TheFairbanks
3d

Project Free Bird: 1929 Six-81 Victoria

Get ready to be frustrated.

I'm sure some have heard the intro already, but I'll give the Cole's Notes anyways.

In May of 2025 I won a 1929 Peerless six-81 Victoria in an auction in Southern Alberta. A guy was liquidating part of a collection of 200+ cars, and this car was part of it. It kinda flew under the radar, because it was the oldest by quite a bit. Most vehicles were old trucks or muscle cars.

A buddy of mine from work sent me the link one day, knowing I was looking for something pre-war that was in better running condition than the 1928 Willys Whippet I had, which needed a ton more work. I was turning 40 and wanted a car I could drive while doing work and "tinkering" vs restoring. Young kids, other hobbies - that old tale.

"Have you ever heard of Peerless?" he posed.

"Nope."

"Ok, then buy this."

I did some research and loved the idea. I'm a fan of unique. Stuff nobody else would have at a car show or meet.

"Hell ya, brother. I'm all for it."

Runs and drives well! New tires! Was used on a TV show recently. Had to be decent.

Looked a bit beat up but mostly complete. It seemed to be something right up my alley. A running car that could be restored a bit over time. A car I could take the kids for ice cream, go to some shows and slowly pick away at.

So I put in a bid. $8,000 (Canadian, so $1.87 USD). I was outbid. So I upped it to $13,000 cdn. That was my max for a car like this. Anything more and I'd start to get into the territory of better condition vehicles. But it was a Peerless, after all (which I had only just learned about 5 days prior, talking like an expert historian).

Went to coach my son's baseball, came home and fell asleep on the couch. Woke up to notifications I had won. No actual intention of winning.

Whoops. Ok, so now I own a Peerless.

Let's be honest, it's a badass style. The Victoria body is one of the sexier looks. The body proportions are spot on for a car that size. Doesn't look like an old man car but also has space inside the actual body for kids, unlike a rumble seat coupe combo.

"CLOSE YOUR MOUTH SO YOU DON'T CATCH BUGS!"

So we mosey on over to pick it up a few days later. This is where the warning signs begin.

And yes. It was sight unseen. Lesson number 1 learned.

It was in a bit more prickly condition than expected, but still showed pretty ok.

Wheels were clearly rotten. But everything else was....there? As we tried to get it on the trailer, it struggled a bit. Wouldn't start at first. Battery charger was making a weird clicking, buzzing noise (more on that later). Didn't seem to be knocking. Lots of smoke.

Made it on the trailer and away we went home.

When we got it back to the garage, we rolled it back into the shop and decided to start it up. Same weirdness happening with the battery. None of the gauges worked. Something was up. Later learned after smoking the alternator that the "mechanic" at the auction hooked up the battery in reverse. Awesome.

Decided to take it around the block for a spin. More surprises.

Brake pedal wouldn't return up. Throttle stuck. Brakes we're mush. Coolant started spewing from the core.

Aside from these and the alternator going "pop", seemed not half good. Decided to remove a wheel and the brake shoe disintegrated in front of me. Started to research return policies...

But this is where the fun starts going downhill. Stay tuned for Part Deux.

A little background before I get into the next story. This car was found in a storage unit, in pieces, by a company who sells off older cars in California. Businesses that flip car are always most concerned about quality, right? RIGHT??

I'll let you guess how things go next.

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Replies (5)
TheFairbanks avatar
· 3d

Here's a better clip of the engine running before we loaded it onto the trailer. Makes the noises it should, which is fun.

But don't let that get your hopes up.

alsancle avatar
· 2d

Dave, this is very cool! I'm a big fan of the victoria body style. Looking forward to your progress. You will encounter all of the typical issues with one of these cars I'm sure. Stick with it!!!

TheFairbanks avatar
· 2d

Onwards and downwards to part two of this tale of dispair. Remember, I bought this car to drive and tinker, not to strip and rebuild. That's a key ingredient to this recipe.

Ok, where were we? Oh right, the maiden voyage around the block that was a complete disaster.

Well, once the one brake shoe was subjected to Thanos' finger snap, it was decided I should maybe go over the car just a bit deeper than originally planned. At this point we began to uncover all the goblins.

Let's start with those brakes, shall we? First of all, the pedal wouldn't return because the spring pulled an Amelia Earhart and just disappeared. The master cylinder was also filled with more rust than fluid, so there's that.

The wood wheels were decrepit. Several studs for the hub/brake drum were broken or missing. Radiator was Swiss cheese. Fuel pump was cracked. The conversion to 12v was done by a grade 2 class. Oil filter return port was just...open to the world. Carb was leaking. Steering box was loose. The brake line was sealed to a cylinder using a penny with a hole drilled through it (not up to the Peerless standard...maybe should have been a loonie, at least). Wiring was not covered, some missing. Fuel system more closely resembled bubblegum than anything else.

Here's where it gets scary.

Remember the whole, found in pieces and put together to be sold? Well, the car is held together by 30% of the fasteners it should. Started with the fenders and bumpers missing more than a handful of bolts, and has since grown to the body being united with the frame using nine total Home Depot bargain bin bolts. A Model A has nine down each side (or at least that's what I think I counted in diagrams).

This revelation was the moment I realized nothing that had been done to this car previously can be trusted.

"Runs and drives well."

Sadness hit. This car was further away from a cruise night than my Willys, which I sold for that very reason. Just too damn busy for this level of work at the moment.

But this is a Peerless. I'm never going to see another one of these locally. I'm the only one. And that, apparently, carries some weight because I haven't listed this bucket of, well, not bolts because it's missing them all. Have I considered it? Oh, without a doubt. But but because of what it is, I've sorta bought into it.

Up next: Part Three - What's missing and how I got lucky...with parts.

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alsancle avatar
· 2d

A tale told many times. Do as little as possible with each step. Resist the urge to pull most of the car apart at once. Would love to see each incremental project one a time. Those are always so informative and instructive to the next poor fool.

On a Peerless, you could go to car shows for decades and not run in to one. So a car worthy of the attention that this one will require.

dj1970 avatar
· 2d

This is really cool. I'm looking forward to watching your progress.

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