Richard Lichtfeld

[jeff_a]

I regret to inform antique auto enthusiasts that one of the best advocates of Peerless Motor Cars and the Peerless Motor Car Club passed away on February 1st. Richard Lichtfeld was born in 1935 in northern Illinois, Libertyville. He and his wife Mari Anne had lived in Monona, Wisconsin since 1959, where he carried on the 125-year-old family plumbing business. He was a Peerless owner beginning in 1952 or 1953, when he was still in high school. His dad bought him a 1916 Peerless Model 56 V-8 Touring Car. It was purchased in Dubuque from author Richard Bissell(author of Still Circling Moose Jaw and 7 1/2 Cents). Besides the only surviving 1916 Peerless car....he owned other cars over the years, including a 1909 Mason, a DeLorean, some 1970 Dodge Challengers & a circa 1959 Peerless sports car.

 

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photo from Peerless Motor Car Company facebook page

Edited February 14, 2021 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[jeff_a]

   Richard Lichtfeld was a major source of knowledge about Peerless, and quite a gentleman. He led the way as head of the Peerless Motor Car Club for years, and wrote the lion's share of articles in The Co-Operator newsletter, which he expanded from the earlier work by Don Bettes, who also sent out a Peerless newsletter. Richard was a gifted historian and restoration mechanic.

 

   Though a fine hardcover book, Peerless Automobiles In the Brass Era: 1900-1915* just came out, Richard's The History of the Peerless Motor Car Company was the very first book on the marque, written in 2009 for PMCC members. He amassed a lot of data on the Peerless Company from its start in 1865 to produce that...including innumerable personal contacts with owners...and research at the Detroit Public Library, Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum, and Cleveland Public Library.

 

   His first restoration project was as a teen in high school. He was in a Dixieland jazz band and thought they could cruise around in a 1925 R.E.O. Speedwagon his grandfather gave him: piano, clarinet, trumpet and all. After restoring the flatbed truck, it was entered in an AACA meet in Springfield, IL. He got 2nd prize in the 1925-1930 Hardtop class, and it wasn't until years later that he understood why the man next to him at the awards ceremony was fuming about getting 3rd {with his 1929 Duesenberg}. Another example of his work was when he needed to replace the coolant return pipes on the Peerless V-8 engine in his 1916 Touring Car. They are complex tapered units, nickel-plated brass, I think, and he fabricated a pair from scratch. See photo below of one of these 332 Cu. In. Peerless engines, used from 1916 to 1928.  


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*  Written by Alex Cauthen in 2020, 263 pp. See "Peerless Research Findings" thread here on the AACA Peerless Forum for info.

Edited February 14, 2021 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[alextheantiqueautoguy]

The passing of Mr. Litchfield is a great loss to the automobile hobby and to Peerless fans in particular. His book "The History of the "Peerless Motor Car Company" is a landmark work, well researched and with lots of rare information. I'm sure that all extend our sympathies to his family. 

If you happened to see the video of Mr. Litchfield driving his 1916 Peerless on Facebook, you will know what a fine tribute it is to him. If I may add, it is also a fine tribute to the Peerless automobile he is driving.

BTW, looking at the tapered water tube Mr. Litchfield made, he may have had the skills to manufacture trumpets and trombones as well!  Congratulations on a life well lived!

[jeff_a]

From a post of Richard's in 2012 regarding someone on the forum with a 1915 Standard Roadster( A post by vwlfan saying he had trouble fitting the pipes. ) with the same engine and pipes:
 

Posted October 19, 2012

"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. RH"

 

Edited February 16, 2021 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[B Jake Moran]

I had the privilege of meeting Richard and having 15 minutescwith him at the 2017 Des Moines Concours. Generous with his time and knowledge.