Today, we wonder how to power our car. The University of
Houston's College of Engineering presents this series about the
machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose
ingenuity created them. By the 1890s steam cars had been around
more than a century. They hadn't amounted to much. When it came
to real transportation, railroads did all the dirty work. Now
people saw that freedom of individual movement might be
possible. Now gasoline engines and electric motors appeared.
Suddenly a great sorting out had to take place. How do you
suppose we chose among steam, electricity, and gasoline? It'd be
nice to think that we simply sat down and weighed strength
against weakness. Of course we did not. At first steam was the
clear leader. In 1906 a Stanley steamer raced at 150 miles an
hour. Airplanes wouldn't match that until after WW-I. That was
important because why, after all, did anyone want a car? Not for
normal transportation! Railways and electric trolleys took care
of that. The first cars served spo