Mar 27

Peerless Emblems

There is a great site here with shows different auto emblems. This is the link to the Peerless page:

http://www.americanautoemblems.com/2021/12/peerless.html

Text and photos as follows:

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:

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Mar 27, 2026

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Replies (44)

· Mar 27

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:

· Mar 27

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

· Mar 27

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.".

· Mar 27

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:

· Mar 27

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:

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· Mar 27

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:

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· Mar 27

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:

· Mar 27

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:

· Mar 27

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.

· Mar 27

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:

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· Mar 27

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.

· Mar 27

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:

· Mar 27

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

· Mar 27

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.

· Mar 27

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.

· Mar 27

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.

· Mar 27

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.

· Mar 27

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

· Mar 27

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

· Mar 27

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.

· May 4

@alsancle The oldest Six-70 in existence, a Phaeton left in a field in Montana for 60 years and 1st Peerless I ever saw, has one of these. The company hadn't built a six since 1915, so it was a novelty when the Collins Six came out in January, 1924.

(edited)

· May 4

@Peerless28 Jeff, do you have a picture of that car?

· May 4

@alsancle Yes, here are two my wife took in 2009.

(edited)

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· May 4

@Peerless28 Cool! It is not still sitting out in the field is it?

· May 5

@alsancle IDK. It was for sale in MT for years; Doug Kucera bought about 10 Condition # 5 & 6 prewar cars and brought them down to TX(2012); bought by Bill Thomas of Richards, TX; sold to a 3rd guy in TX. The Last I heard someone wanted about 2 grand for it. It does have an engine. The 2nd TX owner restored cars and had an antique car collection, but it's unknown whether he had any improvements made to the Six-70. Unfortunately, Mr. Thomas died in 2021.

I would love it if someone restored it. Someone buy this and a '24 Packard Eight needing an engine rebuild...and paint, see which one the expenses add up the most on. Be pretty close, I think. When you're done you have one of about a thousand Packard straight 8s...and the only '24 Peerless 6 in the world. Peerless built 2,784 Model 6-70s in 1924 and 1925, only 3 known to survive. One's a restored '25 Five-Passenger Sedan and one's a '25 Five-Passenger Touring Phaeton just like this -- but restored in the 70s. Sold for about 9 grand at a ND farm auction around 2022.

(edited)

· May 5

Peerless28
9 minutes ago

@alsancle I find this car fascinating, despite being a Condition No. 6 automobile. It has a Pullman Body tag on the r.s. cowl and even gets mention in a long Coachbuilt.com article on the Pullman Co. of Chicago by Mark Theobald:

"Pullman manufactured the coachwork for the 1924 Peerless Model 6-70 5-passenger touring phaeton, of which one example survives today. It's unknown whether the survivor was a production vehicle or a prototype although the Pullman archives contain daily production reports, 1923-1925, for both Moon and Peerless auto bodies and financial records (monthly financial statements, 1922-1924, billing records, 1924-1925, and journals, 1920-1924).

The Pullman archives also note that "some" Pullman bodies for Peerless cars were in storage during 1924 although no distinction is made as to if they are production or prototype bodies. Circa 1923-1925 the bulk of Peerless' production bodies were being supplied by Budd, Murray, Raulang and Springfield Body Co.'s."

· May 5

@Peerless28 Jeff, this Pullman angle might deserve its own topic!

· Mar 27

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.

· Mar 27

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:

· Mar 27

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.

· Mar 27

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:

· Mar 27

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

· Mar 27

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

· Mar 27

eerless 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:

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· Mar 27

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

· Mar 27

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

· Mar 27

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:

· Mar 27

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:

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· Mar 27

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.

· Mar 28

My favourite is the eagle emblem. I refined it so that I could use it for making myself signs/gear/posters etc

· Mar 30

This emblem is for sale on eBay right now.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/336499586880

RARE Vintage Peerless Cloissone Radiator Badge Emblem 1917-1922

Size approx 59 x 48 mm
Weight 38g

This item is a vintage Peerless radiator emblem, from an American luxury automobile manufactured between roughly 1900 and 1931.

Manufacturer: Peerless Motor Company, known as one of the "Three Ps" of luxury cars alongside Packard and Pierce-Arrow.

Purpose: These enamel and metal badges were mounted on the radiator filler neck to identify the vehicle.

Features: It features blue enamel lettering on a textured background within a metal frame.

Rare 1917-1922 Peerless Cloisonné Radiator Badge Emblem.

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· Apr 23

Body badge

· May 4

@alsancle These mount on the firewall to denote who built the body. Coachbuilders for the marque number 5_. Possibly exceeding the numbers used to body Duesenbergs & Packards.