The Steamboating Forum

This is a friend's Stanley. Fran restored this car waay back, using the axle of his running Packard to re-wrap the originial boiler in wire (it has a new boiler now). Fran and Todd used to cook peanuts on the copper boiler bonnet.

I have driven it, runs quite well, and is in good shape.

"Hi! Guys!----Please let it be known that my 1920, Model 735-B, seven passenger Touring- Stanley Steamer-("Old Copper Top"), is now for sale.
It is complete,in running condition,five wire wheels, with good tires,four wheel brakes, (front brakes added after production),fabric covered aluminum body,new top and bows and leather upholstering.
It has a new boiler and a "Parola" oil separator.The car is un-modified and set up to burn unleaded gas. The price is $100,000.
I have owned the Stanley since 1951 and it has always been garaged.
I can be called at 707-644-2638,or Email me goldie1919-AT-att.net -Fran Guldenbrein"

Here are a few pictures of the last time we ran it with Fran, Todd (R.I.P.), Dick Vennerbeck, and my father a few months ago (December 2011 I believe), and some older pictures... You'll notice in the newer pictures that the top looks funky; we had to lower it to get the car out of the garage. It just takes a couple seconds to up back up. I took the pictures before we put it back up.

















My father, Joe Butterman (Alert Bay), Todd Guldenbrein (R.I.P.), some goofy looking kid, and a woman who'd name escapes me- early 2000's taken with a box camera.

It's amazing,Wes, how steam cars hold their price so well but you can't get a nickel for a steam boat in N.America!

Den,

The world-round seems to be obsessed with the automobile, especially antique autos. Perhaps it's because the horseless carriage is a relatively modern development, whereas bits of wood floating on the water are "old hat."

Only "REAL" steamboats (manufactured in the "correct" era, by well-known builders) seem to get the "big bucks", but even then it is a comparatively paltry sum.

I would love to have that Stanley, however it's out of my price range. One can dream though..... Thanks for sharing.

farmerden wrote:It's amazing,Wes, how steam cars hold their price so well but you can't get a nickel for a steam boat in N.America!

People like to show off their stuff. You can't really show off your steamboat on the weekends at a car show where 1000's of people will be. Only a few people will see you on the lake on a Saturday afternoon. And then there's this stigma "The two best days of a boat owner, the day he buys the boat and the day he sells the boat" and "Definition of a boat, A hole in the water where you throw your money". That being said, I prefer lazy Saturday afternoons on the lake over hectic days at a car show!

mtnman wrote:"The two best days of a boat owner, the day he buys the boat and the day he sells the boat" and "Definition of a boat, A hole in the water where you throw your money".

Or B.O.A.T. - Break Out Another Thousand.

Along with the Tug project, I'm piecing together a steam carriage project as well. It's something to play with in the parking lot when the lakes are frozen. My main interest is steamboating.