Stanley Steamer

The Stanley Steamer was a steam-powered automobile produced by the Stanley Steamer Company which set the world land speed record at 127.7 mph (205.5 km/h) in 1906, driven by Fred Marriott, picking up the Dewar Trophy in the process. This is the longest-standing officially recognised land speed record for a steam car. The Steamer enjoyed a boom in the early 1900s before eventually being overtaken technologically by the internal combustion engine.

Related Topics:
Automobile - Stanley Steamer Company - Land speed record - Mph - Km/h - Fred Marriott - Dewar Trophy - Steam car - Internal combustion engine

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Twins Francis Edgar Stanley (1849-1918) and Freelan O. Stanley (1849-1940) founded the company after selling their photographic dry plate business to Eastman Kodak. They produced their first car in 1897. They sold the rights to this design to Locomobile. They then developed a new automobile model with twin cylinder engines geared directly to the back axle.

Related Topics:
Francis Edgar Stanley - Freelan O. Stanley - Eastman Kodak - Locomobile

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The Stanley Motor Carriage Company operated between 1902 and 1917. The cars made by the company were referred to as Stanley Steamers. When they shifted the steam boiler to the front of the vehicle, the resulting feature was called by owners the "coffin bonnet." In order to cut down on noise, condensers were used, beginning in 1915. A Stanley Steamer broke the world record for the fastest mile in a steam car (28.2 seconds). At first, production was limited, but it rose to 500 cars in 1917.

Related Topics:
Stanley Steamer - Condenser

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During the mid to late 1910s, as the fuel efficiency and power delivery of internal combustion engines improved dramatically, the Stanley Steamer company produced a series of advertising campaigns trying to woo the car-buying public away from the "internal explosion engine," to little effect. An advertising slogan for these campaigns was, "Power - Correctly Generated, Correctly Controlled, Correctly Applied to the Rear Axle." These campaigns are early examples of a Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt type advertising campaign (for a more modern example, see Johnny Turbo), as their purpose was not so much to convince the audience of the benefits of the Stanley Steamer car as to plant the notion in the reader's head that an internal combustion automobile could explode.

Related Topics:
Internal combustion engine - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt - Johnny Turbo

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In 1917, the brothers sold their interests to Prescott Warren. The last Stanley Steamer was produced before 1927. Efficiencies of scale, a lack of effective advertising and general public desire for higher speeds than were possible with a steam automobile engine were the primary causes of the company's demise.

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Jay Leno, host of the Tonight Show, owns and drives a Stanley Steamer to work. Even though it leaks water, it remains one of his favorite cars in his auto collection. There is also a carpet cleaning service in the US operating under the

Related Topics:
Jay Leno - Tonight Show

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trademark Stanley Steemer; presumably

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the peculiar spelling was adopted so they could register the name as

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a trademark.

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