The Steam Powered Car

After reading 'The Steam Powered Car' by Pat Quinn the Justice League collaborated on a compare and contrast between the Stanley Steamer and the Model T Ford.

The Stanley Steamer Vs The Model T Ford

What transportation did you use to get to school today? It was probably a car. The cars we have today have complicated engine parts, run on expensive petrol and are started with a key or button. However about a hundred years ago you may have got around in a Stanley Steamer or a Model T Ford. These cars were very different to what we have today.

Inventors - Priscilla and Skye

Often cars are named after their inventors. For example the Stanley Steamer was named after  Francis Edgar Stanley and Freelan Oscar Stanley.  You would call them the Stanley brothers. The Stanley brothers loved making cars, it was their passion.  Then in 1924 Henry Ford started making cars cheaper on assembly lines. He named these cars the Model T Ford.

Fuel - Israel and Arav

The Stanley Steamer used any fuel that burned such as coal or Kerosene. The Model T Ford used petrol that created fumes which polluted the air. The cars we have today are run on petrol also known as gas. The Stanley Steamer did not pollute the air like the Model T Ford because it only let out steam. The Stanley Steamer would have been easier and cheaper to run compared to the Model T Ford.

Engines with moving parts - Kalani and Sherlyn

Both cars had engines with moving parts. The Stanley Steamer had only fifteen moving parts while the Model T Ford had many complicated parts. The Stanley Steamer’s fewer parts meant that it was easier to fix. Whereas the Model T Ford was harder to fix because it had more parts, it also was more expensive to buy all the parts for the car. In our opinion the Stanley Steamer was better because it was easier to fix and had less parts than the Model T Ford.

Key - Dev

You all know that our modern cars have keys or buttons that start the engine. However a hundred years ago the Stanley Steamer and the Model T Ford had a different system to start the engine without a key. The Stanley Steamer was started by a match. The match would light the boiler which then heated up the water causing steam.  The Model T Ford was started with a crank which the driver had to wind up. This would mean that the driver would have to get out of the car and use a lot of energy. The Stanley Steamer was easier to start as it took less effort.

Fumes - Chantelle

One positive thing about the Stanley Steamer is it made very little exhaust fumes because it could run on water. Water makes steam, steam is not a harmful gas because it can turn back into water when it touches something. Whereas the Model T Ford ran on petrol. Petrol is a harmful gas because it is a form of pollution. In my opinion the Stanley Steamer was more effective because it was not a polluting gas.

Conclusion 

In the future people might start using steam powered cars again as an alternative to petrol powered cars. The advantages of a steam powered car are that they have an affordable source of fuel, make less pollution and have fewer expensive parts.

We think that our comparison is extended abstract because we have predicted what might happen in the future once petrol runs out.