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Peerless Coachbuilders


jeff_a

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Bodies from these firms have been used on Peerless cars; custom, semi-custom and production (many of these are described on the excellent coachbuilt.com site):
1. Austin
2. S.S. Albright
3. Bela Body Co.(Massachusetts)
4. Biddle & Smart
5. Brewster, Long Island City, NY
6. Brooks-Ostruk
7. Brown (Cleveland, OH)(hearse and ambulance bodies in the teens and 20's)
8. Brunn, Buffalo, NY
9. Budd (1923 Limousine photo in Standard Catalog)
10. Croall & Croall
11. James Cunningham, Son & Co. (built custom bodies for Peerless 1909-12)

12.  De Ley, Holland...cabriolet or convertible victoria coachwork exhibited at 1930 Amsterdam Autosalon
13. A. T. Demarest, NY, NY (in 1923 they built LeBaron-designed Sporting Roadsters, & there was a 1923 Demarest-Peerless Town Car at the Chicago Auto Salon)

14. Denison Body, 1219-29 Main St., Buffalo, NY

15. J.J. Derham (phillyhistoryblog.org 9/29/17)
16. Fisher
17. Gotfredson

18. Gustafason
19. Hayes Body Corp., Grand Rapids, MI
20. Holcker Manufacturing Co., K.C., MO (built Peerless hearse bodies 'till early 20s).
21. Hume Body Corp., Boston, MA

22. Humer-Binder Co., NY, NY

23. J.M. Coachbuilders, New Jersey(mentioned p. 133, PEERLESS AUTOMOBILES IN THE BRASS ERA: 1900-1915)
24. Judkins
25. C.P. Kimball
26. Theodore Kundtz Co., Cleveland, OH

27. Lang body Co., 1915-1919(Auto. Manuf. of Cleveland & Ohio, p. 17)

28. Leahy Coach Works, Schaumburg, IL

29. LeBaron (pic of LeBaron Sedan on Peerless Chassis in Motor Age, p 12, 12/14/22)
30. Meritas Fabric Body Corp., Los Angeles, CA
31. Merrimac Body Co.
32. A.J. Miller (the only known surviving Peerless professional car reported to be bodied by them)
33. Moore & Munger
34. Motor Coach Works, Toronto, Canada
35. Mullins, Salem, OH
36. Murphy, Pasadena,CA
37. Murray
38. Peerless Body, Cleveland, OH
39. Pullman, Chicago, IL (one 1924 Peerless has been found with a Pullman body)
40. Quinby, Newark, NJ
41. Raulang, Cleveland, OH
42. Rollston
43. Rubay, Cleveland, OH
44. C.T. Silver
45. Springfield
46. W.F. Stewart Co
47. Walker-LaGrande
48. Weymann (photo of 1931 Limousine in Standard Catalog)
49. Willoughby Coach
50. C.R. Wilson

Edited by jeff_a
Latest coachbuilders added are Lang, LeBaron, De Ley, Humer Binder, Leahy, and Rubay. (see edit history)
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Jeff,

Peerless built there own bodies for many years, more than just the 1901 &1902. They also sold their chassis so the owner could take it to any couch builder and have a custom body put on it. The Boston Peerless branch specialized in building custom bodies for buyers. Some Peerless owners liked the mechanics of the car so well that when the car was a few years old instead of trading it in they would take it to a couch builder and have an all new body installed. This is what is sometimes confusing to the collector that has a certain year car but a newer body on it.

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RHL,

Thanks for replying. I read a description of the Peerless factory once that said there were shops there for building every part of the car except the wheels, but I didn't know what years the bodies were made there, except for the 1-cylinder cars. Please add the names of other coachbuilders if you are aware of any I missed. ----Jeff

Edited by jeff_a (see edit history)
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  • 2 years later...

Steve,

I had never heard that the 1931 Club Sedan had a Woods or Wood body. I know Budd built limousine bodies for some 1920s Peerlesses, and there was a semi-custom line by the company that made the Zapon fabric bodies (Weymann), but most of the 30-32s had Sakhnoffsky-designed Hayes Coach bodies. Interesting if that's the case.

I read that one of Jay Leno's Duesenbergs has a body by the J.R. Wood Co.

Edited by jeff_a (see edit history)
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You could always look into the "1927(?) Peerless 8 Project on Craigslist" thread here on the Peerless Forum. A real barnfind {and a really misleading title}. It looks like it may be a 1931 5-Passenger sedan.

Edited by jeff_a
I always wanted to say that I was an editor for the AACA! (see edit history)
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Jeff, I recently heard of a '28 Peerless that may be available locally, a friend who is not a forum regular is interested. As I learn more I will share it here, as I imagine the Peerless group is small enough to be interested in each new "find".

Nice cars, the Custom 8 designation, club sedan bodystyle, condition and CCCA eligibility drew me to Tom's car, but I just was not ready to pull the trigger.

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  • 2 weeks later...

There was a pretty nice-looking 1927 Peerless Model 6-80 Sedan for sale on e-bay about 2 months ago in Stamford, CT (A photo is on Photo & Video Forums, What Is It? sub-forum, 9/20/11, "Idenity", Post# 16 that may have been it).

If you want to see a really nice 1928 Peerless Model 6-91, look at the second photo under the caption "Images" about 3 inches to the left of this paragraph. That one's in Massachusetts and doesn't happen to be for sale. There's a nearly identical (7-Pass. slightly-longer-wheelbase) Peerless with the same aluminum 289 engine in Iowa.

