PEERLESS

Peerless Manufacturing Co. (1900-1902)
Peerless Motor Car Co. (1902-1931)
Cleveland, Ohio

This is a Peerless radiator emblem (1923-1924)     mjs
Size: 54mm diameter   MM: Unknown

Peerless began by making clothes wringers and then bicycles before building single-cylinder buggies called Motorettes, powered by small De Dion engines in 1900. The first real Peerless cars were also single-cylinder models introduced in 1901, followed by a two-cylinder tonneau model in 1902. At that time, the company became the Peerless Motor Car Company. A range of four-cylinder limousine and touring models of up to 35 hp were offered in 1904.

These early Peerless automobiles were very modern in appearance for the time with graceful coachwork. Peerless entered the racing scene in 1903 and, in 1904, a huge 60 hp racer called the Green Dragon was built to be driven by Barney Oldfield, which resulted in numerous speed records and publicity that made the Peerless name famous across America. From 1905 Peerless decided to concentrate on the luxury market. A six-cylinder model was introduced in 1907 and a V-8 in 1916.

Peerless managed to survive the post First World War depression but there were continuing upheavals in the Peerless management. A lower-priced six-cylinder model was introduced in 1925 and advertised as "Now There's a Peerless for Everyone". Peerless styling continued to excel and in 1930 a handsome new Peerless designed by Alexis de Sakhnoffsky was introduced just as the banking crash occurred.

Peerless was unable to survive the outcome of the financial crash and the last Peerless cars left the production line in June 1931. A single V-16 model developing 173 hp was built and was the grandest Peerless of them all. It had a sedan body by Murphy and was made almost entirely in aluminium. The car was tested at over 100 mph in 1932 but production did not follow.

Emblems

The earliest Peerless models did not carry an emblem but would most likely have displayed the "Peerless" name on a small maker's nameplate or serial plate attached to the body. 

From 1902, the "Peerless" name was also displayed on the sill plates and hubcaps, see examples shown below of an original photo of the Peerless factory showing the sill plates, followed by photos of a 1903 model year Peerless Model 6, which appears to have been built in 1902 before the change to the Peerless Motor Car Company, although it is also possible that previously made parts were still being used in 1903:

This factory photo shows a Peerless with sill plates (1902)   dpl

This is a Peerless sill plate (1902)    conceptcarz

This is a Peerless hubcap (1902)      conceptcarz

Some surviving early Peerless cars from 1903-1905 display the "Peerless" name on brass radiator scripts but these were most likely added much later, possibly during restoration. The first "Peerless" script logo appeared in 1903 advertisements, see example shown below, but was not used as a radiator script:

This is a Peerless ad with script design (1903)  ww

This "Peerless" script logo was changed in 1904 to the now more familiar "Peerless" script, see example shown below:

Peerless ad showing new script design (1904)  ms

The following photo shows the radiator of a surviving 1904 Peerless Type 8. The small rectangular plate in the center of the top face of the radiator is not a Peerless emblem but is a radiator manufacturer's nameplate, inscribed "The Whitcock Coil Pipe Co.". 

This is a Peerless Type 8 radiator (1904)    bonhams

The brass "Peerless" radiator script shown above was not in use in 1904 and was no doubt added some years later. The "Peerless" name continued to be displayed, however, on sill plates and hubcaps and on the serial plate attached to the body.

The following Peerless advertisement for 1905 shows what appears to be a small radiator emblem on the radiator tank top:

This is a Peerless ad showing rad emblem (1905)  ms

It is unlikely that Peerless would show the radiator manufacturer's nameplate on their advertisement and it was indeed the first Peerless radiator emblem, see following photos of a surviving 1905 Peerless:

This is a Peerless car (1905)    caam

This is the Peerless radiator showing a radiator emblem (1905)  caam

Close-up showing the Peerless radiator emblem (1905)   caam
Size: approx 75mm wide

The brass Peerless radiator emblem shown above is extremely rare.

