Road-Legal 1967 Land Rover "Mildred" Is Unbelievably Steam-Powered - Hits 12 mph

Frank Rothwell is an elderly gentleman from Oldham, England, that just so happens to be considered elderly because of the number that represents his age. At heart, you’ll rarely see a human that's more alive. How alive? How about rowing across the Atlantic, solo, at that age, just to raise money for Alzheimer's research. But we’ll talk about that some other time.

For now, it’s all about this 1967 Land Rover that just so happens to be fit with a steam-powered engine. No joke. With a passionate love for these types of engines, Frank asked himself if smaller steam engines can be fit to vehicles other than old farming equipment, like, maybe a Land Rover.

After crunching the numbers, Frank quickly realized he was on to something. With an “engine in, engine out” mentality, this gentleman decided to get to work creating the vehicle you’re witnessing in the video below and images above. The Land Rover engine had to be taken out, and in its place, Frank set a mock plywood steam engine just to make sure the calculations were all good.

Now, I understand you may be thinking that this whole venture is not eco-friendly. Honestly, does it even matter? There’s a friggin steam-powered 1967 Land Rover that is road legal! If you also think it’s unsafe, think again.

With a max speed limit of 12 mph (19 kph) and two braking systems in place, you really can't mess it up. This insistent shaking that both driver and passenger experience at cruising speed are enough to keep you moving rather slowly.

Because of this “engine swap,” the Land Rover no longer includes 4WD capabilities. Instead, it’s been reduced to just a rear 2WD steam powered beast. Drop the handbrake, set it into gear, either forward or reverse, release some pressure, and away you go. Well sort of.

Before any sort of driving around, the steam engine goes through an entire prepping or priming phase needed to build pressure within the machine. Once the furnace or kindle has been set to the proper temperature and wood has been reduced to embers, from between the driver and passenger seat, the rear bench offers access to a coal deposit, the fuel for this experience. As the vehicle is driven around, coal should periodically be shoveled into the furnace. After all, that’s how a steam engine works.

As you watch, Frank, and DriveTribe host Mike Fernie embark upon a journey in driