Non fender mounted headlights on 1932

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My father found this publication at a flea market called “Motor”. Inside the “Motor” I found an article highlighting the new 1932 Pierce Arrow models. What i found intersting, was that there is a picture of a Model 54 that did not have the headlights molded into the fenders like all other Pierce Arrows that I have seen from this era. Was this picture of a prototype or was getting a Pierce Arrow without the fender mounted headlights an option?

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Hi @Ryan:

The non-fender mounted headlight P-A’s are rererred to as ‘bracket light cars’. As I understand it, the fender mounted lights were not permitted in some locales. These more conventional headlights were a pricey option at the time, around $250, I believe.

=Adam=

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Here is a 1931 car with this rare option.

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Thanks guys for helping me solve that mystery.

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We’ve discussed the bracket headlights before on this forum.  It was a factory option, then, as now, there were people who didn’t like the fender mounted “frog eye” look.  One has to go back in time and think, when people have seen every other car for years with bracket headlights, that a fender mounted light would, then, take some “getting used to”.

Research has never found any regulation that made fender mounted lights illegal, and the consensus was that is just an oft-told tale that sounds true because it’s been repeated so many times, when in fact it is NOT true.

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