"INTRODUCTION A steam carriage came to Detroit as part of Spalding and Rogers' Great Ocean Circus in 1864. It was described as a family steam carriage for common roads (roads without rails). Upon arrival it was driven through the principal streets then displayed in full operation at scheduled performances in the circus ring. It could attain a speed of 30 mph@ and needed only a periodic bucket of water and a handful of twigs to burn. Thus@ by stretching one's imagination@ it could be considered as the first automobile show in Detroit. Sylvester Hayward Roper of Roxbury@ Massachusetts@ built this ""family steam carriage."" He began experimenting with steam carriages in 1859@ and is considered to be in the forefront of steam carriage development. The March 1864 issue of Scientific American reported Roper's invention as a vehicle weighing 650 lb.@ powered by a 2-hp engine making it capable of 25 mph. Roper built ten vehicles in the next 20 years@ and also fitted steam engines to bicycles when they began to become popular in the 1880s. W.W. Austen of Lowell@ Massachusetts@ was billed as ""Prof. Austen@"" with the newly invented ""family steam carriage."" Actually@ he was Roper's agent@ and his ethics are still in question as to the omission of Roper's name on the advertising handbills. Austen was killed in 1894 after colliding with another steam carriage@ which was probably the first two-car collision in U.S. history."