The steam car manufacturers listed here were mostly active during the first period of volume production, roughly 1860–1930, with a peak around 1900. From 1940 onwards, steam cars have tended to be either experimental or prototypes.

The first experimental steam-powered vehicles were built in the 18th and 19th centuries, but it was not until after Richard Trevithick had developed the use of high-pressure steam, around 1800, that mobile steam engines became a practical proposition. The first half of the 19th century saw great progress in steam vehicle design, and by the 1850s it was viable to produce them on a commercial basis. The next sixty years saw continuing improvements in vehicle technology and manufacturing techniques and steam road vehicles were used for many applications. In the 20th century, the rapid development of internal combustion engine technology led to the demise of the steam engine as a source of propulsion of vehicles on a commercial basis prior to World War II. Since then there have been sporadic resurgences of interest in steam, particularly in the late 1960s in California to address air pollution issues and later in response to the 1973 oil crisis.

1600s – Concepts Make Country Years active Comments Grimaldi Italy 1671 Phillipe-Marie Grimaldi is thought to have followed on from the Belgian model steam vehicle and served as an inspiration for the Italian model steam-powered carriage successor.The steam turbine in the forbidden city, The Shorter Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Joseph Needham and Colin A. Ronan, Cambridge University Press, 1978, page 143, , 9780521329958 Verbiest Belgium 1665 Ferdinand Verbiest is suggested to have built what may have been the first steam-powered carriage in about 1665, it had a length of 65 cm and was powered by an aeolipile. Both the Belgian model and later the Italian model were little more than toys.

1700s – Pioneers Make Country Years active Comments Cugnot France 1769 Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot's "machine à feu pour le transport de wagons et surtout de l'artillerie" ("fire engine for transporting wagons and especially artillery") was built in two versions, one in 1769 and one in 1771 for use by the French Army. Fourness and Ashworth England 1788 A British patent No.1674 of December 1788 was granted for a steam-powered car. Murdoch Scotland 1784 William Murdoch built and operated a steam-powered carriage in model form in 1784. In 1791 he built a larger steam-powered carriage which he had to abandon to do other work. Nolet France 1748 It seems that the Belgian vehicle of 1665 served as an inspiration for the French steam-powered carriage successor. Symington Scotland 1786 William Symington built a steam-powered carriage in 1786.

1800s – Early developments