1915 Stanley Model 820 Mountain Wagon

Offered by RM Auctions | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 12, 2012

Need to transport 12 people somewhere and don’t want to drive the same bland, 12-passenger Ford E-Series van as everyone else? Could I interest you in a 12-passenger convertible? There is even one surviving 15-passenger variant. Regardless of how many passengers you can carry, the Stanley Mountain Wagon is one of the coolest cars of all time.

These vehicles were available from 1908 to 1916 and used a 30 horsepower, two-cylinder steam engine. They were used for things like sightseeing tours in Yellowstone National Park. There is one just like this at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, and, although it appears average in size in the picture here – they are massive in real life. The wheelbase is only an inch shorter than that of a Ford Excursion – the veritable limousine among SUVs. And they are tall. When I saw the one in Reno, I became instantly fascinated. I just stood there are stared at it and inspected it – perhaps even creeping onto the gravel beyond where you are supposed to stand. Oops, don’t worry, I didn’t hurt anything.

This one has known ownership since WWII, including some well known and important collections. This is also the only Stanley Model 820 with its original, Stanley-built body – although it was restored a number of years ago. Steam vehicles are really cool to start with, but when you add in a very strange bodystyle like this, it just makes it even cooler. This is expected to sell for between $200,000-$250,000. For more information, click here. And for more from RM at Hershey, click here.

Update: Not sold.