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Peerless Research Findings


jeff_a

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190. A Peerless was in the 2011 Glidden Revival Tour based around the Cumberland, MD area. I don't know whose auto it is or the year & model.

191. A fairly racy-looking black 1929 Peerless Roadster was in an ad for $25,000 in January, 2010. The listing was on: Peerless 1929 USD 25000 . The car appears to be a 6-81 and in Argentina. The link works, but not sure if car is still for sale.

192. The first riddle I asked was about Peerless & WWI [PRF# 80], the second one was about the spouse of a Peerless Corp. VP and the radiator mascot on one of her Peerlesses [PRF# 120]. Only the first one was answered.

193. Riddle Number Three: Does anyone know which Peerless collector also owns the bell from the HMS Titanic?

194. I heard that someone in John Day, Oregon has a Peerless Doctor's Coupe.

195. C.S. Walker in Arkansas has a blue 1928 Peerless Model Six-80 Sedan he would like to sell. Restored. Used to belong to a retired NYC Policeman.

196. I was reading some old back issues of AACA's magazine and saw an ad from The Harrah Collection stating they were looking for headlights for their yellow 1927 Peerless 6-72 Boat Tail Roadster back in 1968.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Jeff has invited me to join the forum to add my knowledge of Peerless to the thread. Actually, i next to nothing about Peerless cars, but i know quite a bit about Peerless trucks, which is a subject that does not seem to attract much interest. i suppose the very few survivors prevents interest from being generated.

Anyway, in Jeffs note #80 he asked if Peerless trucks contributed much to WW2. Strangely enough they did as a number which had been fitted with 3" AA guns had been kept in the British Army reserve. With the declaration of war these were wheeled out across London and placed in strategic locations to ward of German marauders and improve moral. Here is a picture of one which i expect most people will recognise the location.

Untitled-Scanned-02.jpg

It seems more than likely that the effect on morale was not as successful as intended. The Liberal MP James de Rothschild summed up his thoughts in Parliament when he said “Everybody knows that the 1914 "Peerless" gun is not only Peerless in name but peerless in ineffectiveness. It is not only ineffective, but is dangerous to the population. I would like to ask whether those guns were sent out in order to give a false sense of security to the population”.

i am sure someone will wish to draw their own politcal conclusions to that.

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Dear Great War Truck,

Welcome to the Peerless Forum!

Thank you for the much-needed post about Peerless trucks and the photograph! I'm sure most Americans have never seen a Peerless truck and are already scratching their heads a little in response to this shot. Peerless cars are rare enough, but there are hardly any Peerless trucks that have survived in this country. Not so in the U.K. and South Africa.

The camouflaged Peerless truck I sent you a photo of is something I found on a site relating to India...but in retrospect, may be from some British, French, or Russian archive originally. I had thought it was an Indian Defence Forces vehicle at one time.

One would think that firing a 3-inch AAA gun with an elevation like that would have bad consequences, unless they were firing timed charges.

----Jeff

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Sorry Geoff

I am forgetting myself. This is the best of our Peerless trucks. We actually took delivery of the remains of 7 of them this day. This was the best and by far the most complete.

PeerlessUnloaded2.jpg

Since then we have bought two more for parts. Sadly, out of all of these there are only two viable restoration projects. We have had these Peerless now for about 15 years or so but have been too wrapped up in the restoration of our other projects to start on them yet.

If you are interested and have a bit of spare time here is a link to our previous restoration blog which shows the ground up restoration of our 1918 Dennis. As you will see we do just about everything ourselves with the aim of getting the truck back into the condition it was during the war. It has attracted quite a bit of interest with just under 230,000 hits so far. You might have to register to see the photos

WW1 Dennis truck find

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Thats an interesting question. By my calculations there are just 8 surviving Peerless trucks. 7 in the Uk and 1 in South africa. The most original is probably the Bovington Armoured car one which is totally original but has not been run for many years, which is a great shame. There are two Irish armoured car replicas. One was a 1920's diesel modification that was fitted with a replica body for the film Michael Collins. Film of it can be seen on Youtube shooting the fans of a football match (not Britains finest hour). The other replica was built by the Irish cavalry museum on a longer chassis. The Cornish one was excellently restored and regularly run (it once did the prestigeous London to Brighton run of 60 miles), but has not been taken out for a long time now. The S African one runs and looks very original. Apart from our two the last one is owned by a Michael Banfield and was very well restored in a civilan livery, but has not been taken out for about 40 years or so. Interestingly when it was taken out through the streets of London in the 1960's the owner comented that several old men stopped and saluted the Peerless as it went by. They were probably old soldiers who recognised it for its military vehicle heritage even though it was carrying beer barrells at the time. So anyway, best and favourite for now is Bovington's. But ask me again in 15 years time and i will give you a different answer i expect.

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197. I saw an old advertisement for Brunn's Carriage Manufacturing Co. recently. Brunn coacbuilders were the distributor for Peerless in the Buffalo, NY territory. A 1912 design on a 48-Six Peerless chassis was called "The Voltaire Limousine"...even including a "sword case" to be used to repel highwaymen(or hold umbrellas).

198. For 1913, The Henry Brunn Automobile Company and Peerless collaborated on another throwback to the 1700s with a "Limousine a' la Diligence" on a 48 H.P. 6-Cylinder Peerless Chassis. It looked much like a French Mail Coach.

