Stanley Rocket - Steam-powered Speed-Wagon

In light of today's pain at the gas pump, the 1905 Stanley Steamer was an alternative energy car that was way ahead of its time. In particular, the 1906 Stanley Steam Rocket was a wonder, thanks to race driver Fred Marriott. It reached a record speed of 127.6 mph at the track in Ormond Beach, Florida. Unfortunately in the following year, the Stanley Steam Rocket became a racing footnote when it tried to break its own record. The Rocket hit a gully at 132 mph, went airborne one hundred feet, and then crashed. Luckily for Marriott, he walked away without injury. Marriott's 1906 speed record for a steam-powered car, however, remained unbroken for close to 100 years.

The Stanley Brothers

Inspired by George Eli Whitney's steam engine, twin brothers from Maine, Francis and Freelan Stanley, built their first Stanley Steamer in 1898. In 1918, Francis Stanley was killed when his Stanley Steamer slid off the road and rolled over on top of him.

There were several reasons for the Stanley Steamer's demise. The prime factors were that the Stanley brothers' vehicles were priced higher than Henry Ford's gas-powered vehicles, and the process of starting the Stanley Steamer's engine took up to a half hour. A bigger problem was that the water in the steam engine was powered by a kerosene pilot light. This occasionally led to dangerous explosions.

The Stanley Company

The Stanley Company lasted until the mid-twenties, producing 11,000 steam-powered vehicles. There are an estimated 500 drivable Stanley Steamers still in existence.

The Stanley Steamer Today

Tonight Show host Jay Leno owns five of them. In fact, he was actually pulled over on a Los Angeles freeway for speeding while driving his 1906 Stanley Steam Rocket.

In 2006, descendants of the Stanley twins and Fred Marriott gathered, along with 5,000 spectators, at Ormond Beach, Florida for a re-enactment of Marriott's 1906 speed record run. Fifty steam-powered cars participated in this race.

In 2007, the British automotive team that built the ThrustSSC, the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier, is building the Inspiration, a steam-powered vehicle, with the intent of breaking Fred Marriott's steam-powered speed record. They're aiming at speeds of 200 mph. As of February 28, 2008, the Inspiration was not yet ready. Some attribute this to the fact that project manager Frank Swanston, the engineering brain behind the Inspiration, died unexpectedly at the end of 2007. Besides the Inspiration, Swanston had also been part of the engineering team responsible for developing Formula One cars.