The Reading and Meteor were American

steam cars Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

developed by Irvin D. Lengel in 1901 in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

Reading Steam Carriage

Built by the Steam Vehicle Company of America, their advertisement promised their Model B "runs indefinitely without attention." The steamer featured a four-cylinder

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

when most steamers used two-cylinders. It had a bench seat over the engine compartment with tiller type steering. Drive was by chain to the rear wheels. The Model B sold for $850, . A year into the production of the Reading, creditors liquidated the company.

Meteor Steam Car

Irvin D. Lengel was also a principal of Meteor Engineering Company who took over the assets of the Steam Vehicle Company of America in 1902. Meteor built a

tonneau A tonneau ( or ) is an area of a car, truck, or boat open at the top. It can be for passengers or cargo. When applied to trucks it refers to their ''bed'' (American English) or ''tray'' (British English). Origin of term A tonneau was orig ...

version of the steam car. Meteor also built a prototype gasoline automobile, but by the fall of 1903, Meteor Engineering Company was bankrupt.

References

{{Reflist Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Pennsylvania Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1901 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1903 Steam cars 1900s cars Veteran vehicles Cars introduced in 1901 Cars discontinued in 1903