The Prescott Automobile Manufacturing Company introduced its Model No. 1 in 1901. This car was powered by a two-cylinder, vertical engine mounted under the driver's seat. It was rated at 7½ hp and drove the rear axel with a chain. The boiler contained 364 copper tubes and tested to 700 psi with cold water. It ran at 200 psi working pressure. It carried a 32-gallon water tank and a 12-gallon gasoline tank made from seamless copper. The first Prescott Steam Automobile weighed 1,050 pounds.[1]
It performed well at the Staten Island Boulevard Speed Trials on may 31. 1902. A stock Prescott ran the mile in 1 minute, 37.2 seconds, "providing conclusively that Prescotts are safe, speed, and reliable."[2]
The Automobile Club of America awarded a Prescott its first class certificate for its 100-mile Endurance Contest that ran from New York to Southport, CT on Decoration Day, 1902.[3]
Prescott offered four models. The Model No. 1 sold for $1,000 complete. The highest priced Prescott sold for $1,250.
The cars were furnished with "royal blue panels, or dark Brewster green with cardinal red panels. Running gear was green or red, to suit, and patent leather fenders were available as an extra."
Prescott described the cars as "a perfect two-passenger carriage with graceful, artistic lines, that will carry four."[4]
This was a tiller-operated steamer with a 2-cylinder Mason engine rated at 7½ hp. The body was an open four-passenger, with a fold-down seat in front of the driver, or a standard four-passenger surrey. Specifications for the Prescott included brass brake-shoes and a steam-operated air pump for inflating the tires.[6]
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1901
This Prescott Automobile Manufacturing Company advertisement appeared on December 11, 1901 in the Horseless Age, Vol. 8, No. 37, page xv.
The Prescott steam car shared page space with the Lane & Bailey Company steam wagon on October 1, 1901. Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal, p. 56. John A. Conde Collection.
The 1901 Prescott was featured on the St. Clare's Hospital Fund classic car show in Smoke Rise, New Jersey on October 18, 1975.
Floyd Clymer's 1945 Steam Car Scrapbook illustrates a Prescott with a folding front seat. It is described as a "Combination runabout, with folding front seat; tubular running gear; chain drive; side steering; 2 or 4 passengers; weight, 1,400 pounds; 2½ or 3-inch Fisk . . ."[5]
This 1900 Prescott Steam Car was exhibited in the Strong Motors Antique Automobiles museum in Atwater, Minnesota.
1902
The Horseless Age of January 15, 1902, showed an early trade catalogue in the Prescott Automobile Manufacturing COmpany's advertisement. Vol. 9, No. 3, p. iv. John A. Conde Collection.
This Prescott Automobile Mfg. Co. advertisement appeared in a 1902 edition of The Autmobile and Motor Review. Reprinted in Clymer, p.42.
This Prescott Automobile Manufacturing Company advertisement appeared 1902, probably in the Horseless Age.
This remains of this Prescott Automobile Manufacturing Company advertisement appeared on the reverse of a Victor Steam Car advertisement in a 1902, perhaps in The Horseless Age.
This Prescott Automobile Manufacturing Company advertisement appeared in a 1902, perhaps in The Horseless Age.
This letter is signed by Frank Preston, the company's secretary. Weston is following up on a potential sales lead. Did he make the sale?
This Prescott Automobile Mfg. Co. advertisement appeared in a late 1902 edition of the Scientific American on p. 281. It speaks to the Prescott's endurance tests and notes that the 1903 models are Now Ready.
1903
The Automobile carried this small advertisement on January 24, 1903. John A. Conde Collection.
The Prescott promoted its Gold Medal winning car on February 19, 1903 in Motor Age, p. 70. John A. Conde Collection.
The Chicago Auto Show featured the Prescott Steam Car in early 1903. Motor Age reported that the Company promoted its endurance test wins in its February 19, 1903 note. John A. Conde Collection.
1904
In January 1904, the Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal carried information about the Prescott and its new, heavier engine. John A. Conde Collection.
This 1904 Prescott trade catalogue once belonged to Herman Cuntz, who catalogued it in 1904. John Conde collected a photocopy of the same catalogue from the Detroit Public Library. John A. Conde Collection.
In January 1904, Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal carried this list of used steam cars for sale. Sellers were offering the Prescott, White, Grout, and United Motor Vehicle cars. No Stanleys were listed. John A. Conde Collection.
In 1905, the Prescott was still advertising its steam car, but compared wtih other cars, its styles were decidely out of date.
This 1903 Prescott Steam Car came back to the Prescott Family as described in this 1979 Antique Automobile Magazine article. John A. Conde Collection.
The Prescott Automobile Manufacturing Company File Folder, John A. Conde. John A. Conde Collection.
[1]Bentley, John, Oldtime Steam Cars, (New York, NY, ARCO Publishing Co., second printing, 1969), p. 123.
[2]Bentley does not cite the source of this quote, but it can be found in a 1902 advertisement placed in the Automobile and Motor Review. This advertisement is reprinted in, Clymer, Floyd, Floyd Clymer's Historical Motor Scrapbook: Steam Car Edition, Vol. 1. (This book is copy No. 76692), (Los Angeles, CA, Clymer Motors, 1945), p. 42.
[3]Although Bentley fails to tell in what year this endurance contest took place, the contest is referenced in the same 1902 Automobile and Motor Review advertisement that described the Staten Island Boulevard Speed Contest. See, Clymer, Floyd, Floyd Clymer's Historical Motor Scrapbook: Steam Car Edition, Vol. 1. (This book is copy No. 76692), (Los Angeles, CA, Clymer Motors, 1945), p. 42.
[4]Bentley does not cite the source of this quote.
[5]Clymer, Floyd, Floyd Clymer's Historical Motor Scapbook: Steam Car Edition, Vol. 1. (This book is copy No. 76692), (Los Angeles, CA, Clymer Motors, 1945), p. 48. This information seems to have been copied from some publication, but Clymer does not indicate where. The description is cut off and part is missing.
[6]Georgano, G. N., Encyclopedia of American Automobiles, (New York, E. P. Dutton & Co., 1968), p. 163.
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