Dead Ends in the History of Technology: The Case of Steam Cars

One of the multiple trajectories the diffusion of steam power followed was the invention of steam cars. This innovation appeared in the early part of the nineteenth century reaching a crescendo of inventive activity in the 1820s and 1830s. Coinciding with the dawn of the railway era, it was an effort to capture the market for the transportation of passengers by displacing coaches drawn by horses. But as impressive was the genesis of this endeavor, equally spectacular was its failure. By the mid-1830s it was obvious that the obstacles which prevented the development of this technological trajectory were too complex to overcome. Steam cars failed to capture this market although they reappeared in the second half of the century in the form of vehicles used to convey agricultural and mineral resources. Few historians delved into this subject but, despite the limited number of studies, some sophisticated explanations have been forwarded elaborating on the partial failure of this technology. This chapter reviews the relevant evidence and, in the end, offers a somewhat different perspective which stresses managerial and entrepreneurial failures on the part of inventors involved in this technology in addition to the adverse impact of the opposition raised by turnpike trusts which has been stressed by other authors.