AMERICAN STEAM CAR

American Steam Car Co. (1926-1942)
West Newton, Massachusetts

This is an American Steam Car hub emblem (1926-1942)   mjs
Size: 110mm wide 26mm high

Thomas Derr was an inventor with an interest in steam. His initial business was the servicing, repairing and rebuilding of Stanley steam cars but in 1926 he built his first American Steam Car using a rebuilt Stanley engine in a Hudson body and he produced more of these cars to individual order. Some years later, Derr had designed his own steam engine and boiler, which he put in a Hudson chassis. 

It is estimated that Derr made around twenty American Steam Cars up to 1942, when he ceased production to help in the American war effort.

Emblem

The American Steam Car did not carry an emblem but did display the "American Steam Car" name on the hubcaps, see hub emblem shown above. This American Steam Car emblem is rare.

The following rather poor quality photo appears to show an American Steam Car from 1932 with a radiator emblem, which seems similar to the hub emblem shown at the top of this post:

American Steam Car with rad emblem (1932)   khc

It appears that Thomas Derr also referred to his company as the American Steam Automobile Company, possibly when he started to use his own steam engines, see the nameplate/serial plate shown below:

American Steam Automobile Co. nameplate (date unknown) mjs
Size: 90mm wide 42mm high