Edited by jeff_a (see edit history)
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Jeff, I will see my friend at the next regional board meeting, postponed form last week due to our storm damage here in CT. He may have bought it -will keep you posted. The Stamford car could be it, as I could have the year wrong. The car you pointed me to looks pretty nice though, and I think he had a number around $20K or maybe even a bit less, and that looks like a little more car than that to me... :)

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There are a couple of great things about Peerless cars besides being an outstanding part of automotive history.

One is that someone like your friend in Connecticut can find a more recent one for not too much money because most of the surviving cars are more recent: 1926 through 1932. There are a few earlier Peerless cars which remain, but these machines, whether 1-, 2-, 4-, or 8-cylinder, tend to be very expensive. I'd say that at least half of the survivors are Model 6-60s and 6-80s, similar to that 1927 or 1928 car we're discussing. There is one 1921 Peerless, but there are more than 50 1929s that I know of that still exist. The 6-60 & 6-80 lines were the two least-expensive of the four or five models Peerless had in the '27-'28 time-frame...built as mid-priced alternatives to the more luxurious sixes and eights in the 6-72/6-90/6-91 [very similar to each other with the same Collins Six engine] and 8-69 [Peerless 332 cu. in. V-8-engine, Full Classic] lines.

Another is the uncommon-ness of Peerlesses, to coin a word. No complete collection of American antique cars should be without a Peerless, Pierce-Arrow and a Packard, in my opinion...yet Peerless cars and trucks are too rare for every collection to have one (quite a conundrum, I know). There are far more surviving Pierce-Arrows and Packards than there are Peerlesses.

Uncommon but not trendy, so a person might be able to afford one someday.

Edited by jeff_a (see edit history)
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  • 2 years later...

In a thread called "Thinking of Selling My Peerless Hearse", it was mentioned that Holcker of Kansas City, MO produced bodies for Peerless professional cars until the early 20s. It appears that the same company was the Kansas City distributor for Peerless cars and parts in 1914.

Edited by jeff_a (see edit history)
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59ba09df1b005_Screenshot2017-09-13at10_32_27PM.thumb.png.3452dfa4230099a68f72214d6016fbb7.pngAnother company has been added to the Peerless Coachbuilders thread ------ now with 44 known firms. A Mrs. Fleischmann had a specially built roadster body made by Humer-Binder Co. of New York City for a standard Peerless Mod. 56 chassis, through the New York Peerless distributor, the Van Cortlandt Corporation. Features included 6 Rolls-Royce-style lamps, blue body with English vermilion running gear, wire wheels, and FOUR side-mount spares. There was a nice story about it in the October, 1920 Automobile Journal, where they estimated you could get one for yourself for seven grand. A little expensive, but you could spend more on a Locomobile or Pierce-Arrow 48 if you wanted.

 

UPDATE: Article and photo of the 1920 Roadster attached:

 

Edited by jeff_a (see edit history)
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  • 2 years later...

Hello everyone,

 

Although this is a slightly older topic, I came across is by chance the same day I received an old print in the mail for an Isotta Fraschini from 1923. As it was a cutout from a magazine, it had something on the back. To my surprise, an advert for a Paul-Ostruk Peerless! So I had to share it here. 

 

Maybe this can help breath some new life into the topic and more can still be discovered!

 

Tom DSC_0508.JPG.bd71a5dbffaa7acd7e067fe19db171f0.JPG

Edited by tomkonrad
Typo (see edit history)
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Thank you, Tom. I don't believe I've seen an illustration of a Peerless with coachwork by Ostruk. One of their best sellers for the all-V-8 1923 model year was similar, thought...by me...to be an in-house body. This is more of a Salon introducing the 1924s, being November, 1923, and makes 51 coachbuilders for Peerless. Paul Ostruk also bodied Minerva, Locomobile, Rolls-Royce, and Lincoln chassis'.

Edited by jeff_a (see edit history)
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59 minutes ago, jeff_a said:

Thank you, Tom. I don't believe I've seen an illustration of a Peerless with coachwork by Ostruk. One of their best sellers for the all-V-8 1923 model year was similar, thought...by me...to be an in-house body. This is more of a Salon introducing the 1924s, being November, 1923, and makes 51 coachbuilders for Peerless. Paul Ostruk also bodied Minerva, Locomobile, Rolls-Royce, and Lincoln chassis'.

Hi Jeff,

 

Glad to hear I could contribute something new! 

 

Perhaps someone can chime in on this... I know LeBaron did a lot of design and even body construction for Paul Ostruk. They designed and built "ghost" bodies for them and there would be no identifier of LeBaron on them. This could be just that. Either way, absolutely wonderful!

 

Tom

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Took awhile to find this, but here is the 1923 Peerless Model 66 "Four Passenger Opera Brougham" I mentioned from the previous model year, illustration found in a Lloyd's Literature original sales manual on E-bay{$224.95}. It is close, but a little different. Too bad none of these  have survived; quite an elegant design and one that would set you back $4,090...highest price for a non-custom-body Peerless that year. A 1924 Paul Ostruk-bodied Peerless would have cost more.

image.png.ca83488a9e4714392e9bfe8dcc88797c.png

Edited by jeff_a (see edit history)
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