Stanley Motor Carriage Company
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The Stanley Motor Carriage Company was an American manufacturer of steam cars that operated from 1902 to 1924, going defunct after it failed to adapt to competition from rapidly improving Internal combustion engine vehicles. The cars made by the company were colloquially called Stanley Steamers although several different models were produced.
Early history
Twins
In 1899, Freelan and his wife Flora drove one of their cars to the top of
Specifications and design
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Stanley_Steam_Car_1919_logo.jpg/220px-Stanley_Steam_Car_1919_logo.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Stanley_steam_car.jpg/220px-Stanley_steam_car.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Stanley_steamer_burner.jpg/220px-Stanley_steamer_burner.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Stanley_Steam_Car_1919_engine.jpg/220px-Stanley_Steam_Car_1919_engine.jpg)
Early Stanley cars had light wooden bodies mounted on wooden "perch poles" with
The engine had two double-acting cylinders, side-by-side and equipped with slide-valves, and it was a simple-expansion type. Drive was transmitted directly by the crankshaft to a rear-mounted differential using a chain. Owners often modified their Locomobiles by adding third-party accessories, including improved lubricators, condensers, and devices which eased the laborious starting procedure.
To overcome patent difficulties with the design they had sold to Locomobile, the Stanley brothers developed a new model with twin-cylinder engines geared directly to the rear axle. Later models had aluminium coachwork that resembled the internal combustion cars of the time, but they retained steam-car features by having no transmission, clutch, or driveshaft. They also had a fully sprung tubular steel frame.
When they later moved the steam boiler to the front of the vehicle, the owners dubbed it the "coffin nose." The compact engine ran at considerable steam pressure, with the 10-horsepower (7.5 kW) boiler described in 1912
A Stanley Steamer set the world record for the fastest mile in an automobile (28.2 seconds) in 1906. This record (127 mph or 204 km/h) was not broken by any automobile until 1911, although
Production rose to 500 cars in 1917.
The Stanley Steamer was sometimes nicknamed "The Flying Teapot".[9] At least one Stanley Steamer found its way to Castle Hill, New South Wales, Australia where it was driven in the late 1920s.[10]
Obsolescence
During the mid to late 1910s, the
Sale and closure
Francis died in 1918 when he steered his car off the road into a woodpile while attempting to avoid farm wagons travelling side by side.
The smaller scale of merchandising, a lack of effective advertising, and the general desire of motorists for higher speeds and faster starting than offered by Stanley vehicles were the primary causes of the company's demise. The factory closed permanently in 1924.
In popular culture
In the 1935
Boston Red Sox pitcher Bob Stanley was nicknamed "Stanley Steamer".[12]
Gallery
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1900–06 Stanley Steamer
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A Stanley Steamer in 1903 setting a record mile at theDaytona Beach Road Course
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Stanley Gentleman's Speedy Runabout, 1906
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A 1908 Stanley leaving the starting line at the Newport Antique Auto Hill Climb
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Stanley 30 HP 12-passenger Mountain Wagon (1912–1914) in Germany
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Stanley Model 735B ca. 1921
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1925 Stanley Steamer on display at the Pioneer Auto Museum, Murdo, South Dakota
See also
References
- G.N. GeorganoCars: Early and Vintage, 1886–1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985).
- ^ a b CHRISTOPHER JENSEN (June 17, 2011). "Taming a Mountain Road With Horses and Cars". The New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
That was the day that F. O. Stanley and his wife, Flora, decided it would be good publicity for their steam-powered Stanley Locomobile if it were the first car to be driven up the 7.6-mile Mount Washington Carriage Road.
- ^ Schematic of stanley steamer
- ^ Stanley FAQ
- ^ stanleymotorcarriage.com: Boiler Introduction
- ^ Stanley Steam Cars, The Automotor Journal, Nov 30th, 1912, p1444
- ^ Glaskin, Max, Steam-powered car breaks century-old speed record, August 25, 2009, retrieved August 26, 2009
- ^ British Steam Car Challenge
- ^ "Stanley Steamer – General Information". www.stanleymotorcarriage.com. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
- ^ 'Stanley Steamer' tourer steam driven motor car, 1920s, National Museum of Australia
- ^ Doris A. Isaacson, ed. (1970). Maine: A Guide Down East. Courier-Gazette, Inc. p. 386.
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- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Stanley Steamer – Technical Information
- Stanley Steamers in the Marshall Steam Museum
- Stanley Register Online – Worldwide register of existing Stanley steam cars