199. Someone in Lisbon, Iowa wrote in the Buy/Sell Forum (2/24/12, "A 1906 Peerless or Something Close" by tbrayton) reporting his interest in finding an unrestored 1906 Peerless and that he has some parts for one, dating back to his Great-Grandfather's ownership of a 1906.

200. I read something surprising in a back-issue of the Peerless News Letterr recently: in a notice for the Peerless spare parts agency set up about 1931 in Detroit it said service & parts would be available "as long as one Peerless remains on the road"!

201. Many other companies have used the Peerless name since Peerless was founded in 1865. There was even a "Peerless Meat Bag Co." that made paper sacks you put over meat hanging up in a meat market. Someone had some for sale on ebay in March.

202. I got to look at a 1925 Peerless Salesman's Manual that listed February 23rd, 1924 as when the Peerless Superb Six was introduced. This 289 cu. in. six augmented the previously "all-V-8"* line much the same way the Single Six added to the "all V-12"* lineup for Packard in 1921.

203. *The "all V-8" for Peerless and "all V-12" for Packard policies were both adopted for the 1916 model year.

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204. I got a letter 4/17/12 with info about a 1926 Peerless I first learned about in a photo taken at a 1993 Tasmanian car show. Thanks to Ben Blunden of Tasmania, I know owner, location & model(6-80 Tourer).

205. The car above has been in Australia since new and probably was purchased at Automobiles Limited in Sydney. 1st owner was an Inspector of Police in Sydney. Apparently, this car was ferried down to Tasmania for a big VCCA-TAS car show in 1993.

206. The dealership in the message above were the purveyors of Armstrong-Siddeley, Bayliss-Thomas, Lancia, Marmon, Peerless, and Pierce-Arrow cars.

207. I received a wonderful letter last week from the owner of the above auto with all the data I requested awhile ago for inclusion in the Peerless list I keep {KPAIE}. In New South Wales, I believe. Great to hear that a car I wasn't sure of becomes well-documented!

208. 322 cars & trucks on KPAIE now!

209. I heard a rumor the 1913 Peerless up for auction at the Auburn event was clocked by the RCMP at 100 m.p.h.

210. Since the 1931 Master Eight Coupe in Canada is now an approved CCCA Classic...would that mean all Peerless Masters/Model "B"s are Classics? Please see "31 Peerless Sport Coupe" thread for photos.

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211. Has anyone heard of any Peerless trucks that survive in this country?

212. The Red & Maroon 1927 Peerless 6-90 Peerless boat tail roadster at the J & R Antique Auto Museum near Albuquerque sold. A very rare, very stunning automobile with the big aluminum crankcase engine!

213. Another stunning early Peerless is coming up for sale at the RM Hershey Auction in October: a 1915 48-Six 7-Pass. Touring. Beautifully-restored, 1-family car. Quite worth it to go to the RM site just for the views of the monster engine!

214. Has anyone ever heard of a Peerless which actor Fatty Arbuckle owned?

215. Any new Peerless owners out there? Please feel welcome to introduce yourself & tell us about your car! I understand there's a Peerless that just appeared in Australia: a blue 1930 6-81 Sedan.

216. Someone recently bought a pretty racy boattail roadster that was for sale near Albuquerque. The body is two-tone Red and Maroon...so I can't imagine it not attracting some attention somewhere. UPDATE: car is now in NY.

217. I read on peerlessmotorcar.com that the 1929 Peerless 8-125 is now considered a Full Classic by the Classic Car Club of America. It's even on their list of approved models on their site. The only 1929 Peerless model so far.

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Tim,

I bet there's one out there somewhere!

I saw the Peerless toolbox on e-bay, but had not read the text and thought it might have been one of those Model T accessories. The description seems to associate it with the Peerless Trucks instead. I don't know who bought it.

----Jeff

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218. It's official: the 1929 PEERLESS Model 8-125 is now considered a Full Classic.

 

219. There's a nice thread on the "Photo & Video Forum"("What Is It" section) called "ID this car I found in the Badlands SD in Sept 2012" posted about 10/23/12. It's about a car on a trailer no one could identify that turned out to be a Peerless.

 

220. Looking forward to hearing from the collector in Ohio who acquired several Peerlesses last year. Though the collection may be very private - it would help the Peerless Community to know the years, models, serial numbers, etc. Please send a Personal Message if you'd like.

Thank you.

 

221. Found a photo of a 1904 24 h.p. Mod. 8 Peerless at the London-To-Brighton Run in 1967. Don't know who the driver was. It looked like the well-known white Touring Car once in Burton Upjohn's collection, now possibly in Oklahoma.

 

222. I was looking at www.flickr.com and saw some incredible photos of a restored Brass-Era Peerless with 2 men and 2 women aboard. A red Touring Car -- I'd guess a 1907. The photographer took about 10 pics of the car driving up to the summit of Pike's Peak July, 2012.

 

223. I read that someone in Port Jefferson, NY bought a Peerless recently: a 1929 Model 6-81 Deluxe Sedan with dual side-mounts and six wire wheels. He is interested in restoring it in time to run the Lincoln Highway Centennial tour, New York City to San Francisco.

 

224. Found a color photo of a camo Peerless Truck: "British 13-pdr 9 ctw 3-inch Mount Peerless 5-ton Lorry France, 1918" on: http://armoredcars-ww-one.blogspot.com compiled by Jose Luis Castillo. On top of the lorry are 12 men and a boy in uniform.

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218. It's official: the 1929 PEERLESS Model 8-125 is now considered a Full Classic.

