The Reading was a typical light steam carriage, although 4-cylinder engines were available as well as the more usual twins. The company was absorbed by the Meteor Engineering Co. in 1902, who introduced a larger car under their [sic] own name, although the light Reading design was continued to the end of 1903.[1]
The Meteor company was the successor to the Steam Vehicle Company of America, maker of the Reading steamer, and Meteor continued the design for one year. The Meteor car itself was larger than the Reading, being a four-passenger tonneau powered by a 4-cylinder horizontal engine of 10 hp. It had wheel steering, a De Dion-type hood, and the appearance of a gasoline-engined car. The price was $2,000 compared with the $800 for the smaller Reading.[2]
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This Reading Steam Carriage advertisement appeared in The Autocar on May 4, 1901, page 49.
This Reading Steam Carriage advertisement appeared in The Autocar on June 8, 1901, page unknown.
The Reading Steamer advertisement appeared in August 1902 in a magazine entitled Current History and Modern Culture.
This is the Meteor Engineering Company's gasoline car as promoted in The Automobile magazine for January 24, 1903. John A. Conde Collection
Conde's File Folder. John A. Conde Collection.
