1899 Locomobile Steam Runabout, the Locomobile Company, Watertown MA. Price New $700. 2 Cyl steam engine. 2,050 made, 7 remain. , Gilmore Car Museum, Hickory Corners Michigan 4-2017
Modified text from Wikipedia
The Locomobile Company of America was a pioneering American automobile manufacturer founded in 1899. It was one of the earliest car manufacturers in the advent of the automobile age. For the first two years after its founding the company was located in Watertown, Massachusetts. Production was transferred to Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1900, where it remained until the company's demise in 1929. The company manufactured affordable, small steam cars until 1903, when production switched entirely to internal combustion-powered luxury automobiles. Locomobile was taken over in 1922 by Durant Motors and eventually went out of business in 1929. All cars ever produced by the original company were always sold under the brand name Locomobile.
The Locomobile Company of America was founded in 1899, the name coined from 'locomotive' and 'automobile'. John B. Walker, editor and publisher of the Cosmopolitan magazine bought the plans for an early steam-powered vehicle produced by Francis and Freelan Stanley for a price they could not resist: US$250,000, promptly selling half to paving contractor Amzi L. Barber. Their partnership lasted just a fortnight; Walker went on to found Mobile Company of America at the Stanley works in Tarrytown, New York, while Barber moved house to Bridgeport, Connecticut, as Locomobile; the Stanley twins were named general managers. The Stanley twins founded the Stanley Motor Carriage Company in 1902, becoming the sharpest rival to Locomobile.
Locomobile began by producing steam cars. Initially, they were offered with a single body style only, an inexpensive runabout at US$600. They were a curiosity and middle-class Americans clamoured for the latest technology. Salesmen, doctors, and people needing quick mobility found them useful. More than 4000 were built between 1899 and 1902 alone. In 1901, Locomobile offered seven body styles at prices between $600 and $1,400. Most Locomobiles had simple twin-cylinder engines (3x4 in, 76.2x102 mm; 57 in3, 927 cm3) and a wire-wrapped 300-psi boiler, and burned the liquid fuel naphtha to create steam. Typical of the product was the 1904 Runabout, which seated two passengers and sold for $750. The two-cylinder steam engine was situated amidships of the wood-framed car. The car had improved boilers and a new water pump, manufactured by the Overman Wheel Company in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. This company itself built the Victor Steamer.
1899 Locomobile Steam Runabout, the Locomobile Company, Watertown MA. Price New $700. 2 Cyl steam engine. 2,050 made, 7 remain. , Gilmore Car Museum, Hickory Corners Michigan 4-2017
Modified text from Wikipedia
The Locomobile Company of America was a pioneering American automobile manufacturer founded in 1899. It was one of the earliest car manufacturers in the advent of the automobile age. For the first two years after its founding the company was located in Watertown, Massachusetts. Production was transferred to Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1900, where it remained until the company's demise in 1929. The company manufactured affordable, small steam cars until 1903, when production switched entirely to internal combustion-powered luxury automobiles. Locomobile was taken over in 1922 by Durant Motors and eventually went out of business in 1929. All cars ever produced by the original company were always sold under the brand name Locomobile.
The Locomobile Company of America was founded in 1899, the name coined from 'locomotive' and 'automobile'. John B. Walker, editor and publisher of the Cosmopolitan magazine bought the plans for an early steam-powered vehicle produced by Francis and Freelan Stanley for a price they could not resist: US$250,000, promptly selling half to paving contractor Amzi L. Barber. Their partnership lasted just a fortnight; Walker went on to found Mobile Company of America at the Stanley works in Tarrytown, New York, while Barber moved house to Bridgeport, Connecticut, as Locomobile; the Stanley twins were named general managers. The Stanley twins founded the Stanley Motor Carriage Company in 1902, becoming the sharpest rival to Locomobile.
Locomobile began by producing steam cars. Initially, they were offered with a single body style only, an inexpensive runabout at US$600. They were a curiosity and middle-class Americans clamoured for the latest technology. Salesmen, doctors, and people needing quick mobility found them useful. More than 4000 were built between 1899 and 1902 alone. In 1901, Locomobile offered seven body styles at prices between $600 and $1,400. Most Locomobiles had simple twin-cylinder engines (3x4 in, 76.2x102 mm; 57 in3, 927 cm3) and a wire-wrapped 300-psi boiler, and burned the liquid fuel naphtha to create steam. Typical of the product was the 1904 Runabout, which seated two passengers and sold for $750. The two-cylinder steam engine was situated amidships of the wood-framed car. The car had improved boilers and a new water pump, manufactured by the Overman Wheel Company in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. This company itself built the Victor Steamer.