Jeff I was going to put together some notes and pictures for the CCCA to have the model recognized but discovered it had been added recently. When I was in Hershey I joined the club. I believe there are 5 other Peerless cars registered to the club which are all 1930-1931 years. Jeff what do you know about the 1926 boat tail roadster for sale in Oregon.

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model8125,

Thanks for writing! That's unusual that you were assembling a campaign to get the Eight-125 accepted and it just happened by itself. Maybe someone was laboring quietly behind the scenes after seeing your wonderful 7-Passenger Sedan at a tour or show. I even put in a plug for your car on the Peerless Parts For Sale Thread, post #15, 2 weeks ago. Something about a set of 8-125 cowl lamp brackets for sale in Finland for $260.

I don't know much more about the 1926 Roadster than what's posted. There was a Lakewood, WA newspaper story I read about a '27 Peerless Boat Tail Roadster showing up at a Model A club meet 40 years ago; a reference to a '26 Boat Tail Roadster being in Ross, CA 20 years ago; and there was a '26 Roadster in Portland, OR at one time(these may or may not have a connection to this car)...but that's about all.

---Jeff

P.S.: Sorry for all the enthusiasm for Eight-125s, but they are about my favorite Peerless model. If it came down to a choice between a 1901 Type "A" Tri-Cycle Motorette, an 8-125, and one of the missing V-16s....it would be a tough one. If I decided on an eight instead of a one or a sixteen, I'd take an 8-125 Victoria in Stutz Royal Red!

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Pete,

There was someone in the U.K. trying to sell his 1928 6-91 Sedan used in the wedding hire business last year whose car was RHD. It was ordered new for an American diplomat in Argentina, I believe, then shipped to England. That '29 6-81 d/s/m Black and Red Roadster for sale in Argentina may be RHD*. Most of the pre-1914 Peerlesses were RHD, of course. The only others I can think of are three of the four cars in Australia....and the '26, '28, and '29 South African Peerlesses.

As far as I know, the Peerless company archives disappeared after WWII. No one knows where they are.

----Jeff

*Who would want a roadster with wire wheels? Damned drafty thing to drive about, if you ask me!(I'm just kidding about the Roadster. If you're interested in it, please go to PRF #191 and click on the highlighted text to see some great photos.)

P.S.: I checked, and the 1929 Peerless 6-81 Roadster in Argentina has LHD.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Jeff I was going to put together some notes and pictures for the CCCA to have the model recognized but discovered it had been added recently. When I was in Hershey I joined the club. I believe there are 5 other Peerless cars registered to the club which are all 1930-1931 years. Jeff what do you know about the 1926 boat tail roadster for sale in Oregon.

John and Sherry,

Regarding the Boat Tail Roadster, I had a few things to add to the discussion, since you and Bryan Moran commented about it(there was a thoughtful post by Bryan[bJM] today on the Peerless For Sale Department thread). Who knows, maybe more than just three of us are interested in it. I think that it's a very interesting car, and it's neat that it has has shown up out of nowhere on this discussion board...regardless of any buy/sell or monetary aspects.

I don't know if any of you have read about three or four Essex and Hudson Boat Tails that are around. I think the Hudsons were just a styling exercise for the Auto Show circuit, but a fair number of Essexes were made. In one story, it was stated that Essex was the only low-priced boat tail in the 1925-35 period. Then, if you had money, you could buy a Packard, Pierce-Arrow or Duesenberg Boat Tail for "large money". The Stutz Boat Tails with Robbins bodies would be in that class, too. An Essex Boat Tail, being a lower-priced version of a Hudson, could be had for what was "small money". Since many people aren't too familiar with Peerless, it's not surprising that these Essex pieces didn't mention Peerless(how many people reading this have actually seen a Peerless Boat Tail, like the one the William Harrah Collection had?). I would lump the Peerless Boat Tails in with the Duesenbergs, Packards, Auburns, Franklins, Pierce-Arrows, and Stutzes.

What I wanted to add was that someone restored a car somewhat comparable to the Peerless Boat Tail in Oregon -- a 1929 Essex Speedabout. There are great pro photos of it if you look up "San Diego Collection Essex". This car was one of five built for the show circuit, had a no expense spared restoration, and I believe was sold last month at the Hershey RM Auction for $89,000.

I'm not too knowledgeable about Essex, but NADA GUIDES Classic Cars online shows 1928 Essex speedsters costing {$835}..........low retail/Hi retail:....$10,650/ $23,400

1928 Auburn 88 Speedster {$1,695} $41,000/ $121,300

1926 Auburn 8-88 Roadster {?} $17,600/ $47,600

A 1927 Essex Super 6 (Early) Speedster with a 3-main-bearing 145 cu. in. engine costing $750 is listed in classiccardatabase.com.

No Essex Speedster listed for 1926. NADA doesn't list Duesenberg, Stutz or Peerless. The '29 Essex Speedabout is one of five built, has a 161 cu. in. six w/ 55 h.p. Hope this is of some help. No Boat Tail Auburn seems to have been available in 1926, but NADA does list a Roadster.

The picture of the car from Oregon looks more like a Six-80 than the bigger Peerless models. I'll list factory prices and wheelbases for Traci's benefit. Peerless 6-80 Roadsters were $1,495 in 1926(116" w.b.). The 6-72 Roadsters were $2,195(126" w.b.). The big V-8 Roadsters ran $2,995(128" w.b., I believe).

