AWhen primitive automobiles first began to appear in the 1800s, their engines were based on steam power. Steam had already enjoyed a long and successful career in the railways, so it was only natural that the technology evolved into a miniaturized version which was separate from the trains. But these early cars inherited steam`s weaknesses along with its strengths. The boilers had to be lit by hand, and they required about twenty minutes to build up pressure before they could be driven. Furthermore, their water reservoirs only lasted for about thirty miles before needing replenishment. Despite such shortcomings, these newly designed self-propelled carriages offered quick transportation, and by the early 1900s it was not uncommon to see such machines shuttling wealthy citizens around town.
BBut the glory days of steam cars were few. A new technology called the Internal Combustion Engine soon appeared, which offered the ability to drive down the road just moments after starting up. At first, these noisy gasoline cars were unpopular because they were more complicated to operate and they had difficult hand-crank starters, which were known to break arms when the engines backfired. But in 1912 General Motors introduced the electric starter, and over the following few years steam power was gradually phased out.
D.第二年，艾伯纳-多布勒驾驶着B型车从马萨诸塞州来到底特律，为他的汽车设计寻求投资，并利用这笔资金开办了通用工程公司。他和他的兄弟们立即开始了 C 型车的研发工作，C 型车旨在扩大 B 型车的创新成果。兄弟们增加了一些功能，如在车厢内使用钥匙点火，操作员无需再手动点燃锅炉。通过这些改进，多布尔斯的新汽车公司承诺，蒸汽汽车将提供汽油汽车的所有便利，但速度更快，驾驶控制更简单，动力装置几乎无声。到次年 4 月，通用工程公司收到了 5390 辆多布勒-底特律汽车的订金，计划于 1918 年初交付。
CEven as the market was declining, four brothers made one last effort to rekindle the technology. Between 1906 and 1909, while still attending high school, Abner Doble and his three brothers built their first steam car in their parents` basement. It comprised parts taken from a wrecked early steam car but reconfigured to drive an engine of their own design. Though it did not run well, the Doble brothers went on to build a second and third prototype in the following years. Though the Doble boys` third prototype, nicknamed the Model B, still lacked the convenience of an internal combustion engine, it drew the attention of automobile trade magazines due to its numerous improvements over previous steam cars. The Model B proved to be superior to gasoline automobiles in many ways. Its high-pressure steam drove the engine pistons in virtual silence, in contrast to clattering gas engines which emitted the aroma of burned hydrocarbons. Perhaps most impressively, the Model B was amazingly swift. It could accelerate from zero to sixty miles per hour in just fifteen seconds, a feat described as `remarkable acceleration` by Automobile magazine in 1914.
F.兄弟俩最后一次尝试生产可行的蒸汽汽车。1924 年初，多布勒兄弟将一辆 E 型汽车运往纽约，接受美国汽车俱乐部的道路测试。汽车在冰天雪地里停放一夜后，被推到马路上，在清晨冰冷的空气中放置了一个多小时。一拧钥匙，锅炉就点燃了，并在四十秒内达到工作压力。当他们进一步驾驶这辆测试车时，他们发现，尽管它如此沉重，但其均匀分布的重量却赋予了它出人意料的良好操控性。随着新型多布勒蒸汽船的进一步开发和测试，它的最高时速被推到了一百多英里，每加仑煤油可行驶大约 15 英里，排放物几乎可以忽略不计。
G.遗憾的是，多布尔斯出色的蒸汽汽车从未取得经济上的成功。1924 年，它的售价约为 18,000 美元，只有非常富有的人才会购买。另外，据说没有两辆 Es 型汽车是完全一样的，因为艾伯纳-多布勒对设计进行了无休止的修改。到 1931 年公司倒闭时，令人惊叹的 E 型蒸汽汽车只生产了不到 50 辆。在他的整个职业生涯中，直到 1961 年去世，艾伯纳-多布勒一直坚持认为蒸汽动力汽车即使不比汽油汽车优越，至少也与汽油汽车相当。从证据来看，他可能是对的。许多幸存下来的 E 型多布勒汽车仍然保持着良好的工作状态，有些只进行了正常的维护，就已经行驶了 50 多万英里。令人吃惊的是，未经改装的多布勒 E 型汽车运行起来非常干净，足以通过加利福尼亚州的排放法规，而这些法规是相当严格的。诚然，这项技术带来了一些棘手的问题，但我们不禁要问，在现代材料和计算机的帮助下，蒸汽汽车的效率会有多高。在当前提高汽车性能和减少排放的压力下，蒸汽汽车再次崛起并非不可想象。
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DThe following year Abner Doble drove the Model B from Massachusetts to Detroit in order to seek investment in his automobile design, which he used to open the General Engineering Company. He and his brothers immediately began working on the Model C, which was intended to expand upon the innovations of the Model B. The brothers added features such as a key-based ignition in the cabin, eliminating the need for the operator to manually ignite the boiler. With these enhancements, the Dobles` new car company promised a steam vehicle which would provide all of the convenience of a gasoline car, but with much greater speed, much simpler driving controls, and a virtually silent powerplant. By the following April, the General Engineering Company had received 5,390 deposits for Doble Detroits, which were scheduled for delivery in early 1918.
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ELater that year Abner Doble delivered unhappy news to those eagerly awaiting the delivery of their modern new cars. Those buyers who received the handful of completed cars complained that the vehicles were sluggish and erratic, sometimes going in reverse when they should go forward. The new engine design, though innovative, was still plagued with serious glitches.
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FThe brothers made one final attempt to produce a viable steam automobile. In early 1924, the Doble brothers shipped a Model E to New York City to be road-tested by the Automobile Club of America. After sitting overnight in freezing temperatures, the car was pushed out into the road and left to sit for over an hour in the frosty morning air. At the turn of the key, the boiler lit and reached its operating pressure inside of forty seconds. As they drove the test vehicle further, they found that its evenly distributed weight lent it surprisingly good handling, even though it was so heavy. As the new Doble steamer was further developed and tested, its maximum speed was pushed to over a hundred miles per hour, and it achieved about fifteen miles per gallon of kerosene with negligible emissions.
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GSadly, the Dobles` brilliant steam car never was a financial success. Priced at around $18,000 in 1924, it was popular only among the very wealthy. Plus, it is said that no two Model Es were quite the same, because Abner Doble tinkered endlessly with the design. By the time the company folded in 1931, fewer than fifty of the amazing Model E steam cars had been produced. For his whole career, until his death in 1961, Abner Doble remained adamant that steam-powered automobiles were at least equal to gasoline cars, if not superior. Given the evidence, he may have been right. Many of the Model E Dobles which have survived are still in good working condition, some having been driven over half a million miles with only normal maintenance. Astonishingly, an unmodified Doble Model E runs clean enough to pass the emissions laws in California today, and they are pretty strict. It is true that the technology poses some difficult problems, but you cannot help but wonder how efficient a steam car might be with the benefit of modern materials and computers. Under the current pressure to improve automotive performance and reduce emissions, it is not unthinkable that the steam car may rise again.