The "Peerless" name continued to be displayed on the sill plates and the hub caps, see examples shown below: 

This shows a Peerless sill plate (1905)     caam

This shows a Peerless hubcap (1905)     caam

The 1905 radiator may just possibly have had a brass "Peerless" script attached to the core, as shown in the photo shown earlier, but the first confirmed use of a brass radiator script is in 1906, see the small script shown in the original photo shown below:

This shows a Peerless with a small rad script (1906)    flickr

The shape of the Peerless radiator developed from that used in 1904 to the 1905 design, both shown earlier above, and, with some further small changes in detail, this became a distinguishing feature of Peerless cars for many years. This radiator shape was used until 1923. Probably because the shape of the Peerless radiator was so well known, the Peerless people did not see the need to put a large brass "Peerless" script on all their cars. 

It was usual for motor car manufacturers to display radiator scripts on their cars taking part in the Glidden Tours and other events for publicity purposes. However, original photos of Peerless cars taking part in these events do not show any radiator scripts.  

The large brass panel at the top of the Peerless radiator where the radiator emblem was mounted in 1905 was significantly reduced in size by 1906, see the photo shown above. A small rectangular, brass Peerless radiator emblem, with the "Peerless" name inscribed similar to the 1905 radiator emblem shown earlier, was attached to the remaining brass strip at the top of the radiator. This can be seen in the 1906 photo shown above. A similar sized Peerless emblem continued to be mounted in this location through 1908, see original photo shown below:

 Peerless Glidden Tour car showing rad emblem (1908)  dpl

The following small Peerless maker's plate was probably attached to the body of the car but may have been used as a radiator emblem on some models. This particular example has been marked "1907" on the back but I have not been able to confirm this date, which could be much earlier. This Peerless nameplate is very rare.

This is a Peerless nameplate (dates unknown)     mjs
Size: 75mm wide 20mm high

In 1909, the small brass, rectangular Peerless radiator emblem was attached to the front of the radiator filler neck, see photos shown below of a surviving 1909 Peerless Model 19, which also displays a radiator script:

This is a Peerless Model 19 (1909)   conceptcarz

This shows the Peerless emblem on the filler neck (1909)   conceptcarz

The small brass Peerless emblem shown above continued to be attached to the radiator filler neck until about 1912 when it was phased out. These filler neck Peerless emblems are very rare.

This is a Peerless radiator script (1909)    conceptcarz

The Peerless radiator script shown above was most widely used in the 1909-1910 period but continued in use until about 1913, although not so frequently, presumably because the Peerless radiator was still seen as its most distinguishing feature. 

Most Peerless cars in the period 1913-1917 carried no emblem apart from the occasional radiator script and the hubcaps, see example shown below: 

This is a Peerless hubcap (1914)     caam

The following is a Peerless hub emblem. This Peerless hub emblem is scarce.

This is a Peerless hub disc (c1913-1916)      mjs
Size: 67mm diameter

It has been suggested that the following pressed metal emblem in the shape of the Peerless radiator with a radiator script was used as a radiator emblem in 1916/1917 but this is not confirmed. If you have better information about this Peerless emblem, please let me know, in order to update this post. The example shown below still has excess metal yet to be trimmed after initial emblem pressing. This Peerless emblem is very rare.

This is a possible Peerless radiator emblem (1916)    mjs
Size: 59mm high 48mm wide   MM: None

The following blue enamel version of the previous Peerless emblem is certainly a Peerless radiator emblem and was used on all Peerless models from 1917-1922. The emblem was screwed to the radiator tank top. This Peerless radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Peerless radiator emblem (1917-1922)     mjs
Size: 59mm high 47mm wide   MM: None

There was a change in 1923 to a round, two-piece Peerless radiator emblem design depicting a gilded eagle and a small shield. There are two versions of the emblem, which was used in 1923-1924. The most common version is the green, red, white and blue enamel Peerless radiator emblem shown below.  This Peerless radiator emblem is scarce.

this is a Peerless radiator emblem (1923-1924)     mjs
Size: 54mm diameter   MM: Unknown

The red, white and blue enamel Peerless radiator emblem version shown below is rare. If you know, which Peerless models used this red version of the Peerless radiator emblem, please let me know, in order to update this post.