----Jeff

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225. On the World War One site mentioned in PRF #224, there's a great color photo of two camouflage Peerless Trucks in the Latvian Army taken in 1935. Huge 13-pounder AAA guns on the back of each one...in a parade.

226. The Peerless Distributor for Los Angeles was Stanley W. Smith in 1924. The neoclassic building he had built that year stood untill 2012.

227. At the 2008 Monterrey Auctions, brass car dealer Dennis Collins sold 3 Peerlesses. The owner of the 1909 Mod. 19 is David Baird -- the 1912 48-Six Touring Car is at the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum In Fairbanks -- and the 1913 48-Six Roadster("The Car That Came In From The Sky") is now owned by Robert M. Pass.

228. The first car to reach Bullion on the "Cariboo Road" in British Columbia was a 1906 Peerless Model 14. Car went by rail from NY to Ashcroft, BC in 1907 to attempt the difficult wagon road. The mud was "over the wheels and through the radiator", but the Peerless made it!

229. The same Peerless was one of the first cars in Dawson City, Yukon Territory in 1907. To get there, it would have had to be shipped by steamboat from the Bering Sea up the Yukon River, or by loading the car on a White Pass & Yukon R.R. flatcar from Skagway to Whitehorse, something I actually did once.

230. Thanks to Nigel Leedham and Nancy DeWitt, both knowledgeable about Peerlesses, for info in the last two P.R.F. entries.

231. I heard from the collections manager at The LeMay, America's Car Museum in Tacoma, WA yesterday that they do not have a Peerless in their vast collection.

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232. Re: PRF #229,the Peerless ran out of gas on its trip to the gold mining town of Bullion, but made it the last stretch on a can of cleaning fluid found at a roadhouse on the way.

233. Re: PRF #230, the visit to Dawson City generated comments like: "it traveled almost noiselessly up & down the streets", "it would go anywhere horses & wagons could, except deep fords", and "it and a Pope-Toledo brought modern motoring to Dawson City".

234. I read that Budd Co. was used for some of Peerless' steel body parts in 1914.

235. Some Peerless drivetrain parts appeared FS on the Buy/Sell Forum today(12/27/12). More or less an entire drive train. Ad says 1928, but it may actually be a 1929 Model 6-61.

236. Peerless Owners Only: There is to be a joint Pierce-Arrow/Peerless meet in August, 2013. It will include 120-mile & 110-mile tours, a formal dinner, tours of auto collections, and a car show. Location: The Gilmore Museum, Hickory Corners, MI. Dates are: AUG. 23-25.

237. Peerless In Film: "The St.Valentines Day Massacre" with Jason Robards has a black 1929 8-125 Peerless 7-Passenger Sedan in it, according to John Knight. At the time, this long, straight-8 7-P Sedan was owned by Universal Studios.

238. The same great car reportedly was in a 1970 movie called "Le Voyou". I watched a YouTube clip of the 1st 2 minutes of the film and it does sort of look like a '29 Peerless 8-125. A black car full of gangsters & showgirls pulls up, there's a shoot-out and then some dancing.

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239. In 1918, the Peerless Dealer in KCMO was The Gridley Motor Car Co.

 

240. The W.F. Stewart Co. built bodies for both Peerless and Buick. 1 of 35 companies building for Peerless. According to "Dave_B" on the Buick Pre-War Sub-Forum, 2/18/13,they built some open bodies for Buick in the 1908-1934 timeframe. Some 1927 Pontiacs had Stewart bodies, too.

 

241. I got info from Peerless Owner Bob DeBone in Hawaii recently stating that George E. Staley of Norwich, NY was recorded by the CCCA as owning a Full Classic 1927 Peerless Model 8-69 in 2003. This is a car previously believed to be a Model 6-80.

 

242. Recently saw a photo of the ballet star Najinsky at the wheel of Peerless V-8 Roadster in 1916. (FS on e-Bay)

 

243. The radically-new Peerless design of 1902 was so popular that they sold out their entire production capability by July.

 

244. At the NY Auto Salon(Nov 1923), coachbuilt-bodied Peerlesses were displayed by Springfield and Merrimac.

 

245. The other U.S. automakers at the NY Auto Salon were Cadillac, Chrysler, Cunningham, Duesenberg, Lincoln, Locomobile, Marmon, Packard, Rolls-Royce, and Winton.

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246. On 2/2/24, the Troy Times printed photos of these "CARS IN THE PUBLIC EYE THAT HAVE SPEED AND POWER":

  1. PACKARD SINGLE SIX WITH "MERITAS" BODY
  2. LOCKE VESTIBULE SEDAN ON LOCOMOBILE CHASSIS
  3. LOCOMOBILE SEDAN, BUILT by LOCKE AFTER LE BARON DESIGN
  4. ROLLS ROYCE SEDAN
  5. 4 PASSENGER LINCOLN BERLINE COACH WORK by JUDKINS
  6. PEERLESS 2 PASSENGER COUPE ROADSTER COACHWORK by SPRINGFIELD BODY CO.
  7. ISOTTA FRASCHINI SUBURBAN COACHWORK DESIGNED by LE BARON
  8. 5 PASSENGER MINERVA SEDAN BODY, BUILT by VAN den PLAS of BRUSSELS

247. 2 out of 10 Peerlesses were exported, with dealerships in 46 countries according to company literature.

 

248. New owners of a rare straight-eight Peerless are Brando & Joanne Pistorius of Florida. Congratulations!! They are frequent readers of the Peerless Forum...so maybe we'll hear from them.

