Peerless 30 & 31 Mod Comparisions

[Guest Spud]

I recently purchased manuals for the Custom & Standard Series along with 2 pictures. All in very good condition.

The one picture is of a 1930 7 pass model not sure. The other is of a 31 Sedan also not sure of the model.

The only thing written on the pictures was the year. Maybe someone will be able to identify the cars and their models.

I made a spread sheet using info from the three manuals and not some interesting difference.

All three cars had different engines and also different carburetors. The Custom & Master seemed the same in the pictures but had different carburetors.Maybe the carburetor gave the Custom the extra HP.

The Standard Model had a completely different as noted in the spec sheet and also

in the pictures in the manual. It may have been built by a different mfg..

The starter and generator were on opposite sides of the motor and the water pump

was belt driven and not shaft driven as on the other two models.

I hope I am not rehashing old info but maybe there will be something new of interest.

Gord "Spud"

30 & 31 Peerless Mod Comp.pdf

[jeff_a]

Spud,

I can't say with certainty...but the picture on the left looks like a Mod. 8-125 Peerless. One of the posts on the "Peerless Research Findings" thread (PRF #48) mentions a continuation of the 1929 8-125 into 1930. Same model as the one you saw at the Concours at Port Hope earlier this month. Notice it doesn't have the curvy swoop to the lower body like the Sahknoffsky-designed 30/31 Peerlesses.

Unless it's a coachbuilt body, the Masters and Customs all seem to have hood sides with 4 large hinged doors per side [a' la Cadillac], and the Standards (Model A) all have 30 vertical louvers in 6 groups of 5. All three of these models had Continental engines. The Standard Eight motor was 246.7 cu. in. with 85 h.p. and the other two were 322 cu. in.

Attempting to read the fine print in an ad for a 1930 Peerless sales manual once, it said the Master (or Model had a Schebler Single carburetor, and the Custom (or Model C) had a Schebler Double carburetor.

There's a nice piece in the book Golden Wheels* giving a few differences between the 1930 and 1931 Peerless Eights**. I read somewhere else that one of them was the addition of chrome-plated sidemount covers for the '31's. This book also has a price list that breaks "The Peerless Line For 1930" down into four models instead of three. Between the Master and Custom models is a "DeLuxe Master". Price for the Master Coupe was $1995. The DeLuxe Master Coupe was $2,320.

----Jeff

* Wager, Richard, 1986, pgs 70-87. This book is about the 80+ automakers that were based in northeast Ohio.

** Modifications for 1931:

1) 3-spoked steering wheel

2) inside visors

3) single-bar bumpers

4) free-wheeling as an option

Edited August 21, 2010 by jeff_a
Updating technical information (see edit history)