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THE ARROW 1913 MOTORCYCLE MOTORBIKE - SIMILAR TO INDIAN SCOUT? EARLY COLOR ADVERTISING ITEM REMADE FOR A POSTERPRINT ITEM. VERY COOL AND RETRO

PLEASE SEE PHOTO FOR DETAILS AND CONDITION OF THIS NEW POSTER

SIZE OF POSTER PRINT - 12 X 18 INCHES

DATE OF ORIGINAL PRINT, POSTER OR ADVERT - 1913

At PosterPrint Shop we look for rare & unusual ITEMS OF commercial graphics from throughout the world.

The PosterPrints are printed on high quality 48 # acid free PREMIUM GLOSSY PHOTO PAPER (to insure high depth ink holding and wrinkle free product)

Most of the PosterPrints have APPROX 1/4" border MARGINS for framing, to use in framing without matting.

MOST POSTERPRINTS HAVE IMAGE SIZE OF 11.5 X 17.5.

As decorative art these PosterPrints give you - the buyer - an opportunity to purchase and enjoy fine graphics (which in most cases are rare in original form) in a size and price range to fit most all.

As graphic collectors ourselves, we take great pride in doing the best job we can to preserve and extend the wonderful historic graphics of the past.

Should you have any questions please feel free to email us and we will do our best to clarify.

We use USPS.

WE ship items DAILY.

We ship in custom made extra thick ROUND TUBES..... WE SHIP POSTERPRINTS ROLLED + PROTECTED BY PLASTIC BAG

For multiple purchases please wait for our invoice... THANKS.

We pride ourselves on quality product, service and shipping.

POSTERPRINTARTSHOP

DESCRIPTION OF ITEM: additional information:

The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was an American motor vehicle manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, which was active from 1901 to 1938. Although best known for its expensive luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manufactured commercial trucks, fire trucks, boats, camp trailers, motorcycles, and bicycles.

The forerunner of Pierce-Arrow was established in 1865 as Heinz, Pierce and Munschauer. The company was best known for its household items, especially its delicate, gilded birdcages. In 1872, George Norman Pierce (1846–1910) bought out the other two principals of the company, changed the name to the George N. Pierce Company, and in 1896 added bicycles to the product line. The company failed in its attempt to build a steam-powered car in 1900 under license from Overman, but by 1901, had built its first single-cylinder, two-speed, no-reverse Motorette. In 1903, it produced a two-cylinder car, the Arrow.

In 1904, Pierce decided to concentrate on making a larger, more luxurious car for the upscale market, the Great Arrow. This became the company's most successful product. The solidly built, four-cylinder car won the Glidden Tour in 1905, an endurance run to determine and celebrate the most reliable car. Thirty-three cars entered the 350-mile race from New York City to Bretton Woods, New Hampshire; the race was won by Percy Pierce in a Great Arrow.

The noted industrial architect Albert Kahn designed the Pierce Arrow Factory Complex at Elmwood Avenue and Great Arrow Avenue in about 1906. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. George Pierce sold all rights in the company in 1907, and he died three years later. In 1908, Pierce Motor Company was renamed as the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company.

In 1909, U.S. President William Howard Taft ordered two Pierce-Arrows (and two White Model M Tourers) to be used for state occasions, the first official cars of the White House.

The Pierce-Arrow's engine displacement started at 453 cu in (7.4 L), continuing to a massive 11.7 L (714.0 cu in) and was increased later to 5 inch bore and 7 inch stroke for 13.52 L (825.0 cu in), at the time making it by far the largest Otto engine offered in any production automobile in the world. In 1910, Pierce dropped its other 4-cylinder models and focused exclusively on 6-cylinder cars until 1929. The model 6-36, 6-48, and 6-66 continued for the next decade. Starting in 1918, Pierce-Arrow adopted a four-valve per cylinder T-head inline-six engine (Dual Valve Six) and three spark plugs per cylinder, one of the few, if only, multi-valve flathead design engines ever made. The company did not introduce an 8-cylinder engine until the 1929 Model 126, and a V-12 engine was offered in 1931 until the company closed in 1938.

In 1910, George Pierce died. In 1912, Herbert M. Dawley (later a Broadway actor-director) joined Pierce-Arrow, and he designed almost every model until 1938. Until 1914, Pierce-Arrow also made a line of motorcycles, including the Pierce Four.