 

249. When the Stanley Smith Peerless dealership opened their new building in Hollywood in 1924, one of their featured cars shown in this neoclassical building was the new Peerless Six Roadster. The building stood until about November, 2012.

 

250. Mr. Edward T. Stotesbury, an enormously wealthy Philadelphian, preferred to own Peerlesses, Chryslers, and Buicks.

 

251. I found on a Lubrication Points Peerless 6...MODEL -- 61A, 6-81, YEAR -- 1930 chart FS on ebay: "Serial Nos. 61A - C615,451 and Up".

 

252. On same chart: "Serial Nos. 6-81 - C812,901 and Up." The significance of these is that it gives us the serial numbers for the seldom seen 1930 Peerless 6-cylinder models, built from September, 1929 on.

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253. A beautiful 1927 Peerless Boat Tail Roadster was shown at the Morgan Adams Concours in Denver, Colorado last August. It is green & yellow 2-tone w/ disc wheels and a tan top.

254. Hopefully, the owner of the '27 in P.R.F. #253 will show it at the Peerless Show and Tour this August! Certainly the only Peerless Boat Tail Roadster to be shown west of the Mississippi in recent years.

255. I wrote a story for the Peerless Co-Operator last week about the New York City Branch of the Peerless Company: a 9-story building at 57th & Broadway. 3 floors were cars for sale & 2 were for repairs. 9th floor was the paint shop.

256. I talked to someone this week from Colorado who actually met Peerless collector Roscoe Stelford, Sr. from Pingree Grove, Illinois. Roscoe told him that he started buying Peerlesses in the 20s & 30s because "they were so reliable they never turned up in junkyards".

257. I'm going to the Peerless tour, meet, and show {AUG 23-25, 2013} at The Gilmore Museum in Michigan. Anyone else?

258. Please remember that Peerless Motor Car Club members are welcome at this years Pierce-Arrow Gathering At Gilmore {August 23-25, 2013}. Don't have to bring a car or own a car to attend.

259. As all of you know who are members of the Peerless Motor Car Club and use KPAIE [PMCC membership and having an email address are 2 requirements to use this database of surviving cars], there are lots of 1929 Peerlesses.

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260. If all of the known 1929 Peerlesses showed up at this summer's joint Pierce-Arrow/Peerless Meet in Michigan, we would outnumber the Pierce-Arrows!!

261. Had a nice visit with the Site Manager of the National Road/Zane Grey Museum, an Ohio Historical Society property in Norwich, OH. They have a restored 1930 PEERLESS Model Six-61A in their collection, donated 20 years ago by Dr. William G. Howell.

262. The above museum was not too familiar with the Peerless Motor Car Club but plans to join. It's pretty hard to imagine having a Peerless and not a membership in the Club. Remember, museums are welcome to join, not just individuals.

262. I spoke with the owner of a 1908 Peerless today. He still has it, but has a different mailing address now that is different from the one on the PMCC 2007 Roster of members & owners. Still in NJ. I've never seen a 1908 Peerless...probably because there's just one left out of the 1,325 made! 1st model year for the Six.

263. Derick Adams of Quebec will be attending the Gathering at Gilmore.

264. Matt Lynch of NY will be attending the Gathering.

265. If all of the 1927 Peerlesses showed up at The Gathering at Gilmore, I think we would outnumber the Pierce-Arrows.

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I do what I can. Thank you!

I guess I could take inspiration from the greatest call-to-arms song ever written, "By The Rising Of The Moon" and pen some similar verse:

Oh say there, Peerless owner, why do ya hurry so?

Hush me Dougal, hush and listen, for it's almost time to go.

I bear orders from the Event Chairman, get you ready and look alive,

For the cars must be together, August 23 to 25.

Then tell me Sean O'Farrell, where The Gathering is to be,

At The Gilmore Car Museum, quite well known to you and me.

One more word first, signal captain, whistle up the marchin' tune,

For the cars must be together, just up the road from Kalamazoo.

400 cars in the Museum, 200 miles to tour,

Pierce owners want to meet us, and compare a thing or two.

This Gathering At Gilmore, will have lots of brass and chrome,

Put your cars up on your trailers, and head out from your home.

Though Cadillacs and Duesenbergs, outnumber us, it's true,

Don't forget the Peerless legacy, and Barney Oldfield, too.

Far beyond just mass production, the word was "lux-ur-y",

Bring your car to Hickory Corners, for everyone to see.

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That's a good one. You should record this and we will ad it to the Peerless March. "The land of the Buckeye State with its lake oh so fair----------------land of wealth and happiness-----home of the Peerless Car---------America shouts out her praise" and so forth. The Peerless song and the Peerless march, I had these recorded and available at our Peerless meet in Cleveland in 2001. I will bring some to Gilmore if anyone is interested. RHL

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266. Among the most knowledgeable Peerless experts anywhere, Richard Lichtfeld and Don Bettes plan to attend the Peerless/Pierce-Arrow Gathering at Gilmore August 23-25, 2013.

 

267. The 1st Annual National Peerless Meet was a success, with a third as many Peerless cars as Pierce-Arrows! You guys who have never seen a Peerless 331 V-8 missed something....there were three there!

 

268. As I already posted here a week ago before it was erased by a malfunction on the site, I found an interesting item for sale on e-bay in September. Someone had an original Body Serial # Plate for a Model "C" Peerless, which isn't really unusual. I decided to write down the # and it was 70,555.

