One of the Greatest American Automobiles

The three P's were: Peerless, Pierce Arrow and Packard. Peerless set the standards for engineering in the Auto Industry and had many firsts in design, such as: an engine under the hood; a drive shaft with floating rear axle; a stamped steel frame; the first side entrance touneau; a tilting steering wheel; an accelerator pedal; the use of aluminum to save weight; and the first enclosed body. The first starters and electric lights, and the list goes on and on.

In 1900, Peerless secured a license to make machines under the French De Dion patents. They used to De Dion chassis and built their own body. The first Peerless Motorette was displayed at the New York auto show in Nov. 1900 and advertised as the 1901. In October 1901, Peerless displayed the first "Peerless" built. This was a 2 cylinder, featuring sliding speed gears and a real muffler. Louis Moores was hired in 1902 and set out to design and build a 4 cylinder racing car (see Racing), for the Gordon Bennett race in Ireland. In August 1903, the engine that was developed for the race car was put into their production automobiles with a price range from $2,800 to $11,000 for the 60 h.p. limousine.

Barney Oldfield was hired in 1904 to race the Peerless Green Dragon. For two years Barney and the Green Dragon broke track speed records all over the USA and made Peerless a name to reconcile with. In August 1905, Peerless dropped out of racing and began competing in reliability runs called the Glidden Tours (see Glidden Tours). With three cars competing, the Peerless's finished with perfect scores, again putting the Peerless name above all other marques in automobile reliability.

In 1908 Peerless produced their first six cylinder engine. The 4 and 6 cylinder engines were used through the 1915 models. In 1911, Peerless brought out a full line of trucks (see Trucks). Peerless had been using an air starter on the big six, but in 1912, they introduced a successful electric starter. Electric starters and electric lights were standard equipment on the 1913 models. Peerless again set the pace for American automobiles.

In 1915, Peerless and Hershel-Spillman engineers worked together to develop a V~8 engine. Hershel-Spillman were famous for their carousels, but they also designed and built gasoline engines. In 1916, the 4 and 6 cylinder engines were no longer available. All Peerless cars had the model 57~80 hp, V~8 series 1 engine.

At this point, I have to explain some of the internal happenings at Peerless and why major changes took place at this time. Peerless was a unique company in the fact that they didn't use borrowed money to expand their operation over the years. They used profits and as a result they had large assets and no debts. They were a stock company and this made them very susceptible to being taken over by stock trading with people manipulating for control. The first take-over was in 1913 and another occured in 1915. This meant a change in management both times. This disruption caused Peerless to fall behind in the auto industry.

In 1914 and 1915, Peerless was still using the old "T" head 4 & 6 cylinder engines while other luxury cars were going to the V~8 and V~12 engines. The 1915 Peerless was basically the same as the 1913 & 1914 only with less body styles offered. The 1916 offered only the Roadster-touring and the Limousine; to add to their problems the series 1 V~8 was a poorly designed engine. It was not counter balanced and it was timed like two 4 cylinder engines turning a common crank. The vibration was high and at 40 mph, the whole car would start to shake. The Peerless engineers re-designed this engine and in late summer, 1916 they produced the series two V~8. This was a good engine. It was counter balanced and timed like the Kettering V-8, the vibration was gone and this engine became one of Peerless's great engines. It was even used in several race cars built in the late teens and early twentys.

In 1917, Peerless brought out a full line of bodies and started to reclaim some of the market they had lost in 1914 through 1916. The model 57 V~8 with the dual power range was powerful, fast, economical and reliable. In 1916 Peerless had many firsts. The cut out fan so you wouldn't loose engine horse power at higher speeds, the four barrel-two stage carburator with accelerator pump; this was the dual stage they advertised "Purr like a kitten or Punch like a race car", the aluminum crank block, pan and transmission.

By the early 20's, Peerless had the mechanical systems well developed, but they made another crucial mistake. Peerless cars could be driven well over 200,000 miles without any major repairs. They decided to come out with a full line of luxury bodies and then not change their designs for several years. Their ploy was that you could buy a Peerless today and it would last you for 5 to 10 years mechanically and not go out of style. Unfortunately for Peerless, this was the Roaring Twenties and style was the name of the game. People didn't care about how long the car lasted as long as it was stylish. Peerless lost a major part of the market. They then started cutting prices in order to sell cars.

In 1923, there was another stock take over of Peerless by the Vice President of Cadillac. Many of Peerless's management were replaced by former Cadillac employees. In 1924, Peerless had the equiposed V~8 and Collins 6 cylinder engines. By the mid 20's, they realized their mistake and re-styled their line of cars. By the late 20's, Peerless again had some of the most stylish cars built in the U.S. Unfortunately, the stock market crash came and the market for luxury cars was drying up.

In 1930-31, the Peerless engineers designed and built two all aluminum V-12 and one V-16 overhead valve engines. This was going to be the 1933 line of luxury Peerless's. The frames, axles, wheels, everything was aluminum. The cars were sent to the Murphy Body Works, to be fitted with the latest design modern all aluminum bodies. In 1931, the Peerless board of directors met again, and it was decided that luxury cars were not going to be a good buisness to be in. On November 4th, 1931; Peerless stopped production. A few 1932 models were made from parts left over. The Board looked for something else to get into. The V-16 was completed by Murphy and brought back to Cleveland, where Bohananan (The President of Peerless), used the car for a couple of years.

No one knows what happened to the two V-12 cars. Prohibition was coming to an end and the Peerless Board decided to become a brewery. They brought the rights from Carlings of Canada, and in 1933 remodeled the car factory into one of the larger brewery's in the United States. Carling Redcap Ale and Carling Black label Beer. The Peerless name was dropped and they became the American Brewing Corporation; with the same President, Board of Directors and stock holders as the Peerless Motor Car Company. There were two other Brewery's in the U.S. making Peerless Beer and this is probably why they didn't use the Peerless name.

You seldom see a Peerless car today. They are very rare. They were a limited production luxury car and were one of the more expensive cars sold in the USA. Peerless used a lot of aluminum in their cars and during the Second World War scrap drives, a Peerless brought twice as much money as any other car. As a result, the scrap dealers where on the lookout for Peerless's...few survived. When you see a Peerless today, take a good look because it is “All that the Name Implies”