Fictitious Story about a Post-War Pierce-Arrow based on a Hudson

Mahoning63

Hello to All,

Wanted to share a story I recently posted at the Pierce-Arrow Society's website about a fictitious post-war Pierce-Arrow (the company went out of business in 1938) that was based on the Step-Down. The idea is that the two companies would have shared a common body, the Pierce having a longer wheelbase forward of the firewall, longer rear overhang and its own front and rear styling. Hudson would have built Pierce's bodies and shipped them to Buffalo where front fenders and hood would have been attached and the rest of the car completed. Tried to include an image work-up, not sure it will appear. 

Hope you enjoy and Happy Holidays! 

 Paul   

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It was late 1947 and the world was at peace. My dad, a kind, intelligent and creative gentleman and very much a self-made man, had during the war developed an innovation that helped fighter planes fly faster, and soon started his own company that designed and produced components purchased by the U.S. Army. At war’s end his contracts continued unabated and he did very well financially, though he was forever careful with his money and set high standards for everything he purchased. By 1947 the Buick he had been driving for many years was beginning to show its age and he was ready to “step up to something special,” as he described it, and could afford anything he wanted.  Of course, being 13 years old, I wanted to “help” even if it meant being relegated to the cheering section.

My first question to him was, “What are you gonna get, Dad? Are you gonna get a Cadillac?”  

“I don’t know, son. There are a lot of interesting designs this year. Why don’t we go down to the Cadillac dealer in town and take a look at that new Sixty Special.”

“Yippee!” I said. He knew exactly which car I wanted him to get!

When we got to the dealer a nice man greeted us. The lot didn’t have many cars - I guess they were hard to come by then. But inside the showroom was a glistening new Sixty Special, burgundy in color with a grey interior. Dad talked to the dealer while I walked around it, amazed at how different it looked compared to the cars that I was used to. It was fabulous! As I peeked into the window, the dealer said: “Wanna get in?” “Sure!” I gushed. Dad sat in the front behind the steering wheel while the dealer sat next to him in the passenger seat. I jumped in the rear and couldn’t believe the legroom and how cushy the seats were. I don’t know what they were talking about up front but the next thing I knew, the dealer escorted us out back to another Sixty, this one a blue car. “Wanna go for a drive?” he asked me. “Sure!” I yelled. And so we went, dad driving with me happily beside him. The car had an automatic transmission, the first I had ever seen. No shifting, just step on the gas and go. Dad liked that. In fact, he was impressed with the whole car.

After returning to the dealership he chatted a bit with the dealer then said goodbye. The dealer’s last words were, “Don’t wait too long, both cars will be gone soon!”

That night at the dinner table my mother asked Dad how the car shopping went. “Fine,” he said. “Are we gonna get a Cadillac?” I blurted out excitedly. “We just might,” he said. “What’s the hold up?” Mom inquired. “There’s one more car I’d like to learn more about. It’s a long shot and the car is not even out yet, won’t be for another month.”

“A month!” I thought. “That’s an eternity! What did Dad want to look at?”  I was very curious but also confident that we would get the Cadillac. I mean, what could be better than a Cadillac?

An eternity finally passed (it actually took two months) when Dad asked me if I wanted to go check out “the other car” with him. I had been thinking about what it might be for weeks. Was it a Lincoln? Couldn’t be, that car was the same this year as it was last, and dad said this was a completely new car. A Chrysler Imperial? Again, couldn’t be, and thankfully so since it wasn’t as good as the Cadillac. How about a Packard? Man, that was one wild car this year, a bit odd looking though and for some reason it sort of resembled last year’s car. What other car could it possibly be? The only car I could think of was that one from Buffalo, but I had never seen one and am not sure they even made them anymore.  Most of those old companies went out of business before the war. “Oh well,” I thought. “Today is the day I will find out.”

We drove to a part of town that I was not familiar with and pulled up to a dealership with a name I had heard before but knew very little about. “Are we going to get a Hudson, Dad?  Aren’t they kind of like your Buick?” “Kind of, son. But they are brand new this year. And no, we are not getting a Hudson. I just want to talk to the dealer.”

About what? Now he really had me wondering. While I looked around on the lot, Dad went inside and spoke to the dealer. I was amazed at the new Hudsons. They kind of looked like the new Packards only racier. In fact, I could see the tops of the roofs standing next to them! This was first time THAT had ever happened. Maybe I was getting taller. Or maybe the Hudsons had gotten lower? I still thought the Cadillac the best car on the road, but I kind of liked the new Hudson anyway.

After a little while Dad motioned for me to come inside. The dealer gave Dad a cup of coffee and me a Coke. “What are we waiting for, Dad?” I asked. “A truck is due in soon,” he casually responded. “What’s on it?” I wondered aloud. “A hunch, son. Just a hunch.” 

What in the world did that mean? There were plenty of Hudsons outside but Dad didn’t seem too interested in them. Soon enough, I saw a big truck pull into the lot with a single car on it. It was covered in cloth so I couldn’t tell what it was, only that it was long, very long in fact. And wide and low, like the Hudson. But it wasn’t a Hudson, I could tell that much from its shape. 

The truck pulled to an open area and the driver got out and talked to the dealer and Dad for a few moments. What were they talking about? And what was this mystery car that Dad had been so willing to wait two months to see?

After a short conversation, the driver and dealer climbed up onto the bed while my dad and I looked on. I’ll never forget what happened next. As they carefully pulled  the cover off, there emerged a beautiful car unlike any I had ever seen! It was two-toned with long flowing lines, tail lights that seemed to creep up the rear fenders, and shockingly straight sides. Yet there was something familiar about it. I looked it over stem to stern, then looked at the Hudsons on the lot. Hmm, I thought. Why do they seem to have something in common? I know, they are both low! But there was more to it than just that. Oh well, it didn’t matter. For now I just wanted to gaze at the car. 

