Peerless Motor Company
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| Automobile Manufacturing | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Fate | Became Peerless Corp. Brewers |
| Founded | 1900 |
| Defunct | 1931 |
| Headquarters | Cleveland, Ohio, United States |
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Area served
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United States |
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Key people
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Louis P. Mooers, Chief Engineer (1901-1905) Charles Schmidt, Chief Engineer (1905-?) |
| Products | Luxury automobiles Automotive parts , Military vehicles |
Coordinates: 41°29′36″N 81°37′13″W / 41.4932685°N 81.6203315°W
Peerless Motor 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-Arrow-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.
Established in Cleveland in 1900 at 43 Lisbon Street, Peerless Motors began producing De Dion-Bouton "machines" 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 penned the Green Dragon racecar and enlisted Barney Oldfield 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 35-horsepower 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.
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Wikipedia