Pierce-Arrow, with Packard and Peerless a member of the “Three Ps,” the alliterative triumvirate of the luxury car segment, had always used large engines. From 1910 to 1928, though, they had been T-head sixes. For 1929, a straight-eight replaced the sixes. It proved popular, doubling sales from the year before. But as Cadillac, Marmon, Packard and Lincoln introduced twelves and sixteens, Pierce, too, joined the cylinder race.

Chief engineer Karl Wise designed the new V-12 engine. Adopting an unusual 80-degree angle between the cylinder banks, Wise chose cast iron for the crankcase, to which the cylinder blocks were bolted, when most competing makes used aluminum. The wide vee gave excellent access to the valve train, and also helped minimize vibration. Introduced late in 1931 for the ’32 model year, the twelve was offered alongside the eights, with common bodies, but differing wheelbases.

For 1933, hydraulic tappets were introduced, and renowned endurance driver Ab Jenkins, then working for Pierce-Arrow as experimental engineer and test driver, drove a twelve-cylinder roadster for 24 hours, averaging 112.91 miles per hour. Pierce-Arrow, however, was fighting a losing battle in the Depression-ravaged luxury marketplace. In May 1938, the company assets were liquidated at auction. The sturdy V-12 engine, however, lived on, used in Seagrave fire apparatus until 1970.

This handsome Enclosed-Drive Limousine is an older restoration, well-maintained. Riding a 142-inch wheelbase, it is a majestic motorcar, the jump seats in the rear compartment expanding seating to seven persons. The compartment is upholstered in gray cloth, all in very good condition, with foot rests in the floor and the occasion seats folding from the division partition, itself with a roll-down window.

Body contours are all correct, and the black paint exhibits a deep shine. Brightwork, used sparingly, is all in very good condition, including the Trippe driving lights on the front bumper. The engine compartment is nicely detailed, with correct hardware used throughout. A glance underneath confirms the high quality of the restoration, clean and well finished in all respects. Pierce-Arrow built just 2,152 cars, of all types, in 1933, making this car among the best of a very small constituency.