Stanley Steamer

Twin inventors from Maine, Francis and Freelan Stanley built their first steam car in 1897. Their Stanley Steamers came to embody the golden age of steam cars in the United States.

Silent, with no gearbox or clutch, they delivered considerable torque from a standstill. Their very light fire-tube boiler fed a two-cylinder engine connected directly to the rear axle. In 1906, a streamlined Stanley called the “Rocket” reached 205 km/h on Ormond Beach in Florida: at the time, the land speed record for any type of vehicle. The speed record for a steam car would not be broken until 2009.

Their main drawback was the time needed to build up boiler pressure, several minutes before setting off. The arrival of the electric starter on petrol cars in the early 1910s took away their advantage. Production ended in the 1920s, but the Stanleys remain a symbol of another possible path for the automobile.