BUFFALO, NY - The Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum is the product of one man's passion.
It is a passion for preservation that continues to motivate museum founder Jim Sandoro. "When I was a little boy, anytime anyone would tell me something about Buffalo, I had a photocopier, I would keep it in a file. I have thousands and thousands of files on Buffalo industry. "
Sandoro has amassed quite a collection in his museum a lasting tribute to automotive innovations of Western New York. But even he is surprised when he stumbles upon some of those forgotten innovations, case in point Percy Hunt.
Hunt was a Buffalo Chevrolet dealer, who, in a moment of inspiration came up with the idea of mounting the body, engine and drive shaft of a 1936 Chevy onto a boat. The Chevy Chase was certainly a spectacle on the waters of Lake Erie. In fact there was even a newsreel made about his unique mode of transportation.
And how is this for business creativity? In 1942, just before World War 2 caused auto production to stop, Hunt ordered 250 Chevrolets and put them in storage at the old Pierce-Arrow plant on Elmwood Avenue. When the war was over he cleaned up, being the only guy to have "new" cars on his lot.