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Reading Steamer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Steam Vehicle Company of America
Meteor Engineering Company
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1901; 123 years ago (1901)
FounderIrvin D. Lengel
Defunct1903; 121 years ago (1903)
FateClosed
HeadquartersReading, Pennsylvania,
ProductsSteam car

The Reading and Meteor were American steam cars developed by Irvin D. Lengel in 1901 in Reading, Pennsylvania. [1]

Reading Steam Carriage

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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 when most steamers used two-cylinders.[2]

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, equivalent to $29,933 in 2023. A year into the production of the Reading, creditors liquidated the company.[1]

Meteor Steam Car

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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 version of the steam car. Meteor also built a prototype gasoline automobile, but by the fall of 1903, Meteor Engineering Company was bankrupt.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Kimes, Beverly Rae; Clark Jr., Henry Austin (1996). Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 (3rd ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 978-0-87341-428-9.
  2. ^ 100 Years of the American Auto Millennium Edition,. Publications International. 1999. p. 24.