Counts as car right? Overall, looks like a horse buggy with a steam engine in front, but IIRC some real life "steam cars" also have a similar design and appearance.

NNescio said:

Counts as car right? Overall, looks like a horse buggy with a steam engine in front, but IIRC some real life "steam cars" also have a similar design and appearance.

Yep. A lot of steam wagons and road steamers in the Victorian era looked like tiny trains with wheels, and I love the look of these little things. It was more common in the Victorian era, but the founding technology actually goes back to as far as the Baroque times and are definitely fantasy material.

Also, the true steam car, though it was never really relevant, was still around all the way to the interwar period and going into WW2 in tiny numbers. The late models of the Doble Steam Car went as late as the 1920's and had a top speed over 100 miles per hour, a water efficiency of 60 miles per gallon, and could run on a variety of fuels. Gramps still has room to impress yet!

The big problem with steam cars, though, is that if you want to get a burst of power out of a car, you just step on the gas, and more fuel is added that instantly explode and shove the piston/crank the shaft, resulting in more power near-instantly. If you want to get more power out of a steam-powered car, you need to shovel in more coal and wait for the water to boil to get you more steam power that can be used to push the car forwards, and that can take several minutes. You might be able to get a steam-powered engine up to decent speeds on a straightaway when you're constantly pushing maximum power, but it's awful for city commutes where you need to start and stop.