Where are the Steam Cars?

Progress, Volume I, Issue 5, 1 March 1906, Page 102

Where are the Steam Cars ?

Steam cars in the early days of motoring received a considerable set-back by the introduction of a number of cheap, light runabouts which ran well for a time, but soon got out of order, and gave steam

cars a bad name. There is, however, now on the market a much better class of car, in which the principal defects of the earlier types have been overcome. The boiler has been replaced by a steam generator that instantly flashes the water into steam, and the control of the fire, water, and oil is automatic. Condensers are also fitted, and the mechanism of the car has been simplified as well as strengthened. Among the principal objections to the steam car is the relatively small storage capacty

for water and fuel. Some cars are, however, designed to carry sufficient of both to travel 1 50 miles. The machinery occupies more space than that of the petrol car of approximately the same horse power, thereby limiting the available room on the car. The machinery is also more complicated than that of a petrol car, and more liable to get out of order, the pilot light especially being a part that frequently gives trouble. Moreover, the cost of running per road mile is greater than that of a petrol car of similar capacity and carrying power.