abner's passenger owned a successful water mill company, so seed money wasn't a problem. with a steam engine heated by ker seen, it generated amazing torque, even a 6,000-pound roadster could reach speeds over 100 miles per hour. a well to do young fellow who showed up, got plent plenty of attention. the hills brother, of coffee fame had one. two examples are in burlingame. a retire mechanical engineer, he probably knows more about them and says they are fast. >> to fife you an example, the dodge viper, that is one vicious sports car. that has 565, i think, pounds speed of torque, twisting effort on the crank shift and this one at reasonable pressure is 2200. >> reporter: he opened up the hood and let us look at the immense boiler, holding 15 gallons of water and a condenser that puts all the water back into the system, one of abner's innovation and what happened to steam automobiles? henry ford happened. he had an idea that cars could be made simple and cheap by a system called "mass production." at his plant in dearborn, michigan, he choose the gasoline-powered car. whe