Stanley Steam Car

About Stanley Steamers
The Stanley Brothers began manufacturing the steam car in Newton, Massachusetts from 1898. Until the self-starting petrol car was introduced in 1914, steam-powered cars were in fact more popular than petrol cars. In 1919 a Stanley Steamer broke the world steam record by reaching a speed of 126 mph. Eventually, petrol engines became more advanced and easier to run, and steam cars simply went out of fashion. In 1924, the Stanley Brothers ceased prodcution; one year later, Henry Ford sold his 1 millionth petrol car.

The car in this video was built in 1919. It has a detachable hood, weighs two tons and is painted racing green. The steam car uses an internal boiler, heated by a petrol/diesel mix, to run a steam engine. The car sounds exactly like a steam train when it accelerates, before reaching the breakneck speeds of 30mph. Not very many Stanleys exist today.

Peter Coles
Peter Coles has been an engineer all his life, and takes a passionate interest in steam power. He drives scheduled steam trains in Poland as a hobby. At his Hertfordshire home he restored a whole traction engine, which he later sold for something a little less ungainly. He bought the Stanley steam car as a wreck and spent two years restoring it to full working order. He often takes the car to steam fairs and carnivals, and hires it out for weddings

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Deaf Mater said:

Yeah.. it's cool ... the tonight show host Jay Leno have one, too

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GENERALGOOSEPAC said:

Jay Leno didn't sold his steam car. I was just wondering if he DID sold the steam on EBAY then how much the car cost.... billion dollars?? That what I'm saying.... ya know?

Intersting about that..
Save gas better than methol huh?? But run out of water...same thing pro and cons...

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sequoias said:

I read somewhere the Stanley Steamer can go up to 110-120 miles on a tank of water in the boiler and about 11-13 miles per gallon on the fuel it's using to boil the steam.

The 4 cylinder powered motor carriages in the heydays got about 12 to 22 mpg range, I think. I can't remember exactly. They only produced 20 hp and can go up to 45 mph top speed.

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Using ball-bearing construction throughout, the Stanley car was capable of speeds in excess of 75 MPH for short periods of time if one could locate a dirt road of the period suitable for the exercise. Exhaust steam from the engine is first used to preheat the water supply to the boiler further improving operating efficiency. On early cars the spent steam exited the rear of the car along with the combustion products of the burner. For later cars a standard automotive radiator served as a condenser returning the steam to liquid and eventual reuse in the boiler. Non-condensing cars required about a gallon of water per mile or two but later condensing cars greatly improved this efficiency to the neighborhood 10 miles per water gallon.

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