow side view