"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

Dobles were the most advanced steam cars of all time. In the late
'20s, whcn a Ford cost $260, a Doble cost $10,000 or more.

Steam technology on a small scale hasn't progressed very much since.
The Doble was a work of genius and very advanced. Turbines are out
for
cars. You need positive-displacement engines, like IC piston
engines.
Workable steam engines are complex; boilers are maintenance
headaches;
and so on.

Ed Huntress

Development work on small steam turbines at Doble led to an American
jet engine proposal contemporary with the British, German and Italian
efforts, but not as well supported:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_J37