 

269. If you look up the serial number on the Peerless Forum thread "How To Identify Your Peerless", you might find something unusual about it. Fortunately, a member of the Peerless "Board of Directors" was able to buy it.

 

270. All of us who attended the Saturday night meeting of the Peerless Motor Car Club at the First Annual Peerless Meet were made Board Members by Club President Richard Lichtfeld.

 

271. I bought a 4-page magazine article recently that had a few "new" photos of cars, but it was interesting to see a couple of glaring errors. One was that the surviving V-16 has a Pininfarina body. That was a good one! There were also photos of cars with the 1923/1924-only rad shells captioned as "1926 Peerlesses".

 

272. A fascinating bit of car history was for sale on Ebay & the AACA Forums yesterday. George Albright has an original brass ID Tag that says "De Dion Bouton Motorette, Brooklyn, NY". It's 4 or 5 hundred dollars....but has some kinship to Peerless.

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273. PRF # 272 is interesting because Peerless built parts for De Dion Bouton, built De Dion Bouton cars in Brooklyn, and built De Dion Boutons under license in Cleveland for a year or so -- just as Pierce did in Buffalo.

274. In 1903, Cleveland had the highest per-capita ownership of cars in the U.S., and a total of 1,200 cars, mostly built in Cleveland, of course.

275. I got to examine the three Peerlesses in The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum October 7th: it was hard to decide if I liked the 1905, 1914, or 1932 best. What would you pick, the Four, Six or Sixteen?

276. The same day, I got to see a Peerless bicycle someone in Cleveland has for sale. Maybe the only one in existence.

277. I got to meet Ralph Cartonio at the Peerless Motor Car Club tent at Hershey this year. He has the largest collection of Peerless cars known.

278. I've been studying Peerless cars and trucks for 7 years now but have only seen 15 in person. How about the rest of you members? I know Matt Lynch has seen at least 8, and Bryan Moran 2. I think Gord Linkletter has seen 8 or so.

279. 3 weeks ago I was on a plane and an engineer told me about someone in Enumclaw, WA with a Peerless Truck(none appear to have survived in the US). Tracked down the owner and it turned out to be a Mack instead of a Peerless, but it did have chain drive.

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Guest pigwolfer

Has anyone ever seen one of these? Peerless Girl IV - original lithograph in original frame from 1903... I'd love to find out more information on this if anyone knows anything........ thanks!post-96615-143142202224_thumb.jpg

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post-96615-143142202178_thumb.jpg

post-96615-143142202201_thumb.jpg

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For more information go to the Peerless Motor Car web site. There were 11 Peerless Girls that were used in ads in 1904 & 1905. If you sent in 10 cents they would send you a frame-able copy of the girl without the ad. They are very similar to the Gibson Girls except these are pen and ink drawings. I have not been able to find out any information on the artist, S Crosby B. Might have been a pen name. The Peerless Girls were copy righted by the Peerless Motor Car Company. RHL

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280. Definitely look at the poster girl for Peerless in Post #110. One of 12 "Peerless Girl" illustrations. This original artifact is 110 years old. The Peerless Girl pre-dates the Dodge Girl quite a bit!

281. Read on a respected museum site{The Smithsonian Institution} that Peerless "made buggies before cars", that "their 1st car was the Green Dragon race car" and that "their 1st cars weren't built until 1902". They didn't build buggies, the GD came after 3 years of passenger cars, and Peerless began building cars in 1900.

282. I saw in a December, 2013 magazine a 1924 Peerless shown at the 1923 New York Salon(Merrimac Town Brougham Body on Peerless chassis). Page 56 of Hemmings Classic Car. The car had a Meritas leather cloth body.

283. I heard from Derick Adams that he bought about 1/3 of a 1928 Mod. 8-69 Peerless FS in BC, Canada: engine, rad shell, cowl, 4 fenders, 2 doors, 4 wheels , a hood and a dash. The body is by: "Motor Coach Works, Toronto".{known Peerless Coachbuilder No. 38}

284. As you know, the Peerless Motor Car Corporation changed from manufacturing luxury cars to beer in the early 1930s. Their profits for 1946 were $2,000,000. Anyone happen to know the sales?

285. In PRF #281, the impression that Peerless didn't build cars until 1902 may be traced back to some sales lit on the museums blog in which the co. implied they didn't really make cars until ones of their own design appeared ca. 1902. I guess they were downplaying the little 2 and 3 HP Motorettes they started building in 1900.

286. Some day, I'll attempt to get an illustration posted from the museum blog mentioned above showing some wonderful illustrations circa 1910 from Peerless trade literature.

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287. Found in The American Machinist, 1931, VOL 75, pg 292: "Peerless Motor Car Corporation is about to present aluminum alloy line of cars...frames, engines, bodies, axles...Sixteen-cylinder line to weigh a thousand pounds less..."

288. I was able to verify a detail Maurice Hendry wrote in his chapter in the 1973 AQ, "The Peerless Story". I was reading a history of the A.O. Smith Co. and this acknowledged that their first order for stamped c-channel steel frames was indeed the Peerless Co. in 1902.

289. A.O. Smith went from the biggest maker of bicycle frame tubing in the 1890s to building c-channel frames for Peerless (1902) and eventually others. They still build frames for GM (2013).

290. Here's a puzzle for you. Of all the products Peerless manufactured, which one was famed industrial designer Raymond Loewy, often associated with Studebaker, connected with?

291. I found a site with a lot of Peerless ads for sale. One that caught my eye was promoting the 1928 Peerless V-8 line, the Eight-69. I had never seen such an ad for this last year of V-8 production.

