STEAM CARS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20105, 26 March 1928, Page 9

STEAM CARS

THE LATEST DESIGNS

WEAK POINT—THE BOILER. Although automotive engineers are almost universally confining their researches to the improvement of the petrol engine, there are sill experts who follow other lines. Some arc interested in steam cars, others in diesel engines for motor-cars, and a few clover brains are concentrated on developing the petrol turbine. The diesel engine has already been applied successfully to a Continental commercial chassis, while steam cars have still many advocates.

The modern steam car is as unlike the first types seen in New Zealand nearly thirty years ago as a straight.eight car is unlike an early single cylinder “horseless carriage.” Although the latest steam cars arc equal to the best petrol-engined car in appearance, it must be admitted that the weakest point of all types is the boiler. There has recently been tested in New York a steam bus chassis which has been so successful that the old question of the relative merits of steam and petrol propulsion have been revived. The feature for which the bus claims superiority is a seamless welded boiler utilising both fire and water tubes. The boiler generates steam at 6001 b. pressure and delivers 185 h.p. A vapourising burner uses any grade of fuel oil and kerosene or petrol. The engine is a three-cylinder type. Gears and a clutch are unnecessary, and the engine unit makes a very compact substitute, A steam bus with an 11-ton load averaged eight miles per gallon of fuel iu a test.

Two steam cars have been produced for a limited market in the United States for many years, and several short-lived factories put designs into construction. The advantage of the steam car is an absolute absence of vibration. There is no clutch, and a reverse gear alone is fitted. The car glides from rest by the mere opening of a throttle. Operating pressure is usually 6001 b., but for speed purposes the pressure may run as high as 15001 b. Although nearly 15 minutes may be required to get the car running, once on the road it is ready for instant starts unless the stop is for an hour or two. A pilot jet is usual, but one make of steam car used an electric ignition device. If the car is to stand for 10 to 15 minutes the fuel consumption is negligible. The radiator functions as a condenser. About 20 gallons of water in a tank similar to a normal petrol tank suflice for a 200 mile run.