Location: Paris, Seine, France

Surnames/tags: Gardner Eastman Serpollet
![]() |
1900 Gardner-Serpollet Steam Auto in Paris. |
The Gardner-Serpollet Automobile Company (aka Gardner-Serpollet Automobiles à Vapeur) was founded in 1900 in Paris, France, by Léon Serpollet, a French steam carriage inventor, and Frank Gardner, an American financier.
In 1896 Serpollet patented the flash boiler, which made steam a much more practical source of power for an automobile. The oil-fired flash boiler fed steam to a very advanced four-cylinder enclosed engine similar to the contemporary petrol engine design including poppet valves and an enclosed crankcase.
![]() |
Gardner-Serpollet Automobile Ads. |
Léon, working with his brother Henri, met Frank Gardner, a wealthy American in 1898. They formed the Gardner-Serpollet Company which began producing cars in 1900.
Léon developed a number of steam-powered vehicles including the radical "Œuf de Pâque" which translates to Easter Egg in English. In April of 1902 he took his ovoid steam car through the flying kilometer on the Promenade des Anglais at Nice, France, achieving 75mph, becoming the first non-electrically powered car to hold the Land Speed Record. The "Easter Egg" may have been one of the earliest production "sports" cars built primarily for speed over comfort.
![]() |
1901 Gardner-Serpollet "Easter Egg" race car. |
Serpollet died in 1907, aged 48, of consumption and his company did not survive him.
Contents |
A Car fit for a King
![]() |
King Edward's Motorcar. |
- In 1901 a Gardner-Serpollet Phaeton automobile was built for King Edward VII. Article: The King’s New Motor–A Rapid Traveller
The Invention of the Auto Accident
- During an annual automobile hill-climbing competition in Paris in 1903, three people were killed in two separate accidents including two Gardner-Serpollet Automobile company mechanics.
“... another fatal accident, even worse than the first, occurred at Bonnieres, some little distance from Gaillon. Five mechanics in the employ of the Gardner-Serpollet company, were on their way to the contest in an automobile. While going down a hill near Gaillon they came upon another Serpollet car at a turning. As in the previous case, to prevent a terrible collision, they turned abruptly to one side. The same fate attended them. The motorcar was dashed against a tree and overturned. Two of the mechanics were killed.”
Research Notes
![]() |
1906 Gardner-Serpollet Double-Decker Bus. |
The identity of Frank Gardner whose financial support placed his name in the foremost spot in the Gardner-Serpollet Company name hasn't been provided in contemporary descriptions of the business endeavor. He is only described as American and "wealthy." Initially I was looking at the prominent Gardner family of Boston related to John Lowell Gardner (I & II) and Isabella Stewart Gardner who established the Gardner Museum. Dr. Frank A. Gardner who wrote the biographies of most of the Boston and Brookline Gardners in the "Gardner Memorial" book doesn't mention the French car company and I couldn't identify any "Frank" Gardner as a candidate.
One possibility is Frank J. Gardner (1862-1943), a descendant of the Rhode Island Gardiners, who made a number of trips to Europe in the early 1900's for the Chicago meat packing company, Swift & Co., one of the largest in the U.S. at the time. He traveled to U.K., France and Norway. His wife, Frances Eastman of Cambridge, Massachusetts, already had a passport before their marriage in 1897. It's possible they spent their honeymoon in Europe and Frank could have met the Serpollet brothers in Paris at that time.
There doesn't appear to be a connection with The Gardner Motor Company of St. Louis which didn't start producing cars until 1919 and was still in the buggy business as Banner Buggies in the early 1900s.
One of a handful of Gardner-Serpollet steam cars still in existence can be found at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, Massachusetts (link below).
(B. Gardner, Gardner-8711 18:59, 27 December 2023 (UTC))
Update
- An email from a U.K. automobile webzine (http://www.britainbycar.co.uk/) creator and editor, Tony Thorpe, provided a clue that helped identify the "wealthy American" Frank Gardner who invested in the Serpollet steam cars. A lawsuit by actress Carrie Swain identified Frank's wife and finding their marriage record provided a key piece to the puzzle. It turns out that quite a bit was written in Australian newspapers about Frank Gardner the theater promoter who became a wealthy mining investor eventually moving to London then Paris where he met the Serpollet brothers. (B. Gardner, Gardner-8711 21:12, 3 December 2024 (UTC))
References
- Wikipedia contributors, "Gardner-Serpollet," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gardner-Serpollet&oldid=1050197635 (accessed December 24, 2023).
- Wikipedia contributors, "Léon Serpollet," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=L%C3%A9on_Serpollet&oldid=1180963180 (accessed December 27, 2023).
- Wikipedia contributors, "Land speed record," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Land_speed_record&oldid=1191133815 (accessed December 27, 2023).
- Wikipedia contributors, "Automotive industry in France," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Automotive_industry_in_France&oldid=1163918319 (accessed December 27, 2023).
See also:
- Serpollet, France. The Virtual Steam Car Museum, website, http://www.virtualsteamcarmuseum.org/makers/serpollet.html (accessed Dec 2023).
- Vasily Shishka, "LEON SERPOLLET WINS BEXHILL SPEED TRIALS IN HIS STEAM CAR 6 JULY 1902", Steam Magazine, online, 11/4/2021, Steam Car Network, https://www.steamcarnetwork.com/steam-magazine/leon-serpolletwins-bexhillspeed-trials-in-his-steam-car (accessed Dec 2023).
- History Hits: Gardner-Serpollet Steam Cars, The Speed Trap, blog, https://thespeedtrap.net/2017/08/14/history-hits-gardner-serpollet-steam-cars/ (accessed Dec 2023).
- 1903 GARDNER-SERPOLLET STEAM CAR, Larz Anderson Auto Museum Collection website, Brookline, Massachusetts, https://larzanderson.org/history/the-collection/1903gardner-serpollet/ (accessed Dec 2023).
- Léon Serpollet: Revolutionizing Steam Power | Scientist Biography, YouTube, https://youtu.be/dDfoZgReinM?si=-2-zdyowwKkcHgPs (accessed Dec 2023).
- Login to edit this profile and add images.
- Private Messages: Send a private message to the Profile Manager. (Best when privacy is an issue.)
- Public Comments: Login to post. (Best for messages specifically directed to those editing this profile. Limit 20 per day.)