STANLEY - The Steamers

Twin brothers Francis Edgar Stanley (1849 - 1917) and Freelan Oscar Stanley (1849 - 1940) were pioneers of the dry photographic plate. In 1897 , after witnessing a french steam car in an expo, they got interested and started developing an automobile with a steam engine. In 1898 , they made their first steam car and drove up a steep hill in 2 hours which otherwise would have taken 6 hours in a horse carriage.

A 1898 steam car with Freelan Stanley and his wife -

They produced about 200 of these cars and later sold the rights of the steam car to Locomobile company and returned back to their photography business.

In 1902, they sold the photography business to George Eastman and returned back to Automobile business. They founded Stanley Motor Carriage Company to manufacture and sell steam powered cars. Stanley steam cars were known for their quality, reliability and boasts of one of the safest boiler designs with no recorded accident of boiler explosions. The boilers and burners were placed below the rear seat and directly coupled to the rear axle. As the torque produced is high, steam cars do not require clutch and transmissions.

A 1903 Stanley steam car -

Around 1905, steam car designs evolved and housed the boiler and burners in front leading to be known as "Coffin-nosed" cars. In 1906 , a Stanley steam car set the world speed record of 127 mph (201 km/h) and the record stood for 103 years , broken by another modern steam car in 2009. Stanley steamers came to be known as "flying teapots" in view of their exploits in the racing arena.

A 1908 and an 1912 Stanley steam car - Note the shape of the front - coffin-like

The driver controls were also complex and requires an engineer to start and drive a steam car. It has many pressure gauges (water, steam , main fuel, pilot fuel) , oil winker, throttle below steering wheel, air pressure tanks, steam control etc. Below is an example of a Stanley steamer dashboard.

The mechanical layout of a steam car is also completely different as well as complex, requiring multiple plumbing to handle oil, fuel, water, steam , heat etc. Below is a layout of a Stanley steamer -

The starting procedure is elaborate and requires a minimum of 20 min to start and drive away a steam car. Watch Jay Leno start and drive a 1906 Stanley steamer here.

The Stanley Motor Carriage logo -

In the early 1900 , steam cars were one of the highest selling automobiles, next to electric cars. However, with the invention of starter motor by Cadillac and mass production of Ford Model T cars, steam cars lost steam and were on the decline. Stanley steam cars tried to counter this by an advertisement campaign , which reads -

Power -

          Correctly generated

          Correctly controlled

          Correctly applied to rear axle

This campaign was put forth to counter the rise of  "internal explosion Engine" which was gaining popularity at that time. As we know the "internal explosion engine" won the race.

Stanley Motor carriage company changed hand in 1917 and was finally closed down in 1924.

The RED Flag Act (Britain)

The Locomotive Act of 1865 , also known as the RED flag act , required -

1. Self-propelled vehicles to have a speed limit of 4 mph(6 Km/h) in country roads and 2 mph (3 Km/h) in city roads

2. It should have a crew of 3 - a driver, a stoker and flag man

3. The flag man need to carry a Red flag and walk 60 yards (55 m) ahead of the vehicle.

This effectively restricted the speed of the vehicle to the walking speed of the man carrying the Red flag. He has to warn the horse carriages about the self-propelled vehicle ahead and ensure that the driver stops the vehicle till the horse or the horse carriage passes by.

The amended Highway & Locomotive act of 1878 reduced the distance of the Red flag man to 20 yards but all the other conditions remained same.

Below is a depiction of the implementation of the red flag act -



These restrictive rules and regulations choked the development of the British Motor Industry , helped by the Railway and Horse carriage lobbies.

Finally , on 14 November 1896 , the new Locomotives on Highways Act 1896 was passed with the following changes and was applicable to vehicles less than 3 tons in weight.

1. Speed limit was increased to 14 mph (22 Km/h)

2. Was exempted from the 3 member crew as well as the Red flag

To celebrate this event, Harry Lawson of Daimler (England) and his friends organised for the London to Brighton "Emancipation" run. The London - Brighton run starts off with the symbolic tearing of the RED flag.  The London - Brighton run is being regularly conducted from 1927 till date.

The 1896 emancipation run -

By 1903, the speed limits were increased to 20 mph and later on the laws were repealed.

SELDEN - 549.160

George B Selden (1846 - 1922) was a patent lawyer and an inventor. In 1879 , he filed a patent for a horseless carriage - Road engine powered by liquid-hydrocarbon engine of the compression type. After many updates, the US patent office finally  awarded the patent to him in 1895 - Patent no 549.160. The liquid-hydrocarbon engine mentioned in the patent was of the Brayton cycle type.

Even though George Selden never built an automobile , he intended to use the patent effectively to collect royalties. In 1899, Selden sold the patent to Electric Vehicle Company (EVC) who wanted to control the Electric vehicle business by controlling the Gasoline powered automobiles through the Selden patent. Immediately they filed patent suit against Winton Automobiles who were one of the largest sellers of automobile.

By 1903, 30+ automobile manufacturers got to togather to support the Selden patent with a view to limit and shut out competition, called the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM). The Association would pool in royalties from the members and use it partially to find patent infringement cases. Winton joined the ALAM and the case against him was dropped.

The royalties started with 1.25 % and was finally fixed at 0.75%.

In 1903 , Ford Motor Co decided to contest the patent by refusing to pay royalties and a long drawn legal battle ensued. In 1909, Ford lost the case as the judge ruled in favour of Selden. Ford appealed and, in 1911 , the US courts ruled against the Selden patent , the main reason being that the current automobiles use Otto cycle engine and not Brayton cycle engine.

Thus, one of the longest patent battle for the Automobile ended in 1911.

George Selden did found an automobile company in 1905 and they produced cars between 1909 and 1911.  The Selden Motor vehicle company ceased production in 1911.