Peerless V-8s

[jeff_a]

I thought I'd write something about Peerless V-8s. Though I've never seen one in person, what I've read suggests they're important to Peerless Motor Car Company history. They were the only motors offered in Peerless cars from 1916-1923 and were available until 1928. There were actually ten different editions of the V-8 used in Peerlesses: Model 56 (Series 1 through 7), Model 66, Model 8-67, and Model 8-69. As far as I know, they were all 331.8 Cu. In./5.4 liter and officially rated at 70 or 80 h.p.

There are enough Peerless V-8 survivors around that we could almost consider having a special sub-forum for them, kind of like the way Oldsmobile has four areas and Buick has nine areas here on the AACA Forums. To carry that idea farther, we could also add sub-forums for Brass Peerless, Collins 6 Peerless, Continental 6 Peerless, Continental 8 Peerless and Peerless Trucks & Commercial Vehicles.

In October, a Peerless Forum user named Vegard wrote me to say he had just bought a car that he believes started out as a 1919-1921 Peerless but had been modified with parts off of different cars: I think the rear axle, rear wheels and 6-cylinder engine are post-WWII GM and the front wheels and axle are 1931 Ford. The frame, parts of the body, the instrument panel, the front splash apron, and the gas tank may be original. A lot of parts are missing. From what Vegard and I have able to piece together, the car may have been complete until 2001......and there may even be a post on this forum from the original owner (please see "Peerless Hidden In A Barn" post from 10/12/2001).

It sounds a little ignominious to have an extemely rare American luxury car have its standard dual exhaust, 4-barrel carb, 332 V-8 setup replaced by more common parts from other carmakers, but that was done by previous owners to use the car in hill-climbs. Maybe the car had been parted-out to help a Peerless restorer who needed a new drivetrain.

Since Vegard lives in Norway, it was looking like the only thing he could do with it was maybe paint it green and call it a Peerless, since the chances of finding the right engine for it in Norway were ridiculously small, and only about 20% of the car was Peerless anyway. Personally, I was wondering how he was going to mate the Ford mechanical front brakes to the GM hydraulic rear brakes (sounds scary!). By some miracle, Vegard made a "barn-find"* of what may be a 1910s Peerless V-8 Series 1 engine. Someone at work told him he knew a guy out in the country with a really big American V-8 for sale, possibly a Daniels or Lafayette. If you're reading this, you probably already know that the 1st version of the Peerless V-8 was more or less identical to the Herschell-Spillman V-8. I don't know how rebuildable something like this is -- but quite a find was made, in my opinion!

* Yeah, I know this is a really over-used term, but it's really in a barn -- I've seen the pictures!

Edited May 5, 2011 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[Richard Lichtfel]

The trouble with having Peerless sub-titles is that there just isn't that many Peerless owners or those interested in Peerless that respond to this forum. It's like the Peerless news letter, we mail out to 70 members but we hardly ever hear from anyone. You sometimes wonder if it is worth the effort.

When did the term "The Three P's" become popular names for Peerless, Pierce Arrow, and Packard? In 1904 and 1905 Peerless and Pierce- Arrow were probably the most magnificent and expensive cars in the USA, by 1909 Packard had caught up with them and the three were very comparable and sometimes called the Three P's.

Can you name eight cars that start with P???

RHL

[jeff_a]

Dear RHL,

I was reading a copy of the 1954 Glidden Revival Tour booklet and thought they succinctly described the Peerless Motor Car Corporation's best years:

"While Peerless is almost forgotten by the present generation, they built fine cars from 1900 to 1932. During the Glidden Tour era they were building large luxury cars which competed with Pierce-Arrow, Packard, Thomas, Simplex, and other expensive makes."

You may be right in thinking that the small band of Peerless enthusiasts using this forum do not generate enough traffic to justify breaking it into 5 or 6 separate ones. I was just thinking of a way to make it more organized. There are possibly as many as 52 surviving Peerless V-8 autos, though. If all of their owners used this forum, it would start making sense.

Edited June 8, 2010 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[petemick]

Jeff my 6-81 in South Africa does not have a radiator cap emblem (as in a Rolls) but there are two holes in the cap. If one should be there what does it look like.

How did they used to hold the brass hub caps onto the wheels ,I have all 6 and it looks as though there is solder on the inside where the cap would fit on the wheel ?

[jeff_a]

Dear petemick,

Welcome to the Peerless Forum! Feel free to make any additions here you'd like, whether they're small or large, debatable or undebatable. A photo of your car, or any stories (how it's been in South Africa since new, other Peerless cars & trucks in South Africa, etc.) would be great. I guess everyone who has an old car has a story about it. Even without owning a Peerless car, I wrote contributions to this forum for years.

I saw some Peerless things for sale on ebay May 1st [a 1924-1928 hubcap, a tie tack, 2 radiator emblems] and sent you a message May 3rd about a radiator emblem...incorrectly thinking you were missing one. After re-reading your message above, I see you were actually asking about hood ornaments, not radiator emblems. Sorry for mis-understanding you.

According to what I've read, Peerless cars in the 20's were equipped with a motometer with an eagle decoration around it* to a certain point, when temperature gauges appeared on Peerless instrument panels; then a new "all-eagle" hood ornament was used on the cars. This had no temperature gauge or Peerless logo, but was simply a nearly-life-size sculptural rendition of an eagle's head done in nickel-plated brass. I think this changeover occurred around 1927**. If you look at the "Peerless Research Findings" thread, #107, there is something I wrote about a seller of new motometers with Peerless logos on them.

* Please look at "Peerless CCCA List" thread, post #12, and click on the highlighted area to see Devon Horning's excellent photographs of his 1925 Peerless 6-72. Among them is a picture of what may be the standard 1923 design ( an eagles head surrounding a Boyce Motometer -- two sizes available ) used before the instrument panel temperature gauge came into use.

** the new eagle head design was patented in December, 1927

Edited May 5, 2011 by jeff_a (see edit history)