1922 Pierce-Arrow Model 38 Opera Coupé
Chassis no. 339326

Although Cadillac has for many years carried the prestige banner in the USA, it was not always so. Aside from American Rolls-Royce, the 'three P's' - Packard, Peerless and Pierce-Arrow - were always considered to represent the very best quality that the American industry could offer. Pierce's first automobile - the single-cylinder Motorette – appeared around 1901 followed by two-cylinder Arrow and four-cylinder Great Arrow models in 1904. At around this time it was decided to concentrate on making larger, more luxurious automobiles for the market's upper echelons. Pierce-Arrow's most famous feature, the headlights cowled into the front wings, was designed in-house in 1913, and this advanced feature would characterise all models until the end of production in 1938. The firm pioneered the extensive use of aluminium alloy, power-assisted braking, and hydraulic tappets, yet despite this willingness to embrace new technology remained wedded to traditional styling and an exclusively six-cylinder range. With its main rivals increasingly offering multi-cylinder models, Pierce-Arrow saw its sales decline throughout the 1920s.

Dating from Pierce-Arrow's heyday, this Model 38 is offered from an extensive private collection in the Republic of Ireland having been purchased at Hershey in the early 1990s 'in excellent and completely original condition'. Described by the vendor as still in very good/excellent condition, the car is offered with RoI registration papers.