1911 Stanley Steamer

1911 Stanley Steamer

Car owner, Norman D. Shanklin

Photo by Ozzie Sweet

The Stanley Steamer utilized a noncondensing steam powered engine which was mounted directly over the rear axle and fueled by a front mounted boiler. By 1906 the Stanley Steamer had been given its familiar "coffin-like" nose and the steering tiller had been replaced by a steering wheel. In 1911 the Stanley Steamer offered a wide variety of steamers ranging from a 104 to a 120 inch wheel base models. All of the cars ran on the two cylinder steam engine, which was rated from 10 to 30 hp. The one shown here was an eight year restoration project. This model was made for long distance transcontinental journeys.

I have operated steam engines in a production facility before and am a little bit familiar with them in general. It is amazing to me to think of this car being very efficient when I think that there has to be both the steam engine to run the car and also a steam boiler to furnish steam for the engine. There would also need to be a coal storage bin on board to keep the coal in that was needed to fire the boiler. I don't foresee a return to the steam powered cars of yesteryears but if gas prices keep going up it may well be that we do return to some other type fuel for our cars in the future.

1910 Stoddard Dayton

1910 Stoddard Dayton Runabout Coupe

Car owned by Dale A. Lyons, Picture by Roy D. Query

The Stoddard Dayton was produced to be the finest built car of that time. The company slogan for the car was "As good as it looks". Sales soared from 125 units in 1905 to 2000 units in 1907 because of the immediate success that it enjoyed.Hard times hit the company in 1913 after a failed merger attempt with Benjamin Briscoe and production was stopped. The Stoddard Dayton Model 10-H shown here had a 108 inch wheelbase and featured a custom made runabout body with a sporty Landau roof by coach builder E. E. Denniston.

I hope that you people that enjoy seeing and reading about these old cars will spread the word about this blog site and even help me build it by sending me more pictures and stories. I am just starting it up and will be adding more cars often.

1909 Packard Speedster

1909 Packard Speedster
Owned by Lauderdale Antique Car Museum
Photo by Roy D. Query

Packard automobiles were built following strict quality standards and gained a loyal following accordingly.In 1909 Packard introduced the Model Eighteen, a downsized Model Thirty, which rode on a smaller chassis and was powered by a smaller engine and had a lower price tag than its popular big brother. The Model Eighteen had an eighteen horsepower 4 cylinder T-head engine and a three speed sliding gear transmission. This one has a white on white color scheme with a grey interior, a brass radiator, white artillery style wheels with solid white tires.

1907 Maxwell

1907 Maxwell Tourabout
Car owner, Richard Baril
Photo by Ozzie Sweet

The Maxwell was a well built handsome automobile for its time, with a good reputation for reliability. In 1903 Benjamin Briscoe, an investor in the Buick automobile, was convinced that the Buick would not amount to anything and he sold his stock in the company to team up with an engineer named Jonathan Maxwell to build their own car. As it turned out we see that the Maxwell didn't last while the Buick is still doing good. This car has a 2 cylinder, 12 horsepower horizontally opposed engine with mechanically operated inlet valves. it had a honeycomb radiator with thermal syphon cooling, a two speed gearshift, a drive shaft instead of gears and chain and right hand steering.

1901 Lane Steamer Run-about

1901 Lane Steamer Run-about

Owned by Arthur Eldredge, Jr

Photo by Ozzie Sweet

Steam powered automobiles were very popular at the turn of the century from the 1800's to the 1900's. With gas prices going out of sight we might see them coming back again too! At that time they had a potential for a larger market than either electric or internal combustion gas engines. William, Georgia and John Lane were avid proponents of steam powered automobiles and began building them in 1900. They were rugged, powerful and compact and soon began receiving awards for their outstanding endurance and performance. This one had a 6 horsepower engine and featured kerosene lamps. The original price for this car was $350,