In 1914, Pierce-Arrow adopted its most enduring styling hallmark when its headlights were moved from a traditional placement at the radiator's sides, into flared housings molded into the front fenders of the car. This gave the car an immediately visible distinction in front or side views. At night, the car appeared to have a wider stance. Pierce patented this placement, which endured until the final model of 1938, although Pierce always offered customers the option of conventional headlamps; only a minority ordered this option.

The Pierce-Arrow was a status symbol, owned by many Hollywood stars and tycoons, and a favorite was the Pierce-Arrow Town Car. Most of the royalty of the world had at least one Pierce-Arrow in its collection. Some have described Pierce and two of its rivals among American luxury cars, Peerless and Packard, as the "Three P's of Motordom."^[11] Industrial efficiency expert Frank Gilbreth, father of the authors of "Cheaper By The Dozen," extolled the virtues of Pierce-Arrow, in both quality and in its ability to safely transport his large family. Its wheelbase was 12 ft 3 in (3.73 m). The transmission was a four speed manual in 1919. Actor Sessue Hayakawa (famed for his role in Bridge on the River Kwai) drove a custom-ordered gold-plated Pierce-Arrow. A restored 1919 Pierce-Arrow is on display at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library. An open-bodied Pierce-Arrow carried Woodrow Wilson and Warren G. Harding to Harding's 1921 inauguration, and one was used prominently in the 1950 movie Cheaper by the Dozen.

Pierce-Arrow advertisements were artistic and understated. Unusual for car advertising, the image of the car was in the background rather than the foreground of the picture. Usually, only part of the car was visible. The Pierce-Arrow was typically depicted in elegant and fashionable settings. Some advertisements featured the car in places a car would not normally go, such as the West and other rural settings, a testament to the car's ruggedness and quality.

Because of the immense size of most models, several second-hand Pierce-Arrow cars were bought by fire departments, stripped down to the chassis and engine, the wheelbase lengthened, and built back into fire engines. Some of these fire engines were in service for up to 20 years.

In 1907, the Pierce Cycle Company was formed, separating the bicycle business from the automobile business. Percy Pierce, son of George Pierce, was the company’s president. In 1909, the first Pierce motorcycle was introduced. At $325, the 4-cylinder motorcycle was a costly alternative to the other motorcycles of the time. A one-cylinder version was added in 1910. Production continued through 1913. The Pierce Cycle Company went bankrupt in 1914.

George N. Pierce founded the Geo. N. Pierce Company, later to become the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company, and he had a son, Percival Pieronnet Pierce. Percy, as he was known, enjoyed driving Pierce automobiles in competitions, and was very successful in both the United States and Europe in the early 1900’s. He was born February 22, 1878, so he was a young participant in what were basically endurance tests of the automobiles. He married Lallie Jo Moody, and they had one child, Jeannette Pierce, in 1909. He died August 28, 1940, at the age of 62, while his wife lived to be 88 years old, passing away in 1971.

By 1907, the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company had moved into a new facility on Elmwood in Buffalo, New York. This meant the old production facility on Hanover and Prime Streets in that town was no longer producing automobiles, and Percy wanted to not only continue building bicycles, but also start manufacturing motorcycles. Percy was appointed head of the Pierce Cycle Company, shares of stock issued and sold, and developmental work began.

At the time, some European manufacturers were building automobiles and motorcycles more advanced than what was being produced in the United States. Following a Pierce factory tradition, Percy went to Europe to steal, that is, investigate, the latest in motorcycle technology. It was not the first time that inspiration for a Pierce named vehicle was sought overseas. Acquiring a 1908 FN four cylinder motorcycle was the first step in the design of the Pierce Four, a high end motorcycle which would be sold along with a Pierce Single.

Sales of the Pierce Four began in 1909, and it was a high quality bike. It was not only the first four cylinder motorcycle built in the United States, but also the first shaft drive motorcycle this side of the pond. Power was a T-head engine which displaced about 42 cubic inches. The engine was a structural member of the frame, the remainder of the frame consisting of tubes which were cleverly used as oil and gasoline storage and to hide control cables.

It was an expensive bike, and it was rumored that the sale price was less than the cost at the factory to build it. While Percy may have been a great competition driver, apparently his business sense was somewhat lacking, and The Pierce Cycle Company went out of business in 1913.

Soon after, the Pierce bicycle business and name was sold, and production of those two wheelers moved to Angola, New York.