This is a Peerless radiator emblem (1923-1924)    mjs
Size: 54mm diameter    MM: Unknown

The following is a Peerless V8 Delco switch plate displaying a small enamel eagle emblem, used from 1923-1924:

This is a Peerless switch plate showing an emblem (1923-1924)  mjs
Size: 105mm high 56mm wide overall ( 20mm wide 20mm high emblem)

The following is a Peerless hub emblem used in the period 1923-1930:

This is a Peerless hub emblem (1923-c1930)     mjs
Size: 50mm diameter     MM: Unknown

The following blue enamel Peerless radiator emblem was used on six-cylinder Model 6-70 and some Model 6-72 cars from early 1924 to early 1925. This Peerless radiator emblem is scarce.

This is a Peerless radiator emblem (1924-1925)     mjs
Size: 55mm diameter    MM: Unknown

The following green, red, white and blue enamel peerless radiator emblem was used for all models in 1925-1926, except early production Model 6-72 cars, which still used the radiator emblem shown above in early 1925. 

This is a Peerless radiator emblem (1925-1926)    mjs
Size: 54mm diameter     MM: Unknown

The following version of the previous Peerless radiator emblem with larger "PEERLESS" letters was used for all Peerless models in 1927 to mid-1928:

This is a Peerless radiator emblem (1927-1928)     mjs
Size: 54mm diameter    MM: Unknown

There was a change to a vertical, wide oval shaped Peerless radiator emblem in mid-1928, see black, red, white and blue enamel Peerless radiator emblem shown below:

This is a Peerless radiator emblem (1928-1929)    mjs
Size: 57mm high 40mm wide     MM: unknown (poss Fox)

The slightly narrower oval green, red, white and blue enamel Peerless radiator emblem shown below was used in the period 1929-1930. This Peerless radiator emblem is scarce.

This is a Peerless radiator emblem (1929-1930)     mjs
Size: 57mm high 38mm wide    MM: Fox

The following black, red, white and blue enamel version of the previous Peerless radiator emblem was used on six-cylinder 6-81 models in 1929 and 6-61A in early 1930 and possibly other models in 1929:

This is a Peerless radiator emblem (1929-1930)    dnc
Size: 57mm high 38mm wide   MM: Unknown (poss Fox)

The following is an unusual chrome plated version of the above Peerless radiator emblem:

This is a Peerless radiator emblem (1929-1930)     mjs
Size: 57mm high 38mm wide    MM: Fox

The following red, black and blue enamel radiator emblem was used on six-cylinder Peerless 6-61 models in 1929:

This is a Peerless radiator emblem (1929)     mjs
Size: 67mm high 34mm wide     MM: D L Auld

Peerless eight-cylinder 8-125 models in 1929 had the vertical oval shaped radiator emblem shown earlier but also used the basic design of the six-cylinder radiator emblem shown immediately above in the form of a die cast, sometimes painted, "beauty-bar" emblem located in the center of the radiator and also as a bumper emblem motif, see example photos shown below:

This is a Peerless 8-125 radiator emblem (1929) richard spiegelman

Peerless 8-125 showing beauty-bar and bumper emblems (1929)
richard spiegelman

Peerless 8-125 beauty-bar emblem (1929)  conceptcarz

The following "PEERLESS" script was attached to the radiator core on some Peerless models in the period 1929-1930:

This is a Peerless radiator script (1929-1930)    mjs
Size: 182mm wide 16mm high  

The following Peerless instrument panel used in 1928-1930 had a small Peerless eagle emblem mounted in the center of the panel. 

This is a Peerless instrument panel with emblem (1928-1930) pickclick

There was a return to the vertical oval shape for the black, red, white and blue enamel Peerless radiator emblem shown below, which was used on all eight-cylinder models from 1930 to the end of Peerless production in 1931:

This is a Peerless radiator emblem (1930-1931)     mjs
Size: 70mm high 36mm wide    MM: Fox

A small oval shaped red, white and blue enamel Peerless emblem was mounted in the center of the instrument panel on all eight-cylinder models from 1930-1931, see examples shown below: 

This is a Peerless instrument panel (1930-1931)  spud aaca forum 

This is a Peerless instrument panel emblem (1930-1931)   mjs
Size: 37mm high 19mm wide   MM: Fox

The following is a chrome plated, cast Peerless script but I do not know when or where it was used. If you have details of the use of the Peerless script, please let me know, in order to update this post.

This is a Peerless script (date unknown)     mjs
Size: 250mm wide