Among his fleet were two Pierce-Arrows, a Baker Electric and a
Stanley Steamer.
In 1899, Robert Stanley, of future "
Stanley Steamer" fame took his first motorcar to the summit, generating national news for both the mountain and his company.
The "
Stanley Steamer" looked similar to most other cars of the day, but it had an important advantage due to its simplistic automation.
For this was no ordinary family saloon but rather a 1911
Stanley Steamer which Edgar had discovered in an old barn in Stratford and spent months lovingly restoring it to its former glory.
The more successful early steam cars bore such nameplates as Doble, Locomobile, Ross, Stanley, and White, with one of the most famous being the
Stanley Steamer. The story of it, and the Stanley brothers who built it, is fascinating.
Thus, Carl Carlson of Greenwood Street had registered a 16-horsepower Maxwell, George Burnett of Leicester a 10-horsepower
Stanley Steamer, Fran Yates of Worcester a 22-horsepower Jackson, Raymond Wright of Lancaster a 10-horsepower Jeffrey, Samuel Winslow of Leicester a 57-horsepower Peerless, Randolph Crompton of Worcester a 40-horsepower Packard, and Wallace Taylor of Webster a 32-horsepower National.
To do so is akin to operating a
Stanley Steamer. Lots of preparation and warm-up time is required before actual shooting can take place.
That smashes the previous official record of 204 km/hr (127 mph) set in 1906 by Fred Marriott of the US in a modified version of the then-popular steam car known as the
Stanley Steamer.
The
Stanley Steamer was one of the most popular and was built into the 1920s.
A two-part video, for instance, shows Leno climbing under a 1906
Stanley Steamer racecar to light the pilot before he takes it for a drive--it appears that he takes all the vehicles for a spin.
Organiser David Gillespie said: "We've got cars ranging from a 1898
Stanley Steamer to the most recent - a 1972 TR6.
The event was the media launch of Inspiration--a British-built steam car that will travel to the US next month to attempt to smash the world steam car speed record of 128mph, established more than a century ago by Fred Marriott driving a
Stanley Steamer. The team behind the bid reckon they can go as fast as 170mph.