fun facts

Steam Car were quite amazing things in an era when the development of motorised transport, engines and 'modern' technology was changing on a daily basis.

You have to remember that back in the 1900's this was a very young and quite scary new industry. People were used to going everywhere on foot or by horse - cars were looked upon as dirty, noisy strange mechanical beasts that were not to be trusted.

However the pioneers of the motorcar stuck with it and below are a few fun facts about this interesting subject.

Steam Cars

1913 - Stanley Brothers produced 575 steam cars in that year

- In comparison Henry Ford produced 170,211 Model T Fords for the same period. That is 3273 cars a week or 466 cars a day working every day of the year.

Facts about Stanley Cars

Fire up time from cold –  15–20 minutes

Each car has a pilot light that runs constantly while the car is in steam, this originally ran on petrol, just like an old camping stove. Today cars use, pressurised petrol, hexane (a much lighter fuel) or LPG.

Main burner fuel – Pressurised Petrol, Diesel or kerosene.

Fuel Consumption: 8 – 10 mpg.

Water Consumption: mile to the gallon (condensing cars use a lot less)

Water capacity of the tank 15 – 30 gallons.

Engine sizes 8, 9, 10, 20 and 30hp (horse power)

Cruising speed 25 – 50 mhp depending on the hp

Wheels – Originally wooden or wire spokes

Tyres – Pneumatic

Production: 10,800 Stanley’s from 1902

Survivors – 400 – 600 roadworthy worldwide.