Stanley (Stanley Steamer) Runabout History

When the Stanley Motor Carriage Company began production in 1902, its core product was a light steam runabout: a simple wooden body on a tubular frame, a vertical fire-tube boiler, and a compact twin-cylinder engine geared directly to the rear axle. Early cars carried non-condensing engines with a rear-mounted boiler and were sold under a run of letter designations — the Model A and Model B of 1902–1903 among the first.

These runabouts were cheap to run, nearly silent, and quick off the line — a steam engine makes peak torque from rest, so a Stanley pulled away faster than the chain-driven gasoline cars of the day. That gave the marque an outsized reputation in its first decade. The four-passenger Model EX runabout, built from 1906 to 1909 with a single-cylinder engine and a sliding rear seat, was a late and well-remembered example of the type.

From about 1907 onward Stanley moved the boiler to the front of the chassis under a curved hood — a layout owners nicknamed the 'coffin nose' — freeing up cabin space and feeding the burner with ram air. The light runabout format faded as the company shifted toward larger touring cars, but it was the form that first made the Stanley name.