Richard Lichtfel

One of the problems with the history and models of Peerless is that there is so much misinformation out there. I have been collecting Peerless information for many years and have several hundreds of Peerless ads and articles about the company. I have also spent much time in Cleveland doing research at the libraries and news paper office. I have put all this information together and wrote the history of Peerless. I have not used information in other books with articles about Peerless because some of that information is not correct. Articles that were written by Peerless and ads that were proofed by Peerless are the best source of information. This is what I have primarily used. The Peerless six in 1924 was the Collins -Cadillac designed engine and referred to as the Superb-six. I do not have any breakdowns of this engine and I do not know what changes were made to it by Peerless over the years it was produced. What I need to do is put my copy together along with all the ads and print it. The copy with the ads and dates would be self explaining. What is confusing is the changes of management in the 20's and the model changes taking place at different times thru the year. The first year (1924) of the Peerless six was not referred to as the 6-70 but was called the Superb Peerless six in the ads for that year. The 6-70 didn't show up in ads until 1925. RHL

Cadillac engineers designed a six cylinder engine but for some reason didn't use it. This is when Collins raised 4 million dollars and was setting up his own company to manufacture and sell the Collins six.Most of his investors were Cadillac engineers, designers and sales people. The opportunity came to buy Peerless stock and take over the Peerless Automobile Co. and this is what they did. They sold the Collins six design to Peerless for $500,000 and Collins took a salary of $150,000 a year with a commission on sales. ALL of the new engineers, designers, and sales managers came from Cadillac, even McClenaghan, superintendent of maintenance, came from Cadillac. Do you have any doubt about where this engine came from??? 1924 New model 70 six cylinder 80 hp model 1925 model 6-70 Peerless engine 1926 6-80 Continental engine 63 hp 116 inch WB 6-70 Peerless 70 hp 126 inch WB 6-72 Peerless 70 hp 133 inch WB 8-69 Peerless 70 HP V-8 1927 6-80 same as 1926 6-72 same 6-90 takes the place of the 6-70 8-69 V-8 Late 1927 6-60 introduced taking the place of the 6-72 with a lower price. 1928 six-60 Continental 62HP 116 WB Six-80 116 WB Continental 63HP Six-90 Peerless 70 HP 120 WB soon to be replaced by the six-91 8-69 V-8 1929 6-61 same as six-60 6-81 same as six-80 6-91 same Standard 8 Continental 8 114 HP 130 WB 1930 all engines are Continental 8 cylinders The last Peerless 6 cylinder engine was the 6-91 in 1929 Does this match your records Jeff???

The 6-70 1924 Peerless was designed more by Cadillac than Peerless. Collins was the president of Cadillac and had a six cylinder engine designed. Evidently Cadillac didn't buy it so he set up a Corporation to build the Collins six and raised a lot of money. But instead of setting up his own company in June 1921 he and his associates bought control of Peerless. Not only the President and V.P went to Peerless but also the Cadillac engineers, designers and several sales people took over Peerless. The new Peerless six was the Collins six. The traditional radiator shape that was a Peerless marque changed and the new Peerless looked just like the new Cadillac. Collins had a salary of $150,000 and the stock holders brought a law suit against him and won. Collins resigns Dec. 1923. January, 1926 Peerless replaces the Collins six with a Continental engine. The owners of Continental Motors were also large stock holders of Peerless and tried to take over control of Peerless but fell short. Do you see why they started using Continental engines? RHL

I should give you my Email peerless@lichtfeldplumbing.com

I believe one of our _Peerless members has had some new ones cast. E mail me and I will give you his name and number..

The Lincoln is a Cape Top Phaeton and not a Town Car.

Many of the manufacturers had different names for them. Peerless had the 60 hp Pullman Limousine in 1904 that sold for $11,000. This is what most people would call a town car but Peerless never used that name They had the limousine and landoulet. The landoulet was the same as the limousine except the top over the passengers could open. The Peerless limousine was always designed with the owners compartment separate from the driver The 7 passenger surburban sedan and 7 passenger sedan didn't separate the drivers compartment. RHL

My 1917 Peerless is the same. The rim is different, not hinged. The glass is the same.

It's a Fjord !!!!!!!!

