Doble & Doble-Detroit Steamer

1914 – 1931

1.     Abner Doble Motor Vehicle Co., Waltham, MA  1914 – 1915

2.     General Engineering Co., Detroit, MI  1916 – 1918

3.     Doble Steam Motors Corp., Emeryville, AC  1924 – 1931

 Steam as a means of propulsion for passenger cars persisted longer in America than elsewhere because of the degree of flexibility it afforded, and the finest by far of steam cars in American or anywhere else was the Doble.  As far as the public was concerned, the major snag of steam cars was the time they took to start from cold, but in its final, 1923 form the Doble, the most sophisticated of the breed, got up steam automatically in less than one and a half minutes after the electric ignition switch lit the burner.  There was also a really efficient condenser, which gave a range of up to 1,500 miles on 24 gallons of water.  A horizontal 4-cylinder engine fed from a flash boiler developed something like 76 bhp, providing acceleration and hill climbing ability out of the ordinary even among steamers.  With all this went an elegance and luxury that was even rarer, a price of about $8,000 and a three-year guarantee.

After experimental vehicles had been made, the first Doble to be offered for sale appeared in 1917, and allegedly 11,000 orders were received, but war priorities stopped the project.  Plans were made to restart production in 1924, 1,000 cars a year being the target.  In addition, a line of cheaper steamers costing $2,000 was to be made.  In fact Abner Doble was a perfectionist who could never produce on such a scale, and not more than 45 Dobles were ever made.  These came from a succession of companies and factories.  The General Engineering Co. of Detroit was to have made the 1917 car as the Doble-Detroit.  Then Doble moved west to California, where a big new factory at Emeryville was to have coped with the expansion of 1924, but his dream never became reality.[1]

This postcard illustrates a 1923 Doble Steamer.  It was used to advertise service for an Auburn, New York car dealership.  Note the language, "Our computerized system . . . " plays on the novelty of computers in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  There is no zip code on this card.

  I am not sure where this clipping originated.  It came with a pile of steam car material and is unidentified.

For more information on Doble Steam Cars, visit . . .

http://www.steamcar.net/dobles.html

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Copyright 2007 Donald R. Hoke All Rights Reserved