Le Mans 1958

See the Peerless competing in the 1958 Le Mans on this fantastic quality full colour video cassette well worth the £12.99 just a few glimpses and the odd mention but well worth the purchase. Just click the Video to go to the Duke Website !

In May of 1958, with Standard Triumph's support, The board at Peerless Motors decided to enter one of their cars (with a second in reserve) in the 2 litre GT class at the Le Mans 24 hour race that July. Triumph were extremely generous and sent two of their engineers to help prepare the engines. As far as I am aware, the aim of the exercise was to demonstrate to the car buying public that an almost standard/showroom Peerless was capable of 'x' number of laps, at one of the most rigorous tests of stamina and endurance in the world. I don't believe that they ever dreamed that not only would the car finish the race, but actually win it's class with an overall position of 16th completing an astonishing 259 laps. This fact is all the more astonishing when you realise that this poor under funded 'enthusiasts' motorcar was competing against the likes of the mighty Ferrari empire with it's 3 litre monsters. Another astonishingf fact was that the car made only scheduled pitstops which in total only amounted to a mere 7 minutes (this remained an unbroken record for several years).

Click the Play button below to hear a Peerless Pitstop at Le Mans !

If you have a fast internet connection (ADSL) click here to download the pit stop video file ! (You can try downloading it with an ordinary Modem but it may take a very long time). The file is in .zip format so you will need to uncompress it with Winzip.

The picture to the left shows the two Le Mans cars being prepared for the arduous test ahead of them. In the foreground Bernie Roger (the car's designer) makes some last minute adjustments. This picture is courtesy of The Autocar magazine 1958. If you have any Peerless factory pictures, I would very much appreciate a copy. I will of course refund any expenses incurred.

Peter Jopp and Percy Crabb were signed up to race the lead Peerless with Ian Bailey and Dick Gibson available to drive the reserve car. The two cars prepared for the race were actually only the fourth and fifth cars off the production line and consequently some of the modifications made to these cars were carried through for the rest of production as a standard features.

The racecars had oversized petrol tanks in the sills as well as a third tank in the boot. As far as I am aware the boot tank fed the sill tanks under gravity and had it's filler pipe protruding through the parcel shelf and the rear windscreen (which was Perspex). In fact even the rear quaterlights were replaced with Perspex, presumably to reduce weight. With the boot tank feeding the sill tanks, there was no need for the two side filler caps and these were dully removed and the holes plated over. Other modifications included the use of four petrol pumps instead of the usual two, a similar tactic being used with the ignition where two coils were fitted just in case. Dual circuit braking was added and steel wheels were utilised instead of the more glamorous wire variety. The engines, which were very carefully hand built, were left completely standard with the exception of an increase in the compression ratio from 8.5 to 9.0:1. Finally, the suspension was lowered slightly, a luxury which is only really practical on a nice smooth race circuit.

Number 63 where are you now ? Talking to Fred Nicklin (The 1958 Peerless mechanic) recently, it came to light that while Number 63 was being driven back to England (presumably by Major Bailey), the car had a small disagreement with a French railway crossing barrier and lost the roof completely ! Was it taken back to Slough and re-bodied ? I certainly don't appear to have any record of a car close in chassis/commission number to the surviving Le Mans car. If you think you know what happened to Le Mans car 63 please let me know.

The Peerless covered its 259 laps in almost 24 hours of continuous rain. Averaging 84 mph it reached well over 120 mph down the famous Mulsanne Straight which I am sure you will agree says something about the sheer skill of the drivers as well as the calibre of the car.

When news of Peerless' achievement reached the papers, the factory was inundated with orders. The Le Mans car returned home victorious and was immediately put on display in the Slough showroom.

The Le Mans car is still in everyday use and can often be seen growling its way through the glorious Cumbrian countryside. In 1998 it, along with seven other Peerless and Warwicks, made a return visit to Le Mans to celebrate the 40th anniversary. The current owner was able to drive the car around the circuit as part of a classic parade. This may be added to the video gallery when I get a moment.

A splendid time was had by all and this event will definitely take place again to celebrate the 50th anniversary if not before. 2008 sounds a long way off but it will be here before you know it, so get your skates on and get that dusty wreck in the garage you call a 'long term project' rebuilt and join us for the time of your life !

H.M. Government Health Warning: If you are approached by a Peerless/Warwick owner about traveling to the continent for a 'so called' re-union, REMEMBER drinking heavily and eating too many crepes while in a foreign country is bad for you and it could easily compromise your reputation !