With the flick of a blow torch and a quick fan of the flames, a 126-year-old vintage car sputters to life.
"They were looking at whether they should get into building cars or whether they should stay with electrical systems," Mr Sorensen said.Mr Sorensen's Thomson Surrey is not to be confused with the steam car made by Herbert Thomson, which was the first wholly Australian-made vehicle of its kind from about the same era.Loading...
Now garaged at Mr Sorenson's Burnett Heads home, the Thomson Surrey heads out for the odd spin, albeit at a very slow pace.An historic photograph shows the car being driven by Elihu Thomson, with fellow famous inventors Thomas Edison and Hermann Lemp sitting behind him. "It took us a long time to figure out their thinking because it is different than other steam cars," Mr Lombard said.With ordinary steam cars, the water is boiled to make the steam."This one, the engine uses the steam in such a way that you don't see any steam coming out the back. Driving along behind it you wouldn't know it's a steam car."