Look at the great signage on the side of this 1928 Pierce-Arrow truck! Yes, truck–before I researched this article I knew of Pierce-Arrow as a manufacturer of luxury cars, but I had no idea they made trucks as well. You can find the sale listing here at Hemmings. The truck is listed for a hefty $50,000 — but where have you ever seen another one? As the side of the truck states, it’s located in Cleveland, Ohio — and there’s a story behind that, no doubt.
The Buffalo Transportation/Pierce-Arrow Museum is the home of Pierce-Arrow information (and a cool looking building; it used to be a Mack truck dealership) and after doing some research in their online information archives, I found out that 1928 was a transformative year for Pierce-Arrow; for one thing the company was purchased by Studebaker. There were major styling changes on their car lines with some of the fairing of headlights into fenders. They even produced one of the first purpose-built RV’s. As it turns out, this may be one of the Fleet Arrow trucks, which were designed for delivery and transportation purposes and originally were capable of 49 miles per hour (!) Slightly over 500 Fleet Arrows were produced.
As it turns out, there was some interesting history about the Jerry Vencl Corlett Moving Company as well. You can read the long version here, but in short the company existed independently until 2014, and in fact their Facebook page with pictures of this truck in display use is still active.
This is the truck in the Cleveland Polish Constitution Day parade in 2010. I should note here that although we know very, very little about the truck’s current mechanical state, it is stated in the ad that it’s been fitted with a replacement Chevrolet engine. So does this great piece of history move you to spending some money on it?
Ahhhhhhhhh-no-
Does have that one of a kind appeal tho.
Pierce also made bird cages and bicycles.
These were the most economical to use!
And practical too!
…And this guy’s trying hard to make monkeys out of us. The only thing we
know is that the outside of the truck has
been restored and you get a Chevy engine
with that. Not much info for your hard earned cash. I recall the poor guy who
bought a ’47 Ford pickup that had been
used as an advertising prop for the Lakeland Ledger, a large local newspaper
that I delivered for from 1987-2003. Like
this truck, the outside of the truck looked
great. The ice blue metallic paint job
sparkled in the afternoon sun. The billet
grille and wheels knocked your eyes out
from across the street. The 305 Chevy
V-8 and tranny both worked as they should. What the company never told
the poor bastard that plunked down $25K
to buy the truck was that it was unsafe to
drive due to the corners that were cut during the build process. Look behind those cool tinted windows, and you saw a
dashboard empty of gauges, wiring hanging everywhere, and only 2-wheel
brakes on the rear to stop it. In order to
make the truck drivable, that poor fella
had to spend another 30K to have the
truck taken apart and reassembled the
right way. This guy’s hiding something
and hopefully no one out there falls for
it. Sorry pal, but you’re gonna have to
show me your truck’s worth 50K before
I’d drop the hammer.
Pierce trucks were used by the British Army during the Great War.
No Pierce engine. No value. Move on.
I wouldn’t say “NO” value, but I’d slide the decimal point one space left.
Neat but seems way overpriced even though it is ancient. Way too large for me to consider even it I had a use for it. Hope if finds a good home.
50 grand for a none original ! , they should be asking resto cost plus 10%
Thanks for posting this article about my truck. Anyone who would like to learn more is free to call me at my office. 330-633-3633. Ask for Jim.