Words: Tommy Parry
Who doesn’t like the idea of a chopped Pierce-Arrow? Well, plenty of people consider it sacrilegious, actually. Seeing as these cars are exceptionally rare, it’s frowned upon when lucky owners start cutting massive chunks out of them. Nevertheless, some like to tease the crowd, and Johnny, after coming upon a rusted Pierce-Arrow body which had seen better days, was one of those provocateurs.
Johnny silenced the nay-sayers in his head and started bringing his vision to fruition. From the start, his plans were sketchy at best – but he knew he wanted a V12 to power his creation. Even if that choice put dents in his wallet and his marriage, it was something he was committed to doing.
First, Johnny snagged a few freebies, including a ‘28 Pierce-Arrow Series 81 frame and a couple of ‘34 Pierce-Arrow rear fenders. Feeling clever with the new slew of parts at his disposal, Johnny gave his creation a fitting title: Poison Arrow.
Thankfully, he could offset some of those engine costs with a pair of cheap doors from a ‘33 Pierce-Arrow four-door. Only thirty dollars in, he started stretching those doors to fit, since their trim line had a slightly different contour than those on the ‘32. Plenty of sweat, profanity and MIG wire later, and Johnny had his doors fitted.
The ambitious build wasn’t proving too hard on his wallet; he found a ‘30s Ford axle setup for the small fee of $150. With all his ducks in a row, Johnny began cutting up the body, which had been collecting dust over the past two years.
The challenge of juggling two builds and finding suitable parts for the Pierce-Arrow drove Johnny up the wall, and he nearly threw in the towel. But when he put the body up for sale, his peers – shocked at the idea of abandoning such a beauty – begged him to continue, and he saw the error of his ways. They say there’s a special circle in Hell reserved for those who abandon cars as gorgeous as this one.
Getting back to business, Johnny scrapped his idea of using a V12 when he chanced upon a ‘29 REO Flying Cloud Straight-Eight. He simply couldn’t argue with a free motor and transmission; plus, it would help with weight distribution. Though the rusty motor looked appropriately rough when first obtained, Johnny rebuilt it and splashed it with some burnt copper metallic paint, giving the engine bay the pop it needed. The classic engine displaces 286 c.i. and makes 130 horsepower, which is sent to the ‘97 Dodge Ram 2500 rear end, which Johnny picked up for just $130.
After adding a 2” front leaf spring from a ‘42 Ford, filling in the blanks with bits from a ‘48 Ford, tacking on a set of ‘53 F100 brakes and welding the shocks to the front axle, he had his monster. Johnny, without much money or marital bliss sacrificed in the name of building this beauty, seems to have found a way to have his cake and eat it too.
