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| Industry | Automobile |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1902 (first vehicle produced 1897) |
| Defunct | 1924 |
| Fate | Sold and dissolved |
| Headquarters | Maple Street in Watertown, MA,United States |
Key people | Francis Edgar Stanley andFreelan O. Stanley |
| Products | Vehicles |
TheStanley Motor Carriage Company was an American manufacturer ofsteam cars that operated from 1902 to 1924, going defunct after it failed to adapt to competition from rapidly improvinginternal combustion engine vehicles. The cars made by the company were colloquially calledStanley Steamers although several different models were produced.
TwinsFrancis E. Stanley (1849–1918) andFreelan O. Stanley (1849–1940) founded the company, after selling their photographic dry plate business toEastman Kodak. They made their first car in 1897. During 1898 and 1899, they produced and sold over 200 cars, more than any other U.S. maker.[1]
In 1899, Freelan and his wife Flora drove one of their cars to the top ofMount Washington inNew Hampshire,[2] the highest peak in the northeasternUnited States. The ascent took more than two hours and was notable as being the first time a car had climbed the 7.6-mile-long (12.2 km)Mount Washington Carriage Road.[2] The Stanleys later sold the rights to this early design toLocomobile. In 1902 they formed their own Stanley Motor Carriage Company.
Early Stanley cars had light wooden bodies mounted on wooden "perch poles" withfull-elliptic springs. Steam was generated in avertical fire-tube boiler mounted beneath the seat with a vaporizinggasoline (laterkerosene) burner underneath. The boiler was reinforced by several layers ofpiano wire wound around it, which gave it a strong but relatively lightweight shell. In early models, the vertical fire-tubes were made of copper and were expanded into holes in the upper and lowercrown sheets.[3] In later models, the installation of a condenser caused oil-fouling in theexpansion joints, and welded steel fire-tubes had to be used. The boilers were reasonably safe since they were fitted with safety valves. Even if these failed, any dangerous over pressure would rupture one of the joints long before the boiler shell itself could burst. The resulting leakage would relieve the boiler pressure and douse the burner with very little risk to the passenger. There is not a single documented incident of a Stanley boiler exploding.[4][5]
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-mounteddifferential 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[6] as having the safety valve set at 650 pounds per square inch (4.5 MPa), with the burner set to automatically cut back when pressure reached 500 pounds per square inch (3.4 MPa). The twin-cylinder steam engines were at that time 10 horsepower, with3+1⁄4-inch (83 mm) bore and4+1⁄4-inch (108 mm) stroke, and 20 horsepower (15 kW) with 4-inch (102 mm) bore and 5-inch (127 mm) stroke, and made extensive use of ball bearings. In order to improve range,condensers were added from 1915.
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, althoughGlen Curtiss beat the record in 1907 with a V-8-powered motorcycle at 136 mph (219 km/h). The record for steam-powered automobiles was not broken until 2009 by Charles Burnett III drivingInspiration.[7][8]
Production rose to 519 cars in 1917.
The Stanley Steamer was sometimes nicknamed "The Flying Teapot".[9] At least one Stanley Steamer found its way toCastle Hill, New South Wales,Australia, where it was driven in the late 1920s.[10]
| Year | Production |
|---|---|
| 1897 | (1) |
| 1898 | (100) |
| 1899 | (100) |
| 1900 | 30 |
| 1901 | 80 |
| 1902 | 170 |
| 1903 | 300 |
| 1904 | 550 |
| 1905 | 610 |
| 1906 | 640 |
| 1907 | 775 |
| 1908 | 784 |
| 1909 | 613 |
| 1910 | 670 |
| 1911 | 535 |
| 1912 | 566 |
| 1913 | 475 |
| 1914 | 527 |
| 1915 | 403 |
| 1916 | 353 |
| 1917 | 519 |
| 1918 | 498 |
| 1919 | 499 |
| 1920 | 255 |
| 1921 | 310 |
| 1922 | 465 |
| 1923 | 181 |
| 1924 | 102 |
| Sum | 10.910 |
During the mid to late 1910s, the improvedfuel efficiency and power delivery ofinternal combustion engines and the use ofelectric starters instead ofcranks, which had been notorious for causing injury, made the internal combustion automobile more popular than the more expensive steam car. The Stanley company responded with advertising campaigns aimed at discrediting the "internal explosion engine." One Stanley advertising slogan to that end was "Power – Correctly Generated, Correctly Controlled, Correctly Applied to the Rear Axle." These were early examples of a "fear, uncertainty and doubt" ad campaign, since their aim was not to convince buyers of the advantages of the Stanley Steamer but to suggest that internal combustion automobiles could explode.
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.[11] After his death, Freelan sold his interests to Prescott Warren. The company suffered a period of decline and technological stagnation. Production specifications show[1] that no model with a power output of more than 20 hp (15 kW) was produced after 1918. Better cars were now available at much lower cost. For example, a 1924 Stanley 740D sedan cost $3,950, compared with less than $500 for aFord Model T. The widespread use of electric starters in internal combustion cars,beginning in 1912, eroded the remaining technological advantages of the steam car.
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 the 1935MGM filmAh, Wilderness!,Lionel Barrymore owns a Stanley Steamer. His character claims to have paid $5 for it.A song titled "The Stanley Steamer" appears in the 1948 filmSummer Holiday (itself a remake of the aboveAh, Wilderness) starringMickey Rooney andGloria DeHaven. The number, written byHarry Warren with lyrics byRalph Blane, features an extended musical sequence with what appears to be a fairly early yellow 10 HP model. Stanley fromCars,Cars 2, and theCars Toons short "Time Travel Mater" is a Stanley Steamer. Another Stanley Steamer appears in the 1965 filmThe Great Race starringJack Lemmon andTony Curtis, withNatalie Wood as the driver of the car. And a Stanley Steamer appears in the 2003 filmSeabiscuit.
Boston Red Sox pitcherBob Stanley was nicknamed "Stanley Steamer".[12]
![Stanley Model 735B [13] ca. 1921](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aStanley_Steamer_2.jpg)
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.
