Building cars in sheds behind modest country estates was all the rage in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s. While few of the fledgling enterprises survived more than a few years, they did manage to build cars whose reputations would last far longer. Case in point: Peerless, the company that produced the Peerless GT found in this eBay UK auction listing.
This example is a Peerless GT Phase 2, which refined the formula that had already won the company its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1958. The basic principles from the Phase 1 were left intact. The car featured running gear borrowed from the Triumph TR3 and installed in a bespoke fiberglass shell held together by a tube frame—but the molds used to form the body were new, and a number of improvements were made across the board.
Chief on the list was the decision to move to a single molding that bonded all major body pieces together, replacing the nearly 60 individual molded-and-joined components found in the Phase 1 cars. This contributed not just to a more rigid vehicle, but one that was lighter as well. A number of other upgrades were made to door and trunk hinges, locks, and seats in an effort to further civilize the ownership experience.
The Peerless GT Phase 2 didn’t see any changes to its race-winning power plant: a 2.0-liter four-cylinder motor putting out roughly 100 horsepower, shifted via a four-speed manual transmission. Fairly quick in stock configuration due to the car’s low curb weight, the vehicle in this auction is an actual race-spec version that has been on the track for more than 50 years.
The car boasts a host of go-fast upgrades, including forged pistons, rods, and a balanced crankshaft working together with Weber carburetors and a high-performance cam shaft to boost the GT’s total engine output to just under 160 horsepower. A lightweight flywheel and racing clutch are also on hand, and disc brakes grab at all four wheels to haul the 2+2 down from speed. The modifications were done in 2001 at the same time as its chassis was completely replaced. Most of the original parts come along with the sale. The seller notes that the vehicle is not cosmetically perfect, but what else would you expect from a car that’s been competing in races since 1959?
There were only 325 Peerless GT cars ever built, and of those, a mere 50 benefited from the Phase 2 updates. This 1959 two-door coupe is more than just a rare piece of British motoring history. It’s the kind of affordable car that can be legitimately campaigned in historic races across the United States and Europe without worries that a single crash would wipe out a mega-bucks investment.
