jeff_a

Dear James, I'm sorry to hear about your father. Sincerely, Jeff

99. I was debating with another Club member recently whether Peerless 6's were built after 1929. From 1930-on, the company was supposed to be "all-straight-8"...but a number of 1930 and 1931 6-61A's and 6-81's keep turning up. 100. I read in a newspaper today ( the 2/9/30 Reading Eagle, Reading, PA, pg 36 ) a press release from a car dealer saying: "The present model 61A, a six-cylinder automobile of conservative price, will be continued, the Peerless executives said." The "Custom" and "Master" were already in production, but the "Standard" 8 wasn't, yet. 101. From Time Magazine, November 2, 1930: "Notable industrial developments last week were: ...Addition of about 500 men to the Peerless Motor Car Corp. payroll..." 102. Using PeerlessBelgium's "How To Identify Your Peerless" post...I came up with these figures for The Number of Peerless Cars Built 1930-1932 With Straight-8's, by model: "Standard": 2,032...."Master": 1,274:...."Custom": 652. 103. Peerless Film: There was a movie with a Peerless, Julia Roberts, Aidan Quinn, Alan Rickman, and Liam Neeson in it: "Michael Collins", 1996. Subject: conflicts in Ireland, 1916-22. They used a mock-up of a Peerless armored car on a genuine Peerless chassis. I got a copy on 3/11/10. 104. Someone in Ireland has recently restored a Peerless armored car and joined the Peerless Club. So that makes one in England, one in Ireland , and one that may be at a Russian military facility. I tried tracking that one down but ran into some language difficulties. 105. There's a really distinctive-looking 1920 Peerless in the Great Smoky Mountain Car Museum in Pigeon Forge, TN. It appears to be a 7-Passenger Sedan or Sedan-Limousine, each costing just under $4,000 new.

Bryan, Hadn't looked at the site for awhile, but thought I'd look at the other cars besides this Peerless to see if there was anything interesting. There were a couple that looked a little high and a couple that didn't seem that bad. I'm curious as to your opinion: '17 Ford Model T Touring, runs, has tires [$35K].........unrestored '32 Lincoln V-8 [$40K].........unrestored '32 Packard 903 Coupe[$75K]..........was a straight 8, it's gone, but they have a Packard V-12 to put in(?)....looks one or two hundred thousand dollars away from done '35 H-D w/ sidecar [$45K]........looks restored, but a little pricey '37 Lincoln-Zephyr "Pickup" [$4K]..........project w/ no bed, no motor, no headlights '22 Lincoln 12-Pass. Bus [$12K]........really neat, if in poor condition, looks like an 80-yr-old+ conversion '29 Chrysler Coupe [$5.5K]..........pretty good shape, really, has a six '40 LaSalle Convertible Sedan [$12K].........I love it when sellers actually describe these correctly as LaSalles instead of "LaSalle Cadillacs"! ----Jeff

92. Re: PRF# 88. Estimated value for Condition#5 1912 Model 60-Six Berline Limousine...$4,200. 93. Re: PRF# 88. Condition#4 1905 Model 12 60 HP Victorian Tonneau...$5,800. 94. Re: PRF#88. Condition#3 1906 Model 14 30 HP Racing Runabout...$9,500. 95. Re: PRF#88. Condition#1 1916 Model 56 7-P Touring...$35,000. 96. Re: PRF#88. Condition#1 1925 Model 6-70 5-P (or 7-P) Touring...$33,000, #5...$4,700. 97. Re: PRF#88. Condition#1 1930 "Standard Eight" Sedan...$26,000, #2...$13,700,#3...$7,300, #4...$4,700, #5...$3,700. 98. Re: PRF#88. Condition#1 1931 "Standard Eight" Cabriolet...$39,000 (there's one of these out there somewhere)(please see "Peerless photo on eBay" thread from 7/5/08 for a photograph of a similar car).

My Grandpa's 1909 Raceabout was really great. I used to ride around in it with either he or my Dad driving, and got to crank-start it many times. Technically, I think it was a 1910 Model 16 or 17 Speedster (according to the 4-digit serial number and Dave Corbin), but that's what my Grandpa called it for 60 years. The car had RHD, the original tufted black leather bucket seats, a speedster fuel tank, speedster fenders, and a factory-delete radiator fan(more speed, you know). If you drove it slow it boiled-over, so it was a lousy parade car, but it worked fine if you drove it 20-60.

With those seven young-uns, I can see where this family's auto-repair money wound-up going!

