1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow

ierce-Arrow built fine luxury cars from 1901 through

1938—a remarkably long time in an era of great

attrition among auto manufacturers. The firm did

eventually succumb during the long years of the Great

Depression, but not before it produced a luxury car to

top all its previous efforts—the Silver Arrow.

Only five Silver Arrows were produced, and only three

examples survive today. This car, the first Silver Arrow to be

publicly auctioned since 1973, was sold for $2.2 million at the

January 2012 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Introduced at the New York Auto Show in 1933, the Silver

Arrow broke new ground with its forward-thinking styling.

Most notably, the Silver Arrow did away with running boards;

instead, its front fenders flowed straight back into a slab-sided

body, an arrangement other manufacturers would soon imitate

(though usually without hiding spare tires within said fenders,

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