The Peerless Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturer that produced the Peerless brand of motorcars in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Ohio, from 1900 to 1931. One of the "Three Ps" Packard, Peerless, and

Pierce-Arrow The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was an American motor vehicle manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, which was active from 1901 to 1938. Although best known for its expensive luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manufactured commercial trucks ...

the 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 De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer operating from 1883 to 1953. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton, and Bouton's brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux. Steam cars T ...

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 ...

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. Peerless-auto 1905 ad

In 1905, the Green Dragon competed in the world's first 24-hour endurance race in Columbus, Ohio. 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 u ...

, 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. Peerless Truck and Motor Co

Peerless Motor Cars store at night in Florida (16458823164)

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 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 Br ...

, was manufactured for Great Britain with the Austin Motor Company 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 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 Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

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. It ...

. The following Peerless vehicles are deemed "classic cars" by the Classic Car Club of America (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 6-80
sales catalog (c.1927)
Peerless Automobiles at Concceptcarz

Peerless Motor Car Co.
entry from the ''Encyclopedia of Cleveland History''

at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

contains illustrated advertising posters for the Peerless Motor Company.
Tank Chats #26 Peerless Armoured Car
Tank Chats #26 Peerless Armoured Car.

* * {{Automotive industry in the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Ohio Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Historic American Engineering Record in Ohio Manufacturing companies based in Cleveland Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1900 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1931 1900 establishments in Ohio 1931 disestablishments in Ohio Defunct companies based in Cleveland Defunct manufacturing companies based in Ohio Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Luxury vehicles Veteran vehicles Brass Era vehicles Vintage vehicles 1900s cars 1910s cars 1920s cars 1930s cars Pre-war vehicles Cars introduced in 1900