| Skene | |
|---|---|
 Skene Steamer from advertisement | |
| Overview | |
| Type | Steam car |
| Manufacturer | Skene American Automobile Company |
| Production | 1900-1901 |
| Designer | James W. Skene |
The Skene was an American automobile manufactured from 1900 to 1901. A twin-cylinder 5-hp steam car, it was built in Lewiston, Maine. [1]
J. W. Skene Cycle Company of Lewiston finished its first steam carriage in 1900. R. H. B. Warburton of Springfield, Massachusetts helped Skene organize, with a capital stock of $500,000, the Skene American Automobile Company. Company headquarters were in Springfield, the factory remained in Maine. [1] [2]
The Skene was a simple steam buggy with a 5-hp double-acting two-cylinder engine and had a boiler with a working pressure of 160 pounds. The gasoline and water tanks were sufficient for a 25-mile run. All parts of the Skene were built in the Lewiston plant, a fact in which the Skene company took pride. [1] Prices ran from a Model 1 Steam Stanhope at $750 (equivalent to $27,468in 2023) to a Model 5 Canopy Steam Surrey at $1,300, equivalent to $47,611in 2023. [1]
By January 1901, Skene had a production run of twenty cars, and Warburton arranged a large display at the Philadelphia Automobile Show that month. This didn’t work out as planned. [3] As The Motor Age magazine put it, "a miscalculation on the part of the railroad officials tied up four Skene machines somewhere between Springfield and Philadelphia, and a space big enough to comfortably exhibit half a dozen vehicles looked bare with but one." [1]
Later in 1901, Skene reported 125 vehicles under construction but the partners’ money ran out. Sometime that spring the Skene American Automobile Company was attached for $5,000 by creditors. James Skene subsequently became a Rambler dealer, and spent the rest of his life in the automobile business in Maine. [1]
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