292. Saw an ad FS today where Peerless stated 1 million dollars were invested in developing the new 6-61 model, and they had received orders for 8,236 in one day. This was the firm's 4th & last year experimenting with building both luxury and medium price models.

293. A year later, a half million was invested in streamlining production and going from one line of eights and three lines of sixes, to three lines of eights with Alexis de Sakhnoffsky-designed coachwork.

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294. I saw a trophy for sale on ebay yesterday from the Bay State Auto Assn. Gymkhana in 1906 for "Best Braking". Silverplate, currently at $50. Won by J.L. Snow, driver for the Peerless Motor Car Co. Another Peerless won the "12 MPH Race" at this Boston event.

295. There's a guy in Lisbon, Iowa with a garage full of 1906 parts, and another guy in Colorado with a perfect 1906 Peerless. That's all the 1906's there are, so there won't exactly be a stampede of "ought-six" Peerless owners trying to buy the trophy.

296. If every model year of Peerless car survived as well as the 1929s --- we'd have 1,600. Still not as many as surviving Pierce-Arrows, but 4 times what we know of. That would also make Duesenbergs rarer than Peerlesses!

297. There's an old saw about Peerlesses not coming up for sale very often. Right now, though, there are five for sale on the forums and on ebay, four 1927's and a 1929.

298. We're eager to hear if Mr. Szymon, the new owner of the 1925 Peerless 8-67 got his car shipped to Poland successfully. I was actually AT the 2013 Hershey Meet and never got to see this interesting car from North Carolina.

299. The 1906 trophy in PRF# 293 was purchased successfully on ebay by a Peerless Motor Car Club member(the owner of a '31 Custom 8).

300. Two 1930 Peerless Model "A" Sedans are for sale as of 5/2/14 on the Peerless Forum. 2003 of these are recorded as being built.........7 or 8 still exist, to the best of my knowledge.

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301. I heard from AACA Forums member "Great War Truck" today that a Peerless Truck will come up for auction next month in the U.K. Now that's a rare occurrence! We're talking chain drive, nearly 100-years-old, not some wimpy modern truck.

302. Update...It will be a Bonhams Auction {in England} June 13th and 14th. The owner was Michael Banfield. Truck restored in the 60s in brewery truck livery. About 50 vehicles FS, many commercial, but also a 1904 Clement Talbot, 1904 Mors, 1906 Minerva, 1914 Rolls-Royce, and 4 Sixties Jags.

303. This Peerless Truck sold for $72,173. Maybe the new owner will write us regarding his or hers purchase. General location would be fine {i.e., "a private museum in France"} or if you like to share vehicle info, as Jay Leno does, that would be fine, too {i.e., "now proudly owned by Quenana Hefner of Punkin' Center, Nebraska"}.

304. We'll have a PMCC booth at Hershey again this year, David Baird tells me. Now's the time for all good men (or people interested in Peerlesses) to step forward and throw in with us to man the booth. There MIGHT even be room for someone to display their Peerless there this year... _ _ _Plans may have changed._ _ _*

305. David trailered his 1909 all the way from California to display it in the Peerless Motor Car Club booth last year. Maybe there is someone with a Peerless who is closer than 2,632 miles away. That would be almost everyone except 42 in Europe, Alaska, Africa, Argentina and Australia. _ _ _Plans may have changed_ _ _*

306. I forgot Hawaii! That still leaves 80% of Peerless cars and trucks closer to Hershey. David, PMCC Events & Membership Chairman, says we may have room for 2 or 3 cars. Limited to 1900-1932 Peerless cars/trucks/armoured cars, 1st come, 1st served. _ _ _Plans may have changed._ _ _*

307. There's a Peerless owner in South Africa whose family has had their 1926 boattail roadster since new. One of the accessories they bought from their dealer was a Peerless logo cigarette lighter. Has anyone ever seen one?

*<<< David Baird and I were planning on this. He recently died(9/16/14) and I am not in a financial position to travel there and back. Also, we have no takers so far to display their Peerless or to help run the booth. >>>

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308. One of the most desirable Peerlesses out there is the yellow Model 6-72 Roadster that was in Bill Harrah's collection. Disc wheels....aluminum 289 engine{pg 98 of the AQ book}. I thought I'd put out an APB. Does anyone know where it is now? This racy and stunning car seems to have disappeared. [Update: found in California.]

 

309. There's an interesting photo of a Peerless which just appeared under "Can anyone I.D. this Town Car?" on the "What Is It" sub-forum of the "Photo and Videos" Forum. Looks like 2 men working on a circa 1910 Limousine.

 

310. I came across a tidbit of Peerless history on e-Bay recently. Someone had a diecast model of a 1931 Peerless FS. The sellers claimed the car it's modeled from (survives) was President Herbert Hoover's Campaign Car for the 1932 Election. Has anyone else ever heard this story?

 

311. Great picture of one of the top-of-the-line American cars: on "Photo and Videos Forum"/"What Is It?" subforum/"PLEASE Identify this car" thread. By "Rosie", 7/15/14. The Green Dragon I.D.'d it as a 1910 Peerless. Rosie is trying to find info on her Grandfather and hoping the photo will provide some clues.

 

312. Many detailed photos of the 1915 Peerless Truck appeared on the General Discussion forum thread "50-Vehicle-Auction In England" today(7/20/14), taken by an authority on Peerless Trucks who was at this Bonhams auction.

