According to the book, the first functional steam car was invented by a Frenchman in 1769. He pulled canons with it it. But that's only the first steam car. There were spring driven and compressed air vehicles before that.
The first American steam car we know about was made in 1805, and cars managed to get into the newspapers with increasing frequency after that. The first picture of an American auto we have was of the Dudgeon Steam Wagon (above) in 1853. It looks like a miniature locomotive.
Early cars were mostly tractors, but inventors tinkered together smaller, lighter recreational vehicles as novelties, or to promote other products they were trying to sell, like carriages or batteries.
Eventually bicycles became a big deal and for a while it looked like the steam powered bike (above) would be the horseless carriage of the future. The bikes were lighter, faster, and cheaper to make than cars. I guess they just weren't comfortable over long distances.
Here's (above) a Stanley Steamer from 1906. What a design! It looks like it's moving when it's standing still! I rode a few yards in one of these with Jay Leno. It was the best ride in a car that I ever had. The car started instantly, and drove very smooth and quiet.
The English in particular went nuts over steam and continued to make beautiful steam cars right up to the 1950s.
They came in all sizes and shapes.
But, I digress.
So what happened to steam cars in the U.S.? I'm not sure. They ran quieter, were easier to repair, and were pretty safe relative to internal combustion engines. Some of them were also fast. A racing version of the Stanley Roadster 1908 model was clocked at 127 mph.!
Maybe they got a bad rep because so many railroad locomotives were blowing up. Or... maybe patents were the problem.
The patents that made steam power so attractive were spread out among small time inventors all over America. The gasoline engine people came later and had to rethink the whole way a car was put together. Maybe fewer people owned the gas patents, and that made manufacture easier. 'Just guessing.
This (above) isn't the electric car that Granny drove in the Tweety cartoons, but it looks a lot like it. It's the Oldsmobile Curved Dash Runabout from 1903. The canopy distracts from the basic idea, which is that of a sofa mounted on a high buggy. No sides and very little front to enclose the driver. If you closed your eyes while on the road you might imagine that you were flying.
Oldsmobiles (above) are often thought of as old people's cars, but Olds sold an adaption of their racing car, called "The Pirate."
Here's one of my favorite car designs: the 1913 Mercer Raceabout! Check out that extra seat on the running board! No doubt that seat played its part in accidents, but I'd risk it. Wouldn't you?
This (above) isn't a beautiful car, but it gets points for being a funny one. It's the cartoony Cabriolet Locomobile (above). I love how the chauffeur's seat is exposed to the elements, but the owner's seat is entirely enclosed. The carriage tradition demanded that the chauffeur be out there in the ether, buffeted by bees and rain and hail.
I like to think of an eccentric, Type "A" owner using the speaking tube to regail the harried driver with threats or with bad poetry.
Some great cars! The Stanley Steamer and Curved Dash Runabout are my favorites. The sofa-car concept can't be beat.
ReplyDeleteSomething similar from Wind in the Willows: http://bit.ly/r7TPbO the image is a bit fuzzy but the car still looks great
On a related note, what do you think of these type cars? http://bit.ly/onKdhL I always see Nazis in films pulling up in long, sleek black cars like this. Very stylish!
I'd go with the Racabout.
ReplyDeleteJay Leno owns a Mercer Raceabout. He said its one of only 7 left in the world. Beautiful car.
ReplyDeleteI saw him one day in Burbank on the 134 freeway, in a steam car. I drove along side him and clocked him at 65 MPH, which is moving pretty fast in a teens era steam car. It was obviously an authentic race car of the era, to be going that fast. He blew his steam whistle at me while I was rubbernecking. Cool guy.
My favorite american car is the Duesenburg model J. Gary Cooper had one that was all Yellow. Favorite European car, probably the Mercedes 500k from the 1930s. Sex on wheels. Great post!
The Oldsmobile Pirate is the most dangerous, and therefore interesting looking car. I can just imagine some bizarre super hero or millionaire eccentric driving one around. I understand from an aerodynamicy perspective why they make cars the way they do now, and from a design standpoint why they do, despite not particularly liking the designs themselves. My guess is that car manufacturerers decided that cars needed a unified feel to them. Many of these cars look like they were Frankensteined out of other machines, which I feel is a wonderful aesthetic, but engineers and marketing people always just assume there is a better way than doing something the old way, and that their way is probably the best of those choices. It's probably why computer companies now seem to be trying to do away with the mouse.
ReplyDeleteJoshua: That WiW looks great! I don't have the car book at hand, but I could swear that I saw a car that looked just like that in there.
ReplyDeleteTed: Only seven Raceabouts left!!?? That's scary! I'll have to look up the Mercedes.
Ian: That's a good way to put that. We need more cars that look like superheroes would drive them.
Ted: I just looked up the Mercedes 500k and it was great! How could I have forgotten the name of that car? I used to have a take-apart metal model of the 500k that I got from Kaybee for $15 when we were working on Tiny Toons.
ReplyDeleteI love the aesthetics of those old cars.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if steam cars may come in fashion, seeing that people are rethinking oil and gasoline right now.
And...you know Jay Leno?
Brubaker: I don't know Jay. I just happened to be walking down the street in Burbank and saw the car parked in the street. It was the most beautiful car I'd ever seen. I stopped to look at it and Jay came out of a store and asked if I'd like to sit in it. I did and he drove it a few yards. A real nice guy.
ReplyDeleteWalter Lantz is said to have once owned a Locomobile.
ReplyDeleteAnon: Lantz!? Son of a gun! I didn't think he was the type!
ReplyDelete