1899 LOCOMOBILE STEAM RUNABOUT STYLE I

In 1899, the Locomobile Company of America was founded to build automobiles based on design plans for a steam car which they acquired from the Stanley brothers. The Stanleys were hired as general managers and though the steam Locomobiles were unreliable and difficult to operate, over 4,000 examples were built by 1902.

Steam cars were difficult and time consuming to operate. The engine is a two-cylinder steam, 14-inch boiler. The cylinder is gasoline fired, which had to heat gas to a vapor to start, a 30 to 40 minute warm-up before you had steam to operate and could be dangerous if the boiler burned out or the gasoline burner backfired setting the car on fire. The 21 gallon water tank limited trips to about 20 miles. The 3.5 hp motor ran the 700 pound car at a jaunty 12 miles per hour (depending on how much you and your passenger weighed!).

The 1899 Locomobile sold for $600 and sales hit over 300 in the first year alone, making it one of the biggest selling of the very early cars built anywhere in the world. Interestingly, the company was to go on to be known for its high-end luxury gasoline powered cars right up to 1925. Out of small beginnings...