Cleveland, Ohio and Area-- nearly the center of the American Automobile Industry: Part 1

Below begins a listing of Cars and Trucks made in Cleveland to 1931.  Compiled by Alex Telatco and published on p. 168 of Clymer Scrapbooks, volume 3, 1946. I will add the images if easily available. This will be an ongoing compilation over numerous posts due to its breadth.

1.  Grant, 1916-1922.

Based in Finlay, OH.  Several thousand were made, and even exported to England as the Whiting-Grant.

1919 shown below

From the Cleveland Public Library Digital Collection.

2. Templar, 1918-1925

Manufactured in Lakewood, Ohio. 

Advertising themselves as "The pioneer builder of quality small cars", the first Templar car had a four-cylinder, overhead-valve engine of 3.2 liters capacity coupled to a three-speed transmission mounted in a chassis with a 118-inch (3,000 mm) wheelbase. The entry of the United States into World War I severely curtailed production, the company making artillery shells for the war effort. Only around 150 cars were made in 1918. Body styles included a coupe, a Victoria Elite tourer, a 3-door sedan and a sports model called the Sportette. The cars were extremely well equipped with a compassions and Kodak camera as standard equipment.

Full production resumed in 1919 with 3 body types, the coupe, Sportette and sedan. 1800 cars were built by the 900 employees. While the post war boom continued, the company could sell every car it made and Templar even increased prices in 1920 and 1921. The 1921 coupe, still basically the 1917 car, cost US$3785, as did the five-passenger sedan, while the five-seat tourer, four-passenger Sportette, and two-seat touring roadster were US$2885.

Competition was increasing, so in 1922, two cheaper models were announced, a roadster and a Deluxe Sports. Production was severely affected following a major fire which had swept through the factory in December 1921, and receivers were appointed in October 1922.

The company was re-financed and became the Templar Motor Car Company in 1923, and work started on a 4.3-liter six-cylinder engine, as the new management decided the future was in larger cars. The new models were based around a 122-inch  wheelbase frame with a range of four- and five-seat bodies. Four-wheel brakes were also introduced. However, only 125 cars were sold in 1923.

By late 1924 it seems the money ran out, and the company passed into the ownership of a local bank who had called in a loan, and production ceased.

1919 below

3. Peerless, 1900-1932 -- Steam and Gasoline

New Plant, 1910

1931 Below

Established in Cleveland in 1900 at 43 Lisbon Street, Peerless Motors began manufacturing automobiles while using DeDion-Bouton engines 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 designed 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.

n 1905, the 35 horsepower (26 kW) Green Dragon competed 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.

From 1905 to 1907, Peerless experienced a rapid expansion in size and production volume. As the Peerless namesake grew in fame, the company began producing increasingly higher-priced models with a focus on luxury. In 1911, Peerless was one of the first car companies to introduce electric lighting on their vehicles, with electric starters added in 1913.^[1] In 1915, the firm introduced its first V-Eight, intending to compete with the Cadillac introduced a year earlier.^[3] This model became Peerless' staple production vehicle until 1925, when engines produced by other manufacturers were first used in Peerless model

In 1929, the entire Peerless range was redesigned to compete with other vehicles produced by Stutz and Marmon.  This move saw increased sales, and for 1930 another design refresh was undertaken. The Peerless-designed V8 was replaced by a Continental Straight Eight as a cost-saving measure. However, the Great Depression that began in 1929 greatly reduced the sales of luxury automobiles. Peerless stripped down its production and attempted to market one line of vehicles to wealthy Americans who were not affected by the depression. In 1930–31, Peerless commissioned Murphy Body Works to design what the company envisioned as its 1933 model.  A single V-16 1931 Peerless was finished in June 1931, the last Peerless ever produced.