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Bookmarks: Stanley Steamer

Odd Cars
By Brenda Williams

In the early days of the automobile, naysayers often jeered drivers with cries of "get a horse!" Indeed, at the time, cars were seen as loud, expensive and utterly impractical.

Today, automobiles are about as flashy as you can get. Sleek designs and luxurious extra features can make any driver feel like a king on the road. But there are some vehicles that just...defy description. Here's some examples from around the world:

The Mini-Cooper with a Swimming Pool: This miniature stretch limo, the MINI XXL, comes equipped with a retractable flat screen TV, a DVD player, CD and radio, air conditioning, sunroof, full black leather and a telephone in the rear so that passengers can communicate with the driver. Oh yeah, and there's also a swimming pool in the back. More accurately, it's a whirlpool bath with a detachable roof, so users can enjoy it in all sorts of weather. It's so heavy that an extra axel with two additional wheels has been added to the car. Sounds like fun...though if it gets stuck in traffic, passengers might start to prune up.

The Dymaxion: A car that can get up to 50 miles on a gallon of gas?! It sounds too good to be true, and...it was. This three-wheeler, designed by Richard Buckminster Fuller in 1933, was made to hold up to 10 people and achieve maximum wind resistance...but its oddball treardrop shape made it an eyesore, and a test run went poorly when the driver was killed in an accident. Though the Dymaxion was exonerated, the press labeled it a "freak car" and only three of them were ever made. Only one remains, and is on permanent display in the National Auto Museum in Reno, Nevada.

The Stanley Steamer: No relation to the cleaning service, this steam-powered automobile actually set a land speed record at Daytona Beach in 1906, achieving 127.7 miles per hour. These cars were also hugely popular at the time, outselling every gasoline-powered car on the market for several years. What happened? Internal combustion engines became safer and more efficient...and far, far cheaper than the Stanley automobile. The Steamer still enjoys a large following among automobile enthusiasts, including talk show host Jay Leno, who drives his 1918 model to work each day.

The Amphicar: This civilian car that could go on water captured the imagination of the American public, who bought almost 4,000 of the vehicles. Unfortunately, Department of Transportation and Evironmental Protection Agency regulations kept the 1968 model from being imported into the U.S., cutting off about 90 percent of the car's sales. The corporation that made them went out of business that same year. Those who owned the cars loved them - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson kept one at his ranch, and in one photo, is shown taking newscaster Walter Cronkite out for a ride. As recently as 2007, there have been talks of making new aquatic cars in the U.S., which could show up in dealerships as early as 2009.

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