Following Percy Pierce’s outright victory in the 1905 Glidden Tour, the Pierce Great Arrow developed a reputation for both impressive speed and durability. Built in Buffalo, New York, the Great Arrows were heavily inspired by Mercedes-Simplex automobiles of the period and featured an innovative steering column-mounted gearbox actuator.

This 1906 Great Arrow, chassis 1651, was discovered in unrestored condition in the late 1930s by early automobile collector George G. Donald of Middlesex, Massachusetts. Mr. Donald sympathetically restored the very complete car, sans windshield and folding soft top, and fitted a central driving light to the firewall. In a photograph on file, Mr. Donald is pictured sitting in the freshly restored Great Arrow in front of the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline. He retained the Pierce for the rest of his life and, upon his passing in 1976, the car was acquired by legendary American Motors designer Dick Teague, for his impressive stable of cars that included some of the finest early Mercedes, Panhards, Pope- Hartfords, and Ferraris. Mr. Teague painted the car and fabricated a windshield and a canvas soft top using the original frame, which was not mounted during Mr. Donald’s ownership. Mr. Teague sold the car in the late 1980s to collector Earl Snodgrass. Upon Mr. Snodgrass’ passing in 2004, the Great Arrow joined the William Alley Collection. With just 10 examples of the 1906 Great Arrow believed to remain, the chance to acquire such a wonderful early Pierce will surely not come around again soon.