Long Steam Tricycle (about 1880)
In many ways, bicycles paved the way for America's mass adoption of the automobile. (Bicyclists were first to petition for paved roads, for instance.) In this case, Massachusetts carpenter George Long used wheels and other parts from the high-wheeled bikes of the day to create this lightweight steam-powered car.
Long's horse-owning neighbors hated the noisy thing, however, so he dismantled it. The pioneering experimental vehicle was later put back together and donated to the museum.
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Last updated December 24 2010: 9:44 AM ET