Kim, I haven't read these 1983 Cars & Parts articles yet. Menno Duerkson's data was pretty helpful regarding when model year changes happened, and included some individual photos that were nice.

muzzy, Thank you for mentioning the PreWarCar listing of these two Pierce-Arrows. The owner or seller went into a little more detail, and shares with us that the Limousine is a straight eight and that the Coupe is a V-12. I don't doubt your assessment of the costs involved to restore these. They are both Full Classics. Maybe they'll find their way to someone with serious money and a lot of class and they'll be restored. Upon reflection, maybe they're not so overpriced, after all. 15 or 20 for a motor & transmission + 29 for the titles is a lot, but the new owner is going to be that far into it just for upholstery & paint, I think. I know they look like something that some cowboys abandoned 50 years ago, but there aren't hundreds of unrestored '36 Pierce-Arrows out there to choose from. Like it says, painted on the door of one of the cars, "1 of 787". Surely, anybody taking these Pierce-Arrows on realizes the project will cost more than a nice new house. Sorry to get carried away. I like the Limousine, myself. The Coupe is unusual, but the Limousine is more in line with what I think of when I think "Pierce-Arrow".

Robin Coleman, I'm sorry to take so long to reply. Your opinion was that the 1966 Ford pickup was the most attractive design. What I was going to tell you was that my boss at the body shop I work at in Idaho finished restoring one last spring. It is for sale, it is red, and has a 352 V-8. If you're interested, please send me a PM. Asking price was $25K last summer. ----Jeff

Kim, Thank you, but The Green Dragon sent me a copy of the June, 1975 article I was talking about in the 1st post quite a while ago. I should have mentioned it on this thread earlier. Cars & Parts did other stories which I've never seen, however. Sometimes I read references to articles that sound interesting, but I've never read. I was reading an excerpt of an article about Frank Hershey online once in which he said a SECOND V-16 was completed by Walter Murphy coachbuilders in '31. That would create an uproar if someone found that, don't you think? Might be the first Peerless to sell for over a million at an auction, if it still existed. It supposedly was a Blind Rear Quarter Sedan.

I have no idea where the two Pierces are actually located. I found the ad on "craigslist - New York - Financial District". I looked yesterday and saw that the ad was gone already. One of the photos had flora in the background consistent with southern Nevada or California. edinmass may know where they are.

1937hd45, A good idea for a thread, since a lot of us are suffering from cabin fever. Some of my friends in the Washington, D.C. area are even looking forward to the Spring Thaw this year! What I'd do if granted $100,000, no strings attached, for projects (remember, that means no taxes either): Buy a top insert, wiring harness, and interior for my 1930 Model A Coupe. Buy a 20 ft. canvas marquis tent. Buy a new set of 6.00 x 20" tires & tubes for my 1928 Peerless Roadster Coupe. Arrange to film an Amtrak commercial showing how you can go about anywhere and bring about anything with Amtrak. Drive to the nearest Amtrak station in Whitefish, MT with a pickup truck load of historic costume, camping gear, and my 27-ft. fur trade canoe. Buy a roundtrip ticket to Harrisburg, PA for my wife and I. Buy a train ticket for my friends Devon and Dawn in northern CA to Harrisburg & back, to include enclosed transport of their outstanding 1925 Peerless Dual Windshield Touring Phaeton to Hershey. This particular car is an unrestored example of an extemely rare body style (only one in the world) in a remarkable state of preservation. Please see the Peerless Forum thread "Peerless CCCA Classics" for some great photos of this car. Attend the Feast of the Hunters' Moon near Lafayette, IN (the continent's premier annual 1700's living history event) OCT 2 & 3. Attend AACA Fall Meet in Hershey OCT 6-9. I would help man the Peerless Club booth at Hershey this year. We'd set up the marquis tent and put the 1925 Peerless in it. Since most people have never seen a Peerless, we could charge to see the car as an attraction at our club's booth to help defray some of the expenses of bringing the car there from 3,000 miles away. I know this sounds like a major production, but, except for some car parts I snuck in there, it's simply five people going to a car show (the tent is to protect the car from the dust and rain of the famous Hershey weather). It's just that they live so far away it would be difficult to pull this off without a tidy sum of money. Not impossible, but difficult. The way I wrote it up, the commercial and the charging of admission to see the car would pay for a lot of it. I actually was considering going to Hershey by train last fall, and my round trip ticket would have only been $390. gossp, I've been to The Feast eight times, often bringing one of the voyageur canoes. You're right about the Saturday night dinners being nice. Haven't been there since 2001, though.

This is the same 1929 Peerless for sale by Tom Laferriere of Rhode Island a couple of years ago. Maybe it sold to someone in Toronto(?). Nice-looking 6-61 the way it's outfitted with the dual sidemounts, wire wheels and trunk. I don't remember who owns it, but someone in New England has a Model 6-61 Roadster. That would be nice to see someday. The entire world inventory of Peerless cars is very small...but there are still literally hundreds of them I have never seen. Did you ever get to see that 1927 Peerless that's in the Northeast Classic Auto Museum? This is the model that Peerless took 8,236 orders for in a single day at the New York Auto Show.

I'd like to go to Hershey...since it's thousands of miles away, it'd take about 3,000 to do that, even if I didn't buy any thing. On the way I'd stop at The Feast of the Hunters' Moon.

