page_title: History of steam road vehicles
section_title: Grenville of Glastonbury Steam car
hierarchical_section_title: History of steam road vehicles / Victorian Age of steam / Grenville of Glastonbury Steam car
caption_attribution_description: 1875 Grenville Steam Carriage British The Grenville Steam Carriage is believed to be the oldest self-propelled passenger-carrying road vehicle still in working order. It was designed about 1875 by Robert Grenville with some assistance from his friend. George Churchward - later Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway. It is thought that the carriage took around fifteen years to complete. The vertical boiler, a type used on steam fire engines, is understood to have originally been supplied by Shand Mason &amp; Co., a well-known fire engine builder. It consumed about five gallons of water and 6lbs of coal per mile. The driver had control of the throttle and cut-off levers, a foot-operated whistle and the brake pedal. On the drivers left and in charge of the tiller sat the steersman. Behind, there was seating for four passengers. The fireman had a small seat in the engine compartment and was responsible for firing the boiler and maintaining its water level. On the flat, the carriage could attain a speed of just under 20mph. Manufacturer: Robert Neville Grenville, Butleigh Court, Glastonbury, Somerset Owner: National Motor Museum Trust (Donated by Bristol City Museums, Galleries &amp; Archives) Housing a collection of over 250 automobiles and motorcycles telling the story of motoring on the roads of Britain from the dawn of motoring to the present day, the award winning (Winner - The International Historic Motoring Awards of the Year 2012) National Motor Museum appeals to all age groups. From World Land Speed Record Breakers including Campbell’s famous Bluebird to film favourites such as the magical flying car, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and rare oddities like the giant orange on wheels. Don’t miss exciting extra features such as the Motorsport Gallery, Wheels and Jack Tucker's Garage - A permanent, multi award-winning 1930's garage has been created within the Museum, complete down to the last nut and bolt and rusty drainpipe. Whilst the building is a complete fabrication, everything in it - all the fixtures, fittings, tools and ephemera - are genuine artefacts collected over a period of 25 years.
context_page_description: The history of steam road vehicles comprises the development of vehicles powered by a steam engine for use on land and independent of rails, whether for conventional road use, such as the steam car and steam waggon, or for agricultural or heavy haulage work, such as the traction engine.
  The first experimental vehicles were built in the 18th and 19th century, but it was not until after Richard Trevithick had developed the use of high-pressure steam, around 1800, that mobile steam engines became a practical proposition. The first half of the 19th century saw great progress in steam vehicle design, and by the 1850s it was viable to produce them on a commercial basis. This progress was dampened by legislation which limited or prohibited the use of steam-powered vehicles on roads. Nevertheless, the 1880s to the 1920s saw continuing improvements in vehicle technology and manufacturing techniques, and steam road vehicles were developed for many applications.
context_section_description: In 1875-1880 R. Neville Grenville of Glastonbury constructed a 3 wheeled steam vehicle which travelled a maximum of 15 miles per hour. This vehicle is still in existence, preserved for many years in the Bristol City Museum but since 2012 at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.
caption: Grenville's Steam car of 1875-1880
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