Grindlay Peerless

Grindlay Peerless is a historic motorcycle manufacturer that operated out of Coventry, England, throughout the early 20th-century, specialising in racing machines including the record breaking 498cc Grindlay Peerless.

Although a relatively short-lived marque, Grindlay Peerless secured a number of high-profile achievements most notably that of works rider and tuner, Bill Lacey, achieving a (FIM) world record by becoming the first man to exceed a 100 miles in an hour on British soil in August 1928 aboard his Grindlay Peerless. The company quickly became renowned for building powerful, high quality and technologically advanced machines.

The very limited number of Grindlay Peerless machines produced means that they are now extremely rare.

In 1910, following his departure from Riley Cycle Company, Alfred Robert Grindlay and his brother, William John Grindlay (a member of the highly exclusive Coventry and Country Club) took over Coventry Motor & Sundries Co from William Edward Mann. The company was remodelled into Grindlay Sidecars, which originally began manufacturing body kits and sidecars in the early 1910s, and quickly became known for its "extremely high quality" machines.

During WWI, Grindlay and Thomas Edward Musson combined their efforts to form the specialist sidecar manufacturer, Musson & Grindlay, operating out of Melbourne Works on Shakleton Road in Spon End, Coventry. In 1923, following the dissolution of his partnership with Musson, Grindlay and Edward Peerless formed Grindlay Peerless. The newly formed Grindlay Peerless operating out of Melbourne Works on Shakleton Road in Spon End, Coventry, entered into the wider motorcycle market and began making high-powered machines using JAP (succeeded by Villiers), Barr & Stroud, and later Rudge-Whitworth engines. Like the sidecars before them, the motorcycles not only had an exceptional standard of finish, including pressed monograms, elegantly shaped fuel tanks brightly plated with nickel and cadmium and luxury leather covered saddles, but were also recognised for their innovative design features.

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