1912 Stanley Special 30HP Roadster Tribute

2-Cylinder Double-Acting Steam Engine
Approximately 30bhp
Chain-Driven Rear Differential
4-Wheel Leaf Spring Suspension
2-Wheel Mechanical Brakes

*Expertly created tribute to a period original with many period parts
*Carefully researched for more than a decade before being built
*Successfully climbed Mount Washington Auto Road with Jay Leno behind the wheel
*Unusual and truly unique automobile


THE STANLEY STEAM CARS

Certainly the best known, if not the most common steamers, came from the Massachusetts workshops of former photographic equipment makers F.E. and F.O. Stanley. The earliest cars were buggy-like, with their boiler and valve controls under the seat, but eventually came to look much like conventional automobiles, having the boiler and motor under a boxy, coffin-like nose and the drive taken to the rear wheels.

When the early 10hp models were found to be limited in their performance if fully laden, Stanley responded with the scaled-up 20hp Model F in 1905. Form 1906 their wheelbase was extended slightly to 100 inches allowing for more coachwork capacity and the boiler enlarged to 23 inches. The model was a great success, remaining in production through to 1908 and being the basis for successive 20hp cars. It led Stanley to claim that 'there is no American gasoline (sic) stock car, at any price, which is so speedy on road, hill or track'!


THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

Stanley steam cars have always had a devoted following, many sharing the fascination of this bygone era before the world became fully dominated by cars powered by internal combustion engines. The curiosity and love of the concept and indeed the performance that a steam car offers has meant that long after their day enthusiasts would piece together spares and revive, resuscitate or indeed build cars from scratch.

When Raymond Stanley designed cars specifically for himself, the factory pulled out all the stops. Examples were the 30-horsepower Model K Semi-Racer, featuring a sleek, low two-seat roadster body.
The next special built to Raymond's design was lower and longer still. It sat on a non-standard 130-inch wheelbase and, of course, featured the powerful 30-horsepower engine. There was no glass windscreen, only a Cambridge Windshield (also known as canvas cowl) to direct the airflow over the cockpit. By 1913, Raymond had changed the lighting to the newest style and raised the windshield, eventually fitting two "portholes" for better visibility. He also had a luggage platform added behind the cockpit, finished off with a round tank at the rear. The wheels were of standard 28-inch artillery wood-spoke configuration but featured solid disc covers on both sides. Unfortunately, Raymond's 30HP Roadster did not survive. Its steering gear proved to be a weak point, and on its second failure, it catapulted Raymond and his passengers through a barbed wire fence, with the front wheels stopping in a pond. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, but Raymond's father nonetheless ordered the car be dismantled.

That is where it might have ended, but for the efforts of a renowned Stanley collector and restorer, Brent Campbell. Campbell is the grandson of a Stanley factory employee who had later worked for factory service manager Fred Marriott (also the race driver who had set the 1906 land speed record for Stanley); Campbell had previously acquired and restored the remains of Raymond's 1911 Stanley special.

Working from period photographs of the original car, he spent years collecting appropriate 30-horsepower Stanley parts from the 1912 era. Choosing to replicate the car's initial configuration before Raymond updated the fenders and lighting, Campbell obtained a set of authentic 1912 fenders and early-type lights. Reproduction of the unique chassis and body framing was undertaken by Mark Herman, a cabinet-maker renowned for woodwork on early Stanleys. The skeleton was skinned in aluminum by Don Irvine in Michigan and finished to a high standard in two-tone gray with black accents and distinctive pale yellow wheel discs. The body features gorgeous nickel trimmed lamps, a nickel klaxon horn, dual carriage lamps, a full top, and twin rear-mounted spares, just as it appeared in early period images, copies of which are included in the file.

The Special Roadster was completed in 2016 and toured for a week that summer in Rhode Island. It celebrated Independence Day 2017 by passing the ultimate test: driving up New Hampshire's Mount Washington Auto Road, the highest peak in New England, with an average gradient of 11.6%. On that occasion, Jay Leno was at the wheel, and the event was captured on video by a 40-member production team wielding 12 cameras, one of them on a helicopter hovering overhead. The Stanley Roadster repeated that feat on four occasions, chewing up the challenging hill-climb with ease.

A true unicorn, this remarkable Roadster presents a one-of-a-kind opportunity: the ability to experience steam motoring as enjoyed by Raymond Walker Stanley.