2.1 The Stanley Steamer

• At the start of the twentieth century very few steam powered car manufacturers still existed.

• The most important exception was the Stanley Motor Carriage Company in the United States, which started making steam powered cars in 1897. Ref: Part 1, The Early History, Section 3.

• The company continued producing steam powered cars until 1917 (producing 500 cars in that year), when the two Stanley brothers sold their interests to Prescott Warren.

• Production went into a long period of decline and by 1918 no models were being produced with a power output higher than 20 hp.

• Stanley Steamers also became too expensive. In 1924 a Stanley 740D sedan cost nearly $4000, compared to a few hundred dollars for a Model T Ford.

• The last Stanley Steamer was produced in 1927.

• A total of 16,000 were manufactured, of which about 600 still exist.