Touring cars were always windy in the back seat. In 1911 the Fryer company had an accessory windshield that could be mounted behind the front seat. This folded down. When the rear passengers were seated you could unfold this and pull it back in front of the passengers. There was a canvass that snapped in place to prevent the wind from going under the windshield. I have one on my 1916 Peerless, works good. Kind-ah pre-dates when most people think dual-cowled phaetons began. RHL

Contact: Standard Magneto Sales Co. 4119 West Grand Ave. Chicago, Ill. 60651-1897 773-235-2010 They have large inventory of early mag.s and parts. RHL

The discussion of body styles and names has been going on for years. It started with the names of the different carriages. phaeton, spider phaeton, coupe, rally cart, brougham, town coach, racing cart, roadster and so forth. When the horseless carriage arrived they used many of the terms from the carriages and some new names were added, "touring car, sedan & town car". The runabout, roadster, limousine, coupe and delivery wagon are all names from the carriage days. If you look in the early Dykes manuals they will describe the different models. Originally they were pretty basic, But over the years marketing started to use names to enhance their sales and they didn't follow the original meanings of the words. This is why there is so many different arguments as to model names. Depends on the year the names were used. RHL

There is only one Richfield, Wi. that I know of, it is about 25 miles north-west of Milwaukee and 60 miles from Madison. I would be glad to look at the car for you unless you can find someone closer. Richard Lichtfeld AACA member since 1952

You would not appreciate good weather if you didn't have bad weather to compare it to!!!!

I would have responded sooner but I had a visit to the hospital with some heart problems. I have been searching for the Peerless archives for several years. In 1946 it was donated to the Cleveland public library. When I inquired at the Cleveland library I was told that they didn't have it. When I pushed the issue and showed them evidence that it was indeed given to them they told me they had donated it to the automobile library in Detroit, I went to Detroit and they showed me everything they had on Peerless and their records showed they had never received anything from the Cleveland library. I went back to Cleveland, the library had no idea of the Peerless info and was understaffed and could not look for anything. I then went to the Western Reserve library and museum, this was the Thompson museum and library back in the 40's, they knew of the collection and wanted it but it was given to the public library. The Cleveland news paper archives even found an article in the 1946 newspaper about the 55 drums from the Peerless automobile Company that were from the library of the Peerless Company, sealed in drums, stored in the brewery and just discovered. A couple of weeks after returning from Cleveland I received an anonymous letter from a volunteer at the library with the inventory list of what was donated to the library. Everything was stamped "Peerless Library". Over the years checking EBay I have found some of the items listed in the inventory for sale. And these were stamped "Peerless Library". Obviously these items were stolen from the Cleveland public library. RHL

I know that you can't believe everything you read on these computors, but is it true that several electric repair crews that came to help were turned away because they were not union????? RHL

I was on this tour with my 1909 Mason. Home base was Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. There were about 15 cars. This was a great tour, the weather was perfect and this being their first tour I could not think of anything they could have improved on. I have been touring since 1952 and this was one of the better ones. As good as the Minn. L-B tour and that is one of the best. RHL

I did not see the discussion forum about sealing the water manifolds on the Hirschell-Spillman V-8. This engine should be identical to my 1916 Peerless V-8. I had to make new manifolds for mine out of brass, the originals were steel and rusted out. Mine are flanged that go into the block and are sealed with split nuts and packing. The split nuts screw into the block tightening the packing against the flange and swelling against the block. Peerless changed this and the 1917 V-8 water manifold had a flange with two bolt holes that sealed with a red rubber gasket between the flange and block. RHL

The 1915 Peerless was bid up to $210,000 and did not sell. The car is beautiful and had an excellent restoration. It is the only 1915 Peerless that we know of. I have the only 1916 Peerless that we know of, I wonder what that is worth? RHL

I was on this tour with my 1909 Mason. I have been on antique car tours since 1953 and have never been on a better organized tour. This was their first year and I can't think of anything they could improve on. What a great tour. I do have pictures and will have to have my daughter post them for me. This tour will be on our schedule for next year. In New London a radio station was interviewing the participants, I was busy with the Mason so they interviewed my wife. She said she hoped to get a famous Iowa pork chop before we return to Wisconsin. When the tour finished the cars were on display at Threshers Park at Mount Pleasant, a gentleman came through looking for the woman that was on the radio that morning looking for a famous Iowa pork chop. He heard the interview and cooked a pork chop for her and brought it to the park. He happened to be the Iowa champion pork chop cooker. We are looking forward to next years tour and famous Iowa pork chops too !!!!!!!!!!!! RHL

I have been touring in my 1916 Peerless since the early 50's. Breaking down is the reason my wife always packs a picnic so we have something to eat and drink while I work on the car. You meet the nicest people when you are broken down on the side of the road with an old car.

I have had the same problem with my Challengers. I used racing fuel for a while but I can no longer get it, so I switched to using 92 octane non-ethanol with Amsoil octane boost. They now run good but probably not as fast as with the racing fuel but fast enough for me. RHL

Seems like a little high priced for that item. But I hope it sells for that because it will make mine worth more than I thought. RHL

Where is this car show and who is sponsoring it? There are several car shows around but they charge $10 to $20 to show and I don't pay anyone to look at my cars. RHL

Is it true that Hershey Chocolate has moved to Mexico or is that just a rumor. Is the plant in Hershey still in operation ? RHL