The Peerless Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturer that produced the Peerless brand of motorcars in
Cleveland, Ohio, from 1900 to 1931. One of the "Three Ps"
Packard, Peerless, and
Pierce-Arrowthe company was known for building high-quality luxury automobiles.
Peerless popularized a number of vehicle innovations that later became standard equipment, including
drum brakes and the first enclosed-body production cars.
History
Established in Cleveland in 1900 at 43 Lisbon Street, Peerless Motors began manufacturing automobiles while using
De Dion-Bouton engines under license from the French company.
Engineer Louis P. Mooers designed the first Peerless models, as well as several proprietary engines.
The first Peerless-branded vehicles appeared in 1902, with a front-mounted engine driving the rear wheels through a shaft. This later became the standard vehicle propulsion layout for automobiles. In 1904, Mooers designed the Green Dragon racecar and enlisted
Barney Oldfield
Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield (January 29, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was an American pioneer automobile racer; his "name was synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century".
After success in bicycle racing, he began auto r ...
to drive it. The Green Dragon brought notability and success to Peerless, as Oldfield used it to set a number of early world automobile speed records.
In 1905, the Green Dragon competed in the
world's first 24-hour endurance race in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and ...
. Piloted by Earnest Bollinger, Aurther Feasel, and briefly by Barney Oldfield, the Peerless led the race for the first hour before crashing into a fence, later finishing in 3rd place.
From 1905 to 1907, Peerless experienced a rapid expansion in size and production volume.
As the Peerless namesake grew in fame, the company began producing increasingly higher-priced models with a focus on luxury. In 1911, Peerless was one of the first car companies to introduce electric lighting on their vehicles, with electric starters added in 1913.
In 1915, the firm introduced its first
V8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...
, intending to compete with the
Cadillac V8 introduced a year earlier.
This model became Peerless' staple production vehicle until 1925, when engines produced by other manufacturers were first used in Peerless models.
During
World War I, Peerless manufactured military vehicle chassis and trucks.
One such vehicle, the
Peerless armoured car
During the First World War, sixteen American Peerless trucks were modified by the British to serve as armoured cars. These were relatively primitive designs with open backs, armed with a Pom-pom gun and a machine gun, and were delivered to the B ...
, was manufactured for Great Britain with the
Austin Motor Company
The Austin Motor Company Limited was an English manufacturer of motor vehicles, founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin in Longbridge. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors Limited in the new holding company British Motor Corporation (BMC) Limi ...
of Birmingham being the maker of the armored body and Peerless the manufacture of the chassis. The chassis was manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1929, the entire Peerless range was redesigned to compete with other vehicles produced by
Stutz
The Stutz Motor Car Company, was an American producer of high-end sports and luxury cars based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Production began in 1911 and ended in 1935.
Stutz was known as a producer of fast cars including America's first spo ...
and
Marmon.
This move saw increased sales, and for 1930 another design refresh was undertaken. The Peerless-designed V8 was replaced by a
Continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' ( ...
straight-8 as a cost-saving measure. However, the
Great Depression that began in 1929 greatly reduced the sales of luxury automobiles. Peerless stripped down its production and attempted to market one line of vehicles to wealthy Americans who were not affected by the depression. In 1930–31, Peerless commissioned Murphy Body Works to design what the company envisioned as its 1933 model. The task was assigned to a young
Frank Hershey, who produced a remarkably clean, elegant vehicle. A single
V16-engined 1931 Peerless was finished in June 1931, the last Peerless ever produced.
Peerless remained an idle business until the end of
Prohibition in 1933 allowed the manufacture of alcohol. Peerless then revamped its factory and gained a license to brew beer under the
Carling Black Label and Red Cap ale brands from the
Brewing Corporation of Canada.
Hershey's single prototype V-16 remained in the Peerless factory until the end of World War II and it is now owned by the
Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum
The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum is a transportation museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Western Reserve Historical Society's Cleveland History Center in University Circle, and its collection includes about 170 cars. I ...
.
The following Peerless vehicles are deemed "classic cars" by the
Classic Car Club of America
The Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) is an organization founded in 1952 to celebrate the grand automobiles of the prewar period. At the time, the vehicles covered by the club were considered too modern to be of any interest by such organizatio ...
(CCCA): 1925 Series 67; 1926 – 1928 Series 69; 1929 Model Eight-125;
[2013 CCCA List of Full Classics; 8-125 owner Mr. John Knight of Canada] 1930-1 Custom 8 and the 1932 Deluxe Custom 8.
Gallery of selected models
File:Stahls Automotive Collection December 2021 026 (1904 Peerless Type 8 Style K).jpg, 1904 Peerless Type 8 Style K
File:1911 Peerless 45-HP Model 32.JPG, 1911 Peerless Six Model 32 Roadster
File:1912 Peerless Model 36.JPG, 1912 Peerless Six Model 38 Berline Limousine with right-hand drive
File:1914 Peerless.jpg, 1914 Peerless Six Model 60 7-Passenger Touring Sedan
File:Peerless Model 56 7-Passenger Touring 1917.jpg, 1917 Peerless Eight Model 56 7-Passenger Touring Sedan
File:1931 Peerless woodland 1 cropped.jpg, 1931 Peerless Master Eight Sedan
File:1932 Peerless (cropped).jpg, 1932 Peerless V-16 Prototype (one manufactured)
References
External links
''Peerless Limousine 1908: A non-technical Description of its usefulness''- 18-page sales catalog
The New Peerless 6-80sales catalog (c.1927)
Peerless Automobiles at ConcceptcarzPeerless Motor Car Co.entry from the ''Encyclopedia of Cleveland History''
at the
Library of Congress contains illustrated advertising posters for the Peerless Motor Company.
Tank Chats #26 Peerless Armoured CarTank Chats #26 Peerless Armoured Car.
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{{Automotive industry in the United States
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Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
Historic American Engineering Record in Ohio
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1900 establishments in Ohio
1931 disestablishments in Ohio
Defunct companies based in Cleveland
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Ohio
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