More than 100 years ago, as horseless carriages were being introduced to the American motoring public, hundreds of automobiles were produced by hundreds of car companies.

Since nobody knew what a car should look like, the variety of cars seemed endless. Some cars appealed to the practical buyer while other models were plush and aimed to attract the attention of the affluent motorists. After a few years, the various car companies sorted out where they each fit in the hierarchy of the automobile world.

Three separate manufacturers soon dominated the top tier of automobiles. The names of the three all started with the letter “P” and they came to be known as the “prestige three.” Peerless built cars from 1900 to 1931 while Packard was in business from 1899 to 1958. Pierce-Arrow sold cars from 1901 to 1938.

Reggie Nash, the sixth and current owner of a 1934 Pierce-Arrow seven-passenger Model 840A limousine reports that his car was purchased new at the Pierce-Arrow dealership in Richmond, Va., by a retired railroad executive, and eventually his sister acquired the car, keeping it until well after World War II. The third and fourth owners, like the first two, kept the car well protected in the Shenandoah Valley. The fifth owner brought the Pierce-Arrow back to Richmond. Almost 30 years later Nash bought the car.

Originally, the limousine rolled out of the Pierce-Arrow factory in Buffalo, N.Y., coated with blue paint. Somewhere along the line it was repainted a two-tone green. Since then the well-preserved automobile has been resprayed again, this time with a Maroon Light body and a Maroon Dark on the fenders. Fireglow pinstriping separates the two similar colors.

The base price of the expensive Pierce-Arrow was $3,350, which was bumped up to $3,739.50 with the addition of such extras as artillery wheels/sidemounts/truck rack ($150), two-tone paint ($90), leather front seat ($50), metal side mount covers ($32), chrome radiator shutters ($25), rear foot rest hassocks ($25), and mirrors atop side mounts ($17.50).

Most everything else on the 6,000-pound luxurious limousine was considered standard equipment. A 384-cubic-inch straight-eight-cylinder engine develops 140 horsepower. Mechanical brakes are up to the task of stopping the heavy car.

Although Nash has driven his Pierce-Arrow about 10,000 miles, he says it was designed to be chauffeur-driven. That explains why the front seat for the chauffeur is upholstered in durable leather while the rear seat behind the division window is covered in more comfortable cloth.

The rear seat is adjustable and a microphone is located in the ceiling above the right end of the seat. A speaker is positioned above the driver’s seat so the passenger in the rear compartment can communicate with the driver as the car motors along on its 144-inch wheelbase. Nash, who does his own driving, says the shoulder-wide three-spoke steering wheel is easy to operate as long as the car is moving, even slightly.

Both front and rear compartments have clocks. Running lights help illuminate the way after the sun goes down. The only painful part of owning such an exquisite car is when it comes time to refill the fuel tank: Nash says his wonderful car delivers between 5 and 8 miles per gallon.