Steamobile Company of America

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Steamobile Company of America made short work of the long road. Based in Keene, New Hampshire, it built compact, tiller-steered steam automobiles from 1901 to 1902, carrying forward a car developed in 1900 by the Trinity Cycle Manufacturing Company under the Keene Steamobile name.

The company succeeded the earlier Keene operation in February 1901. Its steam runabouts used a two-cylinder engine and chain drive; a two-seat model sold for $850, followed by a four-passenger dos-à-dos at $900. Early motoring: all brass, boiler tubes, and apparently zero patience for a boring commute.

In 1901, Steamobile showed its machinery at the Pan-American Exposition and offered the Transit, a passenger-and-delivery variant promoted for uses including railroad inspection and package hauling. It even found a British agent, because steam-powered optimism was evidently exportable.

The ride was brief. In June 1902, Philadelphia's Standard Roller Bearing acquired the Steamobile business and its Keene factory, along with 40 unsold cars; production ended. A separate New York address appears on period mail, but available evidence identifies it as a sales office rather than the company headquarters.

Our Steamobile Company of America collection celebrates Keene's tiny, ambitious burst of boiler-powered motoring—an automotive ghost that hissed, rattled, and vanished before the traffic had time to form.