Grout Steam Car
The locomotive-like appearance, the boiler-shaped front, the single centrally placed headlamp and, the most noticeable part, the cow catcher, leave no uncertainty as to what powers this vehicle: steam!
This four-seater tourer was built by Grout in America and is fitted with a 2-cylinder 12 hp steam engine. A patented system conducts the heat and unpleasant smells away from the passengers. Steam passes through a condenser and is re-used. In 1904 this car cost about 1,500 dollars.
Financed by their father, who made a fortune in the sewing machine industry, the three Grout brothers from Orange, Massachusetts started manufacturing cars in 1898. Grout Bros. first built petrol-engined cars but later switched to steam. The cars were also exported to Britain and sold there under the name of Weston. The company was continually on the brink of bankruptcy and folded in 1912. Very few Grouts survive.