It's easy to forget you're looking at a 1:18 scale model instead of the real thing.
The Silver Arrow was conceived by Phil Wright, a young designer at General Motors. When Depression-mandated layoffs at GM left Wright unemployed in 1932 he took his unfinished design to friend and former colleague Roy Faulkner. The two had collaborated earlier for E. L. Cord, and Faulkner, now a vice president of sales at Pierce Arrow, was quick to recognize the beauty and futuristic appeal of Wright’s concept. The design was refined and finalized and, with a dedicated crew working around the clock at Studebaker in Indiana, a hand-built show car was ready inside of two months, with a total of five eventually produced. This sleek, aerodynamically inspired masterpiece enthralled the public at both the 1933 New York Auto Show and Chicago World’s Fair. Many forward-looking features were incorporated into the car, from its rakishly angled grill to its dramatic fastback topped by a slender, v-shaped split rear window. The design was enhanced by body-integrated front fenders and headlights, hidden running boards, recessed door handles and skirted rear wheels. The car was powered by a 175 HP V12 engine capable of a top speed of 115 mph [185 km/h], and carried the princely selling price of $10,000.
In 1934, as a more practical and affordable alternative, Pierce Arrow introduced a production “Silver Arrow” which preserved at least some of the show car’s sleek allure, offered a straight-eight engine option and carried a more realistic price tag of between $3500 and $3900. However it is the incomparable ’33 show car that stands as an icon. Many of the styling cues and design innovations found in the Silver Arrow took years to find their way into the automotive mainstream, certainly not in time to save the Depression-ravaged Pierce Arrow. But the car stands as one of the outstanding ‘30s designs and one of the great examples of the automobile-as-art.
(from diecast.org)
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