Lincolns, Marketing & Pebble Beach

[jeff_a]

I was reading another forum today about what Lincoln needs to do to get ahead in the luxury car field. Someone was suggesting that Lincoln needs to introduce a model that's a real technological breakthrough, like the Peerless V-16 prototype built in 1931 that was built almost entirely of aluminum. It was mentioned that the Peerless V-16 automobile weighed 4,060 lbs., versus 5,350 lbs. for a Cadillac V-16. Accounts vary quite a bit -- but the latest I've heard is that two Peerless V-16's were built -- and one V-12. As many of you know, the only one of the prototypes known to have survived is the Murphy-bodied V-16 in the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum.

Speaking of the V-16, I was wondering if anyone who stops by to read the Peerless Forum made it to Pebble Beach this year. Apparently, SIX Peerlesses were there. Three sold at one of the associated auctions ( a 1909, a 1912, and a 1913 ). The V-16 was invited to be in the Concours d'Elegance. Two 1903 Peerlesses ( one formerly owned by Phil Hill ) were in the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance, which I <span style="text-decoration: underline">think</span> means that they were also in the Concours.

I saw some factory literature that had some data about what competitor's cars the three straight-eight Peerless models had to go up against in 1930, according to the sales & marketing people at Peerless:

Standard Eight

Hupmobile 8, Studebaker 8, Marmon 8 (Mod. 69), Nash 8

Master Eight

Packard 726, La Salle, Marmon 8 (Mod. 79), Studebaker 125, Graham

Custom Eight

Cadillac, Marmon 8, Packard 745, Pierce-Arrow "B", Lincoln

Kind of interesting to see what brands Peerless felt that they were comparable to. No mention of Auburn-Cord-Duesenburg products or Stutz, and only two mentions of GM lines.

----Jeff

P.S.: The forum I was reading about Lincoln was on a thread called "Hot Rod Lincoln" in Automobile Magazine ( www.automobilemag.com ) on December 20th, 2007, written by DouglasR and entitled "How Much Power"