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 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.^[7] 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." Industrial efficiency expert Frank Gilbreth, father of the authors of "Cheaper By The Dozen,"^[11] 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.

ILLUSTRATOR/ARTIST:

Edward Borein (1872–1945) was an American etcher and painter from California. His artwork depicted Spanish Colonial California, the Old West, and Mexico.

Borein was born in 1872 in San Leandro, California. His maternal grandfather was "one of the most famous horsemen in Alta California", and his father worked for the sheriff of Alameda County.

Borein grew up as a vaquero on the Jesus Maria Rancho (later known as Camp Cooke). He studied art in New York City, where he became friends with Will Rogers, and in Paris. He was primarily trained as an illustrator.

Borein began his career as a cowboy in the 1893. He worked on the land for two decades.

Borein became an etcher and a painter, and he opened a studio in El Paseo, Santa Barbara, California in 1921. He also taught etching at the Santa Barbara School of the Arts. His works of art were nostalgic artistic representations of the Western lifestyle. He depicted scenes of Spanish Colonial California, including Spanish missions. Another theme was the Old West, especially Native Americans and cowboys. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

Borein maintained his friendship with Will Rogers, and he became friends with Charles Marion Russell, an Old West painter from Montana. According to The Los Angeles Times, "The three formed a triumvirate who depicted with picture and legend the West before the days of the fences."

Borein married Lucile Maxwell in 1921. They resided in Santa Barbara, California.

Borein died of a heart attack on May 19, 1945 in Santa Barbara, at age 72. Some of his paintings and etchings are displayed in the Santa Barbara Historical Museum's Edward Borein Gallery. In 1971, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.