Classic Profile: 3 Generations and the Trip of a Lifetime

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1909 Pierce-Arrow Model 6-36 Five Passenger Touring, circa 1960 prior to restoration | courtesy of the author
1909 Pierce-Arrow Model 6-36 Five Passenger Touring, circa 1960 prior to restoration | courtesy of the author
1909 Pierce-Arrow Model 6-36 Five Passenger Touring, circa 1960 prior to restoration | courtesy of the author

I consider myself lucky. To have inherited a passion for cars from my Dad, and to be able to share this passion with him for the past 40 years, what could be better? Well, it turns out that sharing that passion with the next generation is indescribably rewarding as well.

The transitory nature of our generational love affair with the automobile struck home a few years ago when Dad suffered a heart attack. Thankfully, he’s made a full recovery, but that event really drove home the need for me to involve my son, Nathan, in what had always been the adventures Dad and I shared.

So now, it’s the three of us, and these have been wonderful years as we make our way around the country to some fantastic events. One experience has eluded us, however: Showing a car at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Let me be clear, we’re regular car guys. I have a couple of cars, but certainly nothing that’s going to be accepted at Pebble Beach. Dad has had the good fortune to trade good cars for better cars over the years, but he does not have a large collection.

When a friend who sits on the selection committee for the Pebble Beach Concours suggested that Dad submit his 1909 Pierce-Arrow, we jumped at the chance. I’ll put an end to the suspense right now – we’re in and we’re going!

For the three of us to share this together is more than exciting. It’s true that my wife is not thrilled that my son will miss his first week of high school, but the opportunity of a lifetime is something not to be missed.

The Pierce-Arrow is being detailed as I write this. We’re praying for good weather.

Dumb luck struck when we found ourselves with the opportunity to acquire this car roughly 20 years ago. Of the dozen or so surviving 1909 Pierce-Arrows, this is the only Model 6-36 Five Passenger Touring car thought to survive.

The car was made in Buffalo, New York (as all Pierce-Arrow were), and originally sold to a banker out of the J.W. Maguire showroom in Boston, Massachusetts. After 10 years, it was traded in settlement of a debt to a Boston Attorney and the family kept the car for 71 years before selling it to Dad. We’re the third owners of a car that’s lived all its life in New England (it remains in Dad’s garage in Massachusetts).

So it’s a first for all of us – the first time this car will see the West Coast and the first (and probably the last) time the three of us will have a car in the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Remember to wave when you see us drive by, we’ll be the three guys with smiles from ear to ear.

1 COMMENT

  1. Congratulations Steve, I’m happy for the three of you. I also submitted a Pierce Arrow to Pebble Beach this year our 1925 Series 80 Runabout. Unfortunately we did not get selected this year. We’ll keep trying, and we’re looking forward to seeing your fathers 6-36 Touring. My son and I take our vacations every August to take in the full Monterey Car week. I feel blessed to have a son that shares my passion for vintage cars. We’ll see you there.