page_title: Stanley Motor Carriage Company
section_title: Design and operation
hierarchical_section_title: Stanley Motor Carriage Company / Design and operation
caption_attribution_description: Stanley Steam Engine, 6 horsepower.
context_page_description: The Stanley Motor Carriage Company was an American manufacturer of steam-engine cars. The company was founded in 1898 and incorporated in 1901. The cars made by the company were called Stanley Steamers. They were produced from 1896 to 1924. In the early 1900s steam was used to power locomotives, steamships, even sewing machines. It seemed natural that steam could power cars. Of all the steam driven cars made in the early 20th century, the Stanley Steamer was the best-known and most popular. Today Stanley Steamers are rare automobiles and hard to find outside of museums and a few car collections.
context_section_description: Early Stanley cars had bodies made of wood. The bodies were attached to steel frames by leaf springs. Later bodies were made of aluminum. A Kerosene burner heated a drum-shaped boiler. The boiler stored steam. The driver controlled the steam going to the engine by a throttle. There was no need for a transmission. Starting a Stanley in the morning would wake everyone who lived nearby. It sounded like a steam locomotive, hissing and chugging. It was very hard to steal a Stanley Steamer. It took 20 minutes to gather enough steam before it could move. Once it was moving it seemed to have unlimited power. An early Stanley Steamer was capable of 75 miles per hour. In 1906 a Stanley Steamer broke the land speed record at 127 miles per hour in Florida. To operate a Stanley Steamer, the driver had to watch a number of gauges. There were 13 handles, pumps and valves to adjust. They carried only a small amount of water due to its weight. The car could only go about 40 miles before it had to add water. The kerosene burner was known to cause fires. The easier to operate gasoline powered internal combustion engine caused the steam car to become obsolete.
caption: 6hp Stanley steam car engine
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