Some listings are straightforward. This one definitely isn’t. Up for auction on eBay is what’s described as a 1931 Pierce-Arrow land speed race car, currently located in St. Petersburg, Florida, and it reads more like a piece of lost history than a typical project car. Between its unusual construction, unclear origins, and ties to early speed racing culture, this is the kind of thing that makes you stop and read every line twice.
According to the seller, the car is built on a 1930 Pierce-Arrow chassis with a straight-eight engine and a four-speed transmission. From there, things get unusual fast. The body is said to use an aviation-style “bird cage” structure covered with screen and an early plastic body—something the seller claims predates other attempts at plastic-bodied cars by years.
The design leans heavily into aircraft influence. The listing notes features like aluminum body spars, aircraft-style rivets, and even specialized gauges including a 300 mph speedometer, an altimeter, and a compass. The cockpit was reportedly repositioned near the rear axle, with controls extended to match, suggesting a focus on aerodynamics and weight distribution.
There’s also a lot of creativity baked into the details. The seller describes a custom setup that translates engine RPM into aircraft-style tachometer readings, along with unique door mechanisms and hinges. At some point around 2013, parts of the body were covered in aluminum foil to better highlight the shape, which led to its nickname—the “Baked Potato.”
Not everything is complete. The listing mentions missing components including the radiator, carburetors, and hood sides, which were originally designed to open outward for cooling between speed runs. That detail alone hints at how this car may have been intended to function during timed runs, where quick turnaround was critical.
The history side is where things really get interesting—and a bit speculative. The current owner believes there are clues pointing to Preston Tucker possibly being involved in its creation, though they openly offer a reward for anyone who can prove its origins. There are also references to early Daytona and Ormond Beach speed events, and even a note about a radical car that reportedly broke down during a run in 1931.
The car’s story includes time spent abandoned in a hotel basement before being rediscovered decades later and eventually featured on American Pickers in 2012. It also appeared at a 2013 event where it received an award for “American Racing Spirit,” according to the listing.
This isn’t a typical restoration project. It’s more of a puzzle—part engineering experiment, part racing artifact, and part mystery. Whether someone approaches it as a preservation piece, a research project, or something else entirely, it’s clearly not something you come across often.
Holy schnikies! If this weren’t so FASCINATING I’d say leave it in the tin ferl, and stick a fork in it, ’cause she’s done!
I remember that episode of Pickers. I recall them coming away with two other exotic specials that did get rebuilt or resold (maybe one to Wayne Carini, who had a similar open car on one of his episodes).
Someone needs passion AND money for this…and I’m short on both…
Rabbit hole discovers that they were Arnolt Bristols, a coupe and a roadster. Though I may have been chasing the white rabbit on a tangent…
Wrong; found the Pickers episode, and it was a Nash Healey coupe. Similar generation.
Dang that rabbit.
Wascally wabbit
Here are my thoughts on this one:
?????????????????????????????????????????????????
This will be interesting auction to watch, if this car has a known racing history it might very well attract interest from people with the interest and capabilities to “restore” it. The dynamics are completely different than typical enthusiast cars and rightfully so.
Steve R
We can only hope someone brings this back to life. Fascinating bit of history!
Definitely someone will buy it for the vin numbers 🤪😉👀
Seriously…
A metal works shop could create items needed to get it back in shape.
Reminds me of some of my pinewood derby cars that failed to win
Reward offer as well 💰 Thanks for the interesting feature Elizabeth. Used to really enjoy that American Pickers show… 300mph speedo is wild.
Did anyone mention Jay Leno? This is a car he would buy and get rebuilt with the means to do it. Would love his input on this.
“They’re only original once” And that was a long time ago. Is this what some would call patina? Oh, wait, where’s the barn dust? Gotta have barn dust. That makes it worth more.
I’m out.
Wrap it in tin foil? Really? 😣
If this had a Duesenberg or Miller engine, and a famous name attached to it, someone would have already finished it out and it would have been to Pebble Beach already.
But a Pierce-Arrow? WTF? This is probably some unknown guy’s aerodynamic race car fantasy and he had a Pierce Arrow on hand, so that’s what he used. It never turned a wheel on any track anywhere.
All of that puts this thing firmly in the “who cares” category, like a million other backyard beasts that went nowhere. There’s zero upside here for following through.
The “Baked Potato” comes with soured dreams. Skinlesss, half-baked, maybe I should have order mashed instead.
The Reynolds Wrap Racer?
Imagine, if you will, the person or persons who dreamt this up. We’ve all had that friend, or maybe ourself, that had a vision to build something out of another thing. Can you imagine doing 300 mph in this little hunny? Wow.
The Talladega Speedway museum has a couple of Art Afrons’ Green Monsters that you can almost sit in.
Art basically had some square tubing and a welder and an Allison engine and decided to assemble it. And I didn’t think he was a very good welder.
Didn’t Art also do some tractor pulling?
Nelson C, IDK, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did end up in that puller crowd. The LSR thing became a rich guy sport soon after his efforts, with Breedlove and real engineering and such and that all kind of left him in the dust, or rather, the salt spray.
Yep, Bluesman, he turned to jet powered tractor pulling which is what I recall seeing at the county fair in the 70s. This was after crashing at Bonneville in ’66 at 610 mph. Fastest crash ever survived according to Wikipedia.
If it had a clear lineage, a racing pedigree & a Rolls or Duesenberg engine it’d already be completed. unless someone has some crazy skills & a lot of ambition, I’d say it’s time to let this one go.
You’d certainly get a good story with this aluminum wrapped bag of bones. And since he supplied a picture of an original Peirce Arrow instead of a pic of the car when running you could also have someone do a wrap for it!
Placing the crystal in front of the only shot that was almost of the engine was a nice touch.
One can only imagine the fevered hours he spent trying to verify provenance, but hey haven’t we all bought something we thought would turn into a bag of gold?
Zero bids, not surprised!!
That’s expensive garbage.
This find is either one or the other…… one: It is a rare racer that has incredible history and is really worth about 5 million or………other: it is just some junk that has been lying around for years……….I think it is the other…….. however, I have been known to be wrong….. I will admit that!!!
The custom bent white fence rails add a bit of provenance to this Pierce Arrow. But, did they use the extra heavy duty Reynolds Wrap when they covered it?
I have seen this car in person. There are no “fence rails” on the car. Those are aluminum ribs attached with aircraft rivets. They are just still new looking but still around 100 years old.
Put an LS in it! Had to be first. Cheers!
If the baked potato covering to see the actual shape of things to come doesn’t intrigue you enough, the 300 miles per hour speed oh my god meter should get you in that frame of mind to make a bid…
Just knowing that you could spend your life’s savings to get her up to speed at Bonneville? Priceless….
How cool would it be to hear that 4 carb straight 8 through a straight pipe out the back of the car? I bet it would get you entry into a lot of car shows, even as is. In the photos of the car at that car show, look at how long the grass is under the car, then look at how trampeled the grass is around the car. A whole lot of people walked around it taking a close look even in that condition.