The driver got back in the truck and began tilting the bed so that its back end touched the ground. Then he got out and climbed back up onto the bed, unlocked the front door and opened it. He was about to get in, then stopped. “Maybe you should back it down,” he hollered to the dealer. “I am not dressed for it.”

Not dressed for it? It must have been pretty special that he didn’t feel comfortable sitting in it.

The dealer, who was wearing dress pants and a white shirt and tie, immediately climbed in and started it up. “Is it running,” I asked my dad? “I can barely hear it.”

“Yep,” Dad remarked, consumed with his own curiosity and fascination. “It sure is.”

The driver unlatched the chains from the bottom of the mystery car and soon enough, the dealer was backing it down. We immediately walked over and studied it carefully. Normally that was my job but this time Dad was just as eager. He also had a funny grin on his face. It was the first time I ever saw him act… like me!

Before long the dealer opened the doors and invited us to sit inside. Now I know why my dad asked me if I was wearing clean clothes before we left home. As I made my way into the car I found myself stepping not up, as I had in all the other cars I had ever been in, but down and into a thickly carpeted floor well in front of the rear seat. When I sat down I immediately knew this was a very special car, even more magical than the Cadillac. The seat was not only cushy, it was comfortable, like it was shaped just for me! The material on the seat was soft and delicate, with a silky sheen and embroidery on it. There was a small amount of polished wood on the doors that was finished just like our piano in the living room. I felt like I was sitting not too far off the ground. Yes, indeed, THIS was exciting! And totally unexpected.

Up front, Dad sat behind the wheel and chatted with the dealer, who peered in through the window. They were talking about the engine and something else. “What does it have, one eighty five?” my dad asked. ‘”No, this year it’s at an even two hundred,” the dealer clarified. Then my dad pointed to a lever on the steering column. “And this?” “It’s their own,” the dealer informed him. “All new.”

Two hundred what, I wondered. Could they be talking about horsepower? That couldn’t be - the Cadillac had 150 and the Packard had 165. There was no way an engine could make more power than that! “How can an eight cylinder make two hundred horsepower, Dad?” I questioned. “It’s not an Eight, son. It’s a Twelve.” 

“Twelve!’ I blurted out. “A V12”, the dealer said. “They’ve been making them for years.”

Who were they, I wondered. Boy, did I have a lot of questions. But before I could even begin asking them, the dealer closed my door and off Dad and I went. I immediately noticed two things: Dad wasn’t shifting, and the engine was so smooth and quiet that I could barely feel or hear it. I quickly surmised that the mystery car, like the Cadillac, had an automatic. I also concluded that its engine, unlike the Cadillac, was in a league of its own.

When we got to an open road with no one around, Dad “opened it up.” In an instant I felt myself pushed to the seat back with my neck struggling to stay level. “Whoa!” I yelled. “Sorry, son, just wanted to see what it would do in a straight line. Now let’s check out the turns.” 

We veered left on a twisty section of road, then right, then quickly left again. I had never been in a car driven that fast in a turn! I asked Dad how it felt. “Almost like a race car,” he beamed. “The new Hudson Monobilt seems to work as advertised.” Mono-what? And what was this talk about Hudson?

“Is it a Hudson, Dad?” I inquired. “No, but the body was designed with Hudson’s help” he responded knowledgeably. “They worked together to make the car.” That must have been why I thought the car looked familiar. And yet it was quite different than the Hudson, and miles different than the Sixty Special. Suddenly I no longer felt the same attachment to the Sixty. My outlook was changing.

We returned to the dealer’s lot and Dad parked the car around the back of the building, almost as if he was hiding it. Then he and I walked to the front and entered the showroom, where the dealer awaited. “Did it meet your expectations?” the dealer politely asked.  “Indeed it did,” my dad replied confidently. Then they both began to talk details while I wandered about the showroom. The only Hudson on the floor was a sedan. It sort of looked like what we had just driven but wasn’t nearly as long or as fancy and the front and rear looked totally different. And yet, I could see a resemblance in the doors and glass. The interior was also quite nice, though not nearly as nice as the mystery car.

Soon Dad and the dealer were finished talking, only this time it was my dad who gave the familiar parting words: “I won’t wait too long, the car will be gone soon.” “You’re probably right,” confirmed the dealer. Then my dad said something I hadn’t heard since he came up with his invention during the war: “I know what I want to do, and now is the time to act.” And with that he wrote a check for a downpayment on the car. “I’ll be back on Monday with the balance. Can you have my car ready by then?” he asked directly. “The factory,” the dealer carefully explained, “requires that we do an extensive inspection upon delivery. Normally with our Hudsons this is fairly straightforward but the maker of this car provides us a checklist that is much longer and we received special training to do it. Being that today is Saturday, I will need a full day to complete the required work. How about the end of Monday, say 4 pm?”

“Fine,” my dad enthusiastically responded. “I am buying the car because of attention to details such as this. I saw the same attention when looking at the car earlier and felt the same attention when driving it.”

“I am glad you approve and we look forward to servicing your car in the future, though it will likely need very little maintenance for quite some time. Good day, sir,” the dealer said.

“Good afternoon,” my dad replied.

On our way home I asked my dad what we had just bought.

“A Pierce-Arrow,” he proudly announced. “It’s the best car made today.”

I wholeheartedly agreed.

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