Rusty, I suppose in a pinch, a Pierce-Arrow/Seagrave engine would work for whomever got a Pierce-Arrow Coupe missing a motor. If it was me, I don't think I would care to use the larger of the two V-12's in a car, since it was never used in one to begin with, but the smaller one sounds like it may have had quite a bit of Pierce-Arrow lineage in it. I was thinking that the desirablity of 12-cylinder Pierce-Arrows would be so high that there just wouldn't be any spare engines around that weren't being used in cars. I could be wrong, though. Clearly, if we knew anyone who wanted to turn a large fortune into a small one, he could spend a lot on these two autos. I found them listed on a Craigslist - New York ad, by the way, and there were 4 color photos. I knew that the company's production continued from 1936 through 1938 at the rate of a few hundred per year -- but then the wonderful thing about Pierce-Arrow was not how many they made but how well they were made and the elegance of their design, in my opinion.

Just out of curiosity, I was wondering if it would be possible to find a Pierce-Arrow V-12 motor for a car that needs one, and how much one would cost. I am not planning on buying one, unless I find a gym bag full of hundreds on my way out to the parking lot today, but my curiosity was aroused by a for sale ad I saw 6 days ago. Someone had a 1936 Pierce-Arrow Limousine (seemingly complete), and a 1936 Pierce-Arrow Coupe (sans engine and transmission) which appeared to have been found out in the desert somewhere; the condition was low and the price was high [$29,000]. The ad did not give any clues as to whether these were eights or twelves, or the model #'s, but the photos of the Coupe were a close match to the stunning 1936 1602 V-12 Pierce-Arrow for sale on www.significantcars.com . Until a week ago, I didn't know that one could still buy a Pierce-Arrow rumble-seat Coupe as late as 1936.

Dear Docc, I think someone switched captions on you! Looks more like Bennington, Kansas during the spring thaw than Pike's Peak. The auto looks a little like a Franklin.

James, Welcome to the AACA Forums and thanks for the interesting story and photos of your 1937 Oldsmobile. I have to admit that I've never seen a '37 Olds like yours...that I can recall, anyway. Very nice streamlined design, very nice condition, and very nice color. Remember, whether you keep it or sell it, it's not just an ordinary car. If you were to keep it and fix it up a little, you could probably never go to a car show with it and find even 2 or 3 cars similar to yours. I'm not sure I believe your story about how you got the car, though. I think you've got a time machine and bought it off of a used car lot about 1938!

A really exceptional 1917 Peerless will be for sale at the Houston Classic Weekend April 29th-May 2nd. There will be a no reserve auction held by: www.WWGauctions.com on the 30th of 74 cars from the R.E. Monical Collection. I believe that this is the green Peerless restored by John Hollansworth and discussed here on the Peerless Forum on the thread "Peerless Photos", post #2 ( October 19th, 2007 ). My auction notice describes it as a "1917 Peerless Model 56 Two-Power-Range Cloverleaf Roadster".

I was reading a Peerless ad for sale on e-Bay today and saw some copy like this in their description of the Peerless V-8 cars: "Naturally, balloon tires are standard equipment. As are four-wheel hydraulic brakes." The ad was dated November 17th, 1924 and was commenting mostly on the vibrationless power and quietness of the engine. I've never heard exactly when the hydraulic brakes were introduced, though. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * There was a Peerless ad in a British magazine, The Autocar, that had some nice copy about their brakes: "Your wife or daughter can drive. The Peerless is fast -- it accellerates rapidly -- but it is essentially a controllable car. The most fragile lady driver can send it hurtling down the road all out and yet pull it to an I-N-S-T-A-N-T stop with a dab of her foot on the hydraulic brakes. She can start off in top gear if desired -- certainly she will never need to change down, except on the most freakish hills. Nervousness goes the moment you test the controls on this wonder car: always you feel that you are in charge and not the car. Peerless have been building luxury cars for 27 years -- hence you are not asked to spend money on experimental models. The Peerless is undoubtedly the easiest car to drive and one of the safest in the world. Prices from 445 Pounds****** 2 YEARS GUARANTEE ******PEERLESS The World's Wonder Car" ---11/11/27

I saw a list of the cars on an Old Cars Weekly site...and it looks like Mr. O'Quinn had two Model A Duesenbergs in the collection, as well as a 1929 Gardner Roadster, 3 or 4 Auburn Boat Tails, and 3 or 4 V-16 Cadillacs. Those would, of course, be a good start for a really stellar Classic-Era motorcar collection -- then you notice there were twenty-plus Model J Duesenbergs as well!

Thanks! I had never seen one before or had a car with a rumble seat. The car does have a roll-down rear window.

Is there such a thing as a rumble seat compartment heater? I found something in my car last week that I suspect may be one. It is a featureless sheet metal box, maybe 3"x3"x30", mounted as far forward and high as is possible in the compartment, with a fitting for a 3/8" copper pipe on the right hand side. There's also a 3/8" line that goes up to it from the (general) direction of the gas tank. There is no ducting, venting or heat register visible anywhere. The car is a '28 Peerless Boat Tail Coupe, and there is no heater in the front compartment of the car. I'm familiar with manifold heaters and the hanging-down-from-the-dashboard accessory heaters that run off of piped coolant water. This seems like an odd place for the car's heater, if that's what it is.