The other day I intended to take a quick cruise through the Automotive History Preservation Society’s virtual library. Instead, I ended up spending a meaningful amount of time reading articles that had been reposted from old car buff magazines. Below are two stories that I found most interesting.
Note that I am linking to the material rather than reposting it here out of respect for the copyright holders.
Hudson experimented with radical WWII designs
One of my all-time favorite Motor Trend articles is a piece by Michael Lamm (1969) that shed light on a handful of Hudson experimental cars developed during World War II. They included a mid-engined sports car with a “four-square” engine as well as a front-wheel-drive compact car with gullwing doors and a horizontally-opposed engine designed to be offered in four-, six- and eight-cylinder versions.
Arthur H. Kibiger, Hudson’s assistant director of styling, led the team that developed these concept cars. Unfortunately, only a few innovations managed to make it into production. They included the step-down chassis, albeit without a “honeycomb” floor. Note that when Lamm interviewed Kibiger for this story in 1969, he was the “technical manager of styling” at American Motors.
Also see ‘Richard Teague’s styling helped to kill American Motors’
Think about that for a moment. Even though Hudson’s engineering legacy appears to have been largely ignored after the automaker merged with Nash to form American Motors, it still had people like Kibiger around. Imagine the kind of cars he could have helped develop if AMC had placed more of an emphasis on advanced engineering rather than trendy styling.
In saying that, I grant you that financial limitations may have been the biggest limiting factor for the automaker. As a case in point, perhaps a front-wheel drive might have been a bridge too far in the early-70s. However, AMC arguably could have afforded more sophisticated suspensions and internationally competitive packaging.
Pierce-Arrow didn’t get a chance to go downmarket
My knowledge of Pierce-Arrow’s ending days was limited, so I was glad to see a story in Car Life that discussed a failed attempt by the automaker to follow Packard into the premium-priced field in 1938. Jeffrey I. Godshall (1969) wrote about how Pierce-Arrow was unable to secure enough funding to put into production a new design that was based on the body dies of a 1935-36 Reo, which had also been used on the 1936-37 Graham.
The new Pierce-Arrow would have been priced at around $1,200. That would have put it a notch above Packard’s lowest-priced sixes but in direct competition with its eights. Moving down into the premium-priced class represented a radical break for Pierce, whose price range in 1937 spanned from around $3,200 for entry-level eights to upwards of $7,000 for top-end twelves.
Also see ‘Lincoln Zephyr was a first step in Ford surpassing Chrysler’
Despite sharing a body, the Pierce-Arrow might have avoided the taint of badge engineering by using a stretched, 125-inch wheelbase and the automaker’s own 385-cubic-inch straight eight. The wheelbases of the Reo and Graham had been no longer than 118 and 120 inches, respectively, and both brands were powered by sixes.
One irony of this story is that if Pierce had managed to get its new car into production and survived a short but punishing economic downturn in 1938, it might have had more staying power than the disastrous 1938-40 sharknose Graham. Well, at least if Pierce had enough dealers to support the premium-priced field’s promise of higher volume. Godshall noted that the luxury-car maker had a tiny and “moribund dealer organization” (1969, p. 63).
NOTES:
Product specifications were from Kimes and Clark (1996).
RE:SOURCES
- Godshall, Jeffrey I.; 1969. “The Pierce-Arrow that never got a chance.” Car life. July issue: pp: 61-63.
- Kimes, Beverly Rae and Henry Austin Clark, Jr.; 1996. Standard Catalog of American cars 1805-1942. Third Ed. Krause Publications, Iola, WA.
- Lamm, Michael; 1969. “Hudsons that might have been. . . .” Motor Trend. March issue: pp. 84-86.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES:
- oldcarbrochures.org: Graham (1937); Pierce-Arrow (1935); Reo (1936)
what is the source of the above painting? The article had only sketches by the author of possible Pierces. No other comment, the article covers it all. Regarding the Hudson article, I am surprised that the three wheel design got as far as it did. It looked like a Fuller Dymaxion knockoff. The Dymaxion was well known to have horrible, nay deadly handling.
The banner image is a 1935 Pierce-Arrow from a brochure in Old Car Brochures. This particular brochure has some lovely artwork (go here).
Wasn’t the 1963 Rambler Classic right=sized and commercially on-target upon its introduction ? True, the spin-off 1964 American was too-heavy for a “compact”. Plus, A.M.C.’s trunions would have been a deal-breaker for me.
The inclusion of the impact of the 1938 economic downturn would have likely killed Pierce-Arrow. as it mortally wounded Graham and Hupp. Studebaker might have been a goner if it had not been for the 1939 Champion. I wonder what kind of economic shape Pierce was in when it was cut loose when Studebaker’s control ended ? Albert Erskine’s corporate mismanagement of Studebaker in the early thirties had to have impacted Pierce. On paper, Studebaker eights in the 1930s would have been an ideal “down-market” partner, as the Studebakers of that period were well-built.
Thank you, Steve for this very interesting piece. Had the Pierce-Arrow plan come to fruition, what might have happened to REO and Graham? Is there any historical evidence of a planned merger or a “joint” venture?
An article by Leigh Dorrington in Collectible Automobile stated that “merger discussions were taking place among Auburn, Pierce-Arrow, Reo, Hupp, and Graham. The talks bore no results, save this: Graham and Reo concluded an agreement for Graham to share Reo’s Hayes-built all-steel Flying Cloud bodies for 1996” (April 2021, p. 64).
I haven’t come across more details. If I may speculate, it’s hard to see how Hupp and Pierce could have survived under any conditions, but perhaps a Reo-Graham tie up might have had some short-term potential.
Thank you, Steve.