Steam Car - Early Steam Cars

Early Steam Cars

Although the first applications of steam to propelling a road vehicle were attempted in the 17th century, it was not until the advent of high pressure steam engines, in the early 19th century, that such vehicles became a practical proposition. Limitations in manufacturing technology and the poor condition of road surfaces meant that nothing that could be realistically regarded as a 'steam car', suitable for personal transportation, was created until the end of the 19th century. Despite this, the story that a pair of Yorkshiremen, engineer Robert Fourness and his cousin, physician James Ashworth had a steam carriage running in 1788, after having been granted a British Patent, No.1674 of December 1788, insists on cropping up. An illustration of it even appeared in Hergé's book "Tintin raconte l'Histoire de l'Automobile" (Casterman, 1953).