Peerless Master Eight History

The Master Eight (Master 8) was Peerless's mid-range straight-eight for 1930–1931, sitting between the entry Standard Eight and the long-wheelbase Custom Eight. As a cost measure the company had abandoned building its own engines and fitted a bought-in Continental straight-eight — about 322 cubic inches and 120 horsepower — on a 125-inch wheelbase.

It was offered in sedan, coupe, club sedan, brougham, and cabriolet bodies at roughly $2,000–$2,095. Peerless built only about 1,274 cars across the Master Series of 1930–1931, and just 851 cars in all of 1931 before it stopped automobile production that June.

The Master Eight was one of the marque's final products. After a single aluminum-bodied V16 prototype — styled by a young Frank Hershey and finished in June 1932 — Peerless never built another car; the plant reopened after Prohibition as the Carling brewery.