There’s a reason that a Locomobile is called a Locomobile. The earliest were steam-powered, like a locomotive, and they moved under their own power but could be steered like an automobile. OK, so that’s not too enlightening and you probably already know that so let’s investigate further. To do that, we have a completely restored 1901 Locomobile runabout that we can review. It is located in Ontario, California and is available, here on craigslist for $21,000.
Locomobile was a short-lived company having come into existence in 1899 and then being sold to Durant Motors in 1922. By 1929, the Locomobile brand name was defunct and two years later, so was Billy Durant’s company. Before that, however, Locomobile was formed by essentially acquiring the Stanley brothers steam car operation and renaming it Locomobile. By 1902, the Stanley brothers were on to their next venture, The Stanley Motor Carriage Company, and Locombile, now controlled by a wealthy asphalt paver, Anzi Barber, decided that steam power wasn’t going to be viable or popular, so he sold his Stanley patents back to the Stanleys and embarked on a gasoline-powered future. The company changed hands again, with new investors and engineers, and the company started to prosper, free of a steam propulsion platform. You can read more about Locomobile courtesy of The Locomobile Society of America.
Virtually nothing is said about our subject car other than, “Car is great condition, must see to appreciate“. Based on research, power was provided by a 57 CI twin-cylinder engine fed by steam from a 300 PSI boiler. Unlike a railroad locomotive, steam was generated by using petroleum Naptha as a fuel to heat the boiler. Our subject car would have sold new for between $600 and $700 dollars and was one of seven different models offered that year. Based on its condition, our subject car looks more like a reproduction kit – and assuming that’s not the case, then this example has obviously been very restored. The fenders are what really caught my attention, that’s some serious wood “steaming” that had to occur to get such bends. I have looked for images of similar era Locomobiles and have not been able to uncover one with any type of fenders, wood or otherwise – they all illustrate runabout models as being fenderless.
OK, so it’s now what to do with it time. Certainly, if a quick getaway is necessary, like right after robbing a bank, this is not your car – you have to hope the coppers hold off until you get the boiler pressure up…Obviously, I’m being facetious as this is strictly a collection piece but I did meet a gentleman at a car show several years back who had driven his Stanley Steamer to the venue. It was a complicated ordeal to get that car “fired up” as so to speak. In this case, someone will find this Locomobile unusual and unique enough to make a serious inquiry, but it will probably take more than an essentially silent craigslist ad, and four similar images to get the job done, wouldn’t you agree?
There’s always been a steady following of steam-powered cars. Personally, I’ve always liked the Stanley units of the mid to late teens but I’ve read lots of articles on the earlier ones like this one. Pretty good idea as long as you’ve got a destination where there’s water. Of course, the chances of finding water are a lot greater than finding a place to plug in your EV. This would be a blast to have. But I have to say that anyone wanting to chuff around town in one of these needs to have a steam operator’s certificate lest you run into a problem where the boiler gets up too much steam and explodes. Anyone wondering how explosive steam can be should read an article from the early 1850s where an impatient riverboat captain decided they would get underway (after being ice-locked in port for several days) and push through the ice or else blow the ship to hell. Well, the explosion blew the top right off the ship, vaporizing the crew, killing 78 and injuring 110. The ship’s safe and bell were found on the opposite shore–of the MISSISSIPPI!
I’m not sure “restored” is the right word for this car. Looking at pictures of other examples online, this seems to be a creative interpretation of the original design. It could be an original chassis underneath, but there aren’t enough pictures to tell. I’d take it as given that the boiler and the rest of the drivetrain shouldn’t be fired up under any circumstances before they have been comprehensively rebuilt.
The price seems rather low for such a car, and maybe it reflects all these factors. If it really is, at least, an original car with a homemade body, it could be an interesting project for someone.
I’m revising my take on this. The more I look at the pictures, the more I think the whole thing is a home brew made for parades.
Looks like recent bicycle rims and tires, what wheels would be on a 1900 steam car? Wood rims ?
Back in the last days of the 19th century bicycles were getting immensely popular. Bicycle wheels had threaded steel spokes even then. The Curved Dash Olds, White Steamer, and the Locomobile were just three cars to utilize steel spokes…
Wouldn’t be chrome either……
They’d be beaded-edge rims, like contemporary motorbike ones; probably painted or nickel-plated.
Do those fenders actually have the “Cypress Gardens” logo on them?
Aren’t those disc brakes up front? The whole thing look fake.
Call it a hunch, but I’m pretty sure those disc brakes aren’t original.
Friend of my father’s had a Stanley Surry. Wheels looked about the same. As I recall spokes were thicker. Tires were solid rubber. No brakes like these and no fenders.
Gave my sister and I a ride in it one day. Didn’t take long to build up a head of steam. Was much quicker than I expected and turned sharp enough that it would lift a wheel. Man did that thing stink. I had this idea that steam was a clean running mode if transport. After the ride everyone needed a bath. Going down the road was fine. When you would stop and a car would drive by pushing the greasy soot laden steam into your face. My sister and I were laughing our heads off and didn’t want to stop. Made perfect sense why they wore driving coats and hats in those days.
Has that George Washington’s ax look about it if it’s really a ‘restoration’.
That being said, brakes are important so I’d give a pass on that if you are going to use it as a Jay Leno daily driver.
tiller steering is way different than other period examples online. looks like a 1930’s restomod of a 1901 (with modern disk brakes)
I stand corrected. something else may be afoot. center tiller was on early 1900, later models had right side tiller, but its 122 years old, could be a registration vs production thing
It´s a reproduction / kitcar…
https://forums.aaca.org/topic/285631-lykamobile-steam-car-replica-locomobile/
Thanks for finding this. The listing is very misleading.
JO
Typical replica ad. Too many early replicas are listed and even registered as original cars. Some owners have been deceived, or even deceived themselves. Beware…
And all along I was thinking it was called a Locomobile because you’d have to be loco to take it on the interstate…
Yes a reproduction, all that wood is too nice, posted 5 days ago.
It’s a replica and the ad is deceiving. But for 21K you get a nicely done steam car. The kit alone is $19K (in England), plus hundreds of hours work. So if you like to have a steamer to podder around and get the feel for a 120 year old brass car, this is a bargain! It’s a real steam automobile, not a cheap look-alike with 5 Hp Briggs-n-Stratton engine.
The vehicle here is a “Likamobile” (Like a Locomobile). It is a replica of an original 1901 Locomobile steam car. It was made as a Mechanics Kit by Modelworks Inc, in England between 2005 and 2011. They made mostly scale model steam tractors, as kits. In 2005, they introduced the Likamobile, a full size replica, and sold it as a kit, with a new kit shipped every month, for 18 months. It is the real thing, with a two cylinder, double acting steam engine, a steam boiler under the seat, fired by a 12V motor home burner, and it runs on Diesel or Kerosine for fuel. Modelworks sold about 50 of these Likamobiles, before they had financial issues and went bust. The steam vehicle assets were acquired by Steam Traction world, also in England, and they still make the Lykamobile, and sell it as a kit today. Just Google “Steam Traction World”, so see their web site. It is a Mechanics Kit, so you have to assemble the whole thing, following detailed instructions from them, paint it, bend the tubing, etc, etc. But, you do not have to do the machining work, the parts are all machined, and just have to be assembled. If you want to learn steam, this is the best way to do it. I bought mine in 2005, and it took me 5 1/2 years to get it all assembled. I then steamed it around the block, and it was how I learned steam. The cost of the whole package (24 seperate monthly kits now) is about $24,000. The currency on the website is in British Pounds, so do the conversion. Thanks, Doug.