 

313. The 1915 Truck went to New Zealand. New owner Sir Peter Jackson. Hats off to him for his good taste!

 

314. It's possible* the 1 remaining 1924 Peerless 6-70 [last heard of FS in Hemmings about 9/13] may have been sold new at the Hollywood Peerless dealership opened June, 1924. Car repainted at Wheeler Finish, L.A., CA; had a low ser.#; and possiblly a prototype body.

* Just a hunch, garnered from recent information about the Stanley Smith Peerless dealership building on Sunset Boulevard, 1924-2012.

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315. In the HMN that arrived today there were 3 Peerlesses FS. One a 1926 in British Columbia, plus two 1932 Peerlesses in Texas which no one seems to have heard about for twenty-eight years until their re-discovery and successful purchase. Please see www.petesclassiccars.com for details.

316. The cars in the post above are the same ones on the list of Full Classics in the CCCA Roster that Owen Dyneto sent us back in 2008 (please see "Peerless CCCA List" thread started in 2008). Car #3 and car #6 were 2 of only 6 Peerlesses on that roster. Owner: William Backer, Fulton, MO.

317. The 1910 Peerless Model 27 Ted Oney of Oklahoma City used to own is now in Colorado.

318. One recommendation for Peerless Trucks in 1918 came from The Front and said one Transportation Company started with 100 trucks of different makes and after a year only 30 were left, all Peerlesses!

319. David Baird passed away September 16th, 2014. He was the Peerless Motor Car Club's Membership and Special Events Chairman and contributed greatly to the club.

320. David owned a 1909 Peerless Model 19 Roi des Belges Touring Car.

321. In October, a 1922 Peerless Opera Coupe sold at the Philadelphia Bonhams Auction. A 1923 Peerless Raceabout was sold to Antique Car dealer Tom Laferriere of Rhode Island. A 1929 Peerless 6-61 Sedan was sold at a Dragone Bros. Auction in CT.

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Hi. Great idea posting all this information. I am a Jordan guy whose searches have overlapped through the years with Peerless. Living in Cleveland, Ohio, both of these fine vehicle makes were produced here and it seems every few years something pops up. I haven't had a chance to read all of your pages, but I wanted to throw this out there. There is a 2-toned green Peerless Boat Tail Speedster buried in a garage here in Cleveland, Ohio. I am not sure if anyone knows about it or not. I don't think the owner wants to be bothered. I don't think it's been on the road in a very long time. Obviously, the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum is a huge resource for information. Hooked to the Auto Museum is the Western Reserve Auto Museum Library. We've been digging through the Jordan material there for years. Never had the time to look for Peerless information. It is a great Museum/Library to spend an afternoon in. If anyone's Peerless travels have overlapped with Jordan Motor Car Corporation, please let us know. Thanks!

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jwilli43,

Thanks a lot for writing on this PRF thread. I should have it printed, now that it's book-length. I often find neat things about other cars when looking for Peerless data. Have you ever read the story about the guy who spent 20 years trying to track down the Jordan "Z" Speedway Ace somewhere in Cleveland? That model and the Custom and Master 8 Peerlesses shared the same engine. Wonderful to hear about that Peerless Boat Tail Speedster. Exactly the kind of messages we hoped to attract when Wayne Burgess, Bryan Moran and I started the Peerless Forum seven years ago. The car doesn't sound familiar. If you know the owner's last name, please send it to me in a PM so I can see if it matches anybody on my spreadsheet listing cars and owners (KPAIE). I was able to visit the Crawford last year for an hour while on a mission to track down a rare Peerless engine, but did not get to see the library. ----Jeff

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jwilli43

That boat tail roadster would be a fine automobile, worth trying to locate. In June 2115 we are having a meet in Cleveland of all Cleveland built automobiles and trucks. We are combining that with our national Peerless meet. I hope the Jordan owners are notified of this. Will be fun to all get together.

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322. I was looking on PreWarCar.com and saw one Peerless listed, a 1913 48-Six Roadster, for $295,000. That's a lot of money, but you get the only 1913 Peerless "48" Roadster around, an interesting provenance, and a 578 Cu. In. engine. Maybe you get free delivery if you pay the asking price.

323. The H.O. Harrison Co. was a Peerless Dealer in 1910. In 1935, it was an Auburn Dealer. Location: 1625 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. They also had the Los Angeles Peerless dealership.

324. 23,209. I was doing some number-crunching and came up with this as the number of Peerless cars sold between 1900 and 1915. Prices started at $4,000 during most of this time. An average of $3-5K/car gives us sales revenue of $70,000,000-116,000,000, more than I thought.

325. I used to say Peerless started building cars in 1900 and sold $100,000,000-worth of them. It would be more accurate to say $300,000,000!

326. After a 7-year search, I finally got to talk to the current owner of the 1927 Peerless Model Six-72 Sport Roadster Bill Harrah used to own. Pictured on page 98 of the Peerless research guide Maurice Hendry wrote 40 years ago -- Automobile Quarterly, VOL 11, NO 1, 1973.

327. Re: the number of Brass Era Peerlesses built (see PRF #324), KPAIE shows about 50 still in existence. Many succumbed to the "3 Rs" (Rust, wRecks, and Recycling), but more could be out there that I just don't know about.

328. I read 2 days ago on Old Cars Weekly that the PEERLESS CO-OPERATOR magazine, Editor Lis Nichols, won a Golden Quill Award for a national publication of intermediate size for 2013.

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