Steam powered car from 1960s

[duckers]

I remember seeing a motoring program a couple of months back which showed a slight glimpse about an American car developed by GM or some other big car company in the US using steam power as a way of combating the fuel crisis back then. If I remember it was only an experimental prototype.
However does anyone know anything more about the car, especially on what the powertrain was like and how it worked? Did it have a boiler like most other conventional steam engines? Did it have to be warmed up and ready for the car to start on a journey and other stuff like that?

Thanks

Duckers

[SL]

I recall this as well, was it on the BBC ??


As a guess I would try the websites of GM etc, I'm sure they will be advertising the fact if it is them. GM would be my guess as well.

Simon

[Ray Bell]

More likely the seventies if it was in response to an energy crisis, the 1972/3 period of Middle East instability really fired things up in that department, while the 1967 conflict was quickly over and done. I believe the Peugeot 604 was due for release when it hit, but they got nervous and put it off... and that led to setting up the PRV engine arrangement so that the V6 got some use from other makers.

It was to become a car that wouldn't need any energy crisis....

I think I recall reading about one such in Road & Track, but it might have been Car and Driver.... had a quick startup feature, but don't remember the details.

[Fuzzy Bigpants]

This was a good idea in the 70s. And after some thorough research I found out that this was only a prototype, and is now seen as a lost cause.
Sorry David its back to the drawing board

[Valve Bounce]

If we have a steam egine, surely some fuel must be burnt to produce the steam. It all boils down to whether a steam engine is more efficient than the internal combustion engine, and whether the steam engine's dependance on water might be a problem in icy conditions, which probably poured cold water on the project. In the long run, the high price of fuel, (petrol or gas depending on which part of the world you are from) is not a bane on the U.S. oil industry as some people might think. Anyone who has been to Saudi Arabia, and has seen the ARAMCO facilities will appreciate that the U.S. has a very large steak in the oil industry there.