PIERCE-RACINE

Pierce Engine Co. (1904-1909)
Pierce Motor Co. (1909-1911)
Racine, Wisconsin

This is a Pierce-Racine emblem (date unknown)   mjs
Size: 34mm wide 18mm high (emblem)     MM: Unknown

Andrew J Pierce established the Pierce Engine Company in 1892 for the manufacture of marine engines and launches. He built his first car, a single-cylinder surrey, in 1895. His second car was a two-cylinder carriage built in 1899 and a third followed in 1902. In 1904 Pierce decided to go into production. 

The first Pierce-Racine was an 8 hp single-cylinder water-cooled runabout, of which 25 were made. A 16 hp two-cylinder model was added in 1905 and a wider range of models was available for 1906 when four-cylinder models were introduced and sales rose to 150 units. From 1907, Pierce-Racine concentrated on four-cylinder models delivering up to 45 hp.

In 1909, Pierce reorganized his company as the Pierce Motor Company and, in exchange for additional financing, Racine businessmen, who were also stockholders in the J I Case Threshing Machine Company, took a greater involvement in the running of the company. By August 1910, Pierce-Racine had been acquired by Case. The last Pierce-Racine automobiles were assembled in early 1911.

Emblems

The earliest Pierce-Racine cars did not carry an emblem but most likely did display the "Pierce-Racine" name on a maker's nameplate and serial plate attached to the body, probably at the rear or under the driver's seat.

The first four-cylinder Pierce-Racine cars using a conventional radiator appeared in 1906. The following shows the only known surviving Pierce-Racine, a restored Model D from 1907, displaying a reproduction "Pierce-Racine" script mounted on the radiator core. However, I can find no original period photos or illustrations showing any radiator script before 1910, so I cannot confirm whether the Pierce-Racine radiator script shown below is an authentic reproduction.

This is a Pierce-Racine Md D with rad script (1907)  stahlsauto

Close-up showing Pierce-Racine radiator script (1907)  conceptcarz

Original period photos of Pierce-Racine cars from 1910 show a much simpler "Pierce-Racine" script mounted on the radiator core, see example shown below:

This is a Pierce-Racine car with a radiator script (1910)  dpl

Close-up showing Pierce-Racine radiator script (1910)

The same radiator script is seen in the following original photo of a Pierce-Racine motor car taking part in the Munsey Historic Tour of 1910:

Pierce-Racine car taking part in Munsey Historic Tour (1910)  dpl

This Pierce-Racine radiator script may have been in use from about 1908 or possibly earlier but this cannot be confirmed. Original Pierce-Racine radiator scripts are very rare.

The small, so far unidentified, Pierce-Racine emblem shown above at the top of this post is very rare, see detail below:

This is a Pierce-Racine emblem (date unknown)   mjs
Size: 34mm wide 18mm high    MM: Unknown