The 1934 Pierce-Arrow Model 1248A was one of the grandest American luxury cars of its era.

Built in Buffalo, New York, it combined an enormous V12 engine, imposing proportions and a level of craftsmanship aimed at buyers for whom price was often secondary to quality, prestige and individuality.

This particular car is especially rare. The 1248A was produced in very small numbers, with only around 90 examples believed to have been built.

One of the Great American Luxury Marques

Pierce-Arrow had built a reputation for prestige long before this car appeared.

Together with Packard and Peerless, it formed part of the celebrated “Three Ps” of American luxury motoring.

Pierce-Arrow cars were known for exceptional engineering, smooth performance and highly finished bodies and interiors. They were often purchased by industrialists, business leaders and wealthy families who expected a car to be both mechanically refined and individually specified.

The Model 1248A

The 1248A sat at the top end of Pierce-Arrow’s 1934 range.

It was a long-wheelbase model designed to provide generous passenger accommodation and an especially smooth ride.

The size of the chassis also made it well suited to substantial saloon and limousine-style bodies, where rear-seat comfort was often more important than compactness or agility.

Cars of this type were frequently chauffeur-driven, with the rear compartment designed as the main passenger space.

A 7.6-Litre V12

Power came from Pierce-Arrow’s 462 cubic inch, approximately 7.6-litre, L-head V12 engine.

Producing around 175 horsepower, the engine gave the large 1248A effortless performance and exceptional smoothness.

The V12 layout was particularly well suited to luxury cars because it allowed power to be delivered with very little vibration. Rather than relying on high engine speeds, the large-capacity engine provided strong, relaxed performance.

Power was delivered through a three-speed manual gearbox.

Built for Silence

Luxury in the 1248A was not simply about appearance.

This car was constructed with a heavily insulated bulkhead between the engine and passenger compartment. The cavity was filled with kapok to help absorb noise and vibration.

The aim was to isolate passengers from the machinery ahead of them and create a quiet, refined environment in the rear compartment.

For a chauffeur-driven luxury car, that kind of detail was an important part of the experience.

Red Pigskin and Vanity Compartments

The interior of this Pierce-Arrow demonstrates just how far manufacturers could go to satisfy wealthy customers.

This car features red pigskin upholstery, giving the cabin a distinctive and unusually rich finish.

Built-in vanity compartments provided additional convenience for rear-seat passengers and reflected the expectation that a car of this class should offer far more than basic transportation.

These details helped separate cars like the Pierce-Arrow from ordinary production automobiles.

Ten Coats of Lacquer

The attention to finish continued outside the car.

Its paintwork reportedly received ten coats of lacquer, an indication of the labour involved in producing a deep and highly finished surface.

Before modern paint systems, achieving a high-quality finish required repeated preparation, coating and polishing.

On a prestige car, appearance was expected to match the engineering beneath it.

Chauffeur-Driven in New Zealand

This particular 1248A has an important New Zealand history.

It was chauffeur-driven from new for Gerhard Husheer, founder of the National Tobacco Company in Napier.

That history fits the character of the car perfectly. The 1248A was designed for an owner who expected to travel in comfort while a professional driver handled the substantial machinery from the front compartment.

Its New Zealand use therefore reflects exactly the type of role for which Pierce-Arrow built cars of this class.

An Exceptionally Rare Model

Only around 90 Model 1248As are believed to have been produced.

That makes surviving examples rare even by the standards of pre-war luxury cars.

Pierce-Arrow never produced automobiles in the enormous numbers achieved by Ford, Chevrolet or other mass-market manufacturers. Cars like the 1248A were expensive to build, expensive to buy and intended for a very limited market.

Their low production numbers are part of what makes surviving examples so significant today.

The Final Years of Pierce-Arrow

By the mid-1930s, the American luxury-car market was becoming increasingly difficult.

The Great Depression had sharply reduced the number of buyers able to afford large, expensive cars, while competition from Cadillac and Packard remained intense.

Pierce-Arrow continued to produce impressive and technically sophisticated cars, but the market for machines of this scale had become much smaller.

The company would cease automobile production only a few years after this car was built.

This Car

This 1934 Pierce-Arrow Model 1248A combines several qualities that defined the finest American luxury cars of the period.

Its 7.6-litre V12 provided smooth and effortless power, while its long-wheelbase saloon body was designed around passenger comfort.

Inside, red pigskin upholstery, vanity compartments and extensive sound insulation created a cabin intended to feel separate from the machinery outside.

Its rarity and its history as Gerhard Husheer’s chauffeur-driven car in New Zealand make it more than simply an impressive luxury automobile.

It is a surviving example of an era when the finest cars were built to satisfy individual owners in extraordinary detail.