Reading Steamer

The Reading and Meteor were American steam cars developed by Irvin D. Lengel in 1901 in Reading, Pennsylvania. [1]

Steam Vehicle Company of America
Meteor Engineering Company
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1901 (1901)
FounderIrvin D. Lengel
Defunct1903 (1903)
FateClosed
HeadquartersReading, Pennsylvania,
United States
ProductsSteam car

Reading Steam Carriage

Built by the Steam Vehicle Company of America, their advertisement promised their Model B "runs indefinitely without attention." The steamer featured a four-cylinder steam engine when most steamers used two-cylinders.[2]

It had a bench seat over the engine compartment with tiller type steering. Drive was by chain to the rear wheels. The Model B sold for $850, equivalent to $28,750 in 2022. A year into the production of the Reading, creditors liquidated the company.[1]

Meteor Steam Car

Irvin D. Lengel was also a principal of Meteor Engineering Company who took over the assets of the Steam Vehicle Company of America in 1902. Meteor built a tonneau version of the steam car. Meteor also built a prototype gasoline automobile, but by the fall of 1903, Meteor Engineering Company was bankrupt.[1]

References
  1. Kimes, Beverly Rae; Clark Jr., Henry Austin (1996). Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 (3rd ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 978-0-87341-428-9.
  2. 100 Years of the American Auto Millennium Edition,. Publications International. 1999. p. 24.
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