Building Steam 1903 Stanley

Taken solely on its merits, the Stanley and its steam cars probably should have had a longer life. But the world changed around it so that even performance as promised and high quality couldn’t ensure survival.

The Stanley brothers — twins Freeland O. and Francis E. — certainly didn’t have the background that might be expected of those succeeding in the business of building steam cars. Their expertise was in photography, where they became wealthy by manufacturing supplies and then selling out their profitable business. Steam as a power source for vehicles intrigued them, so they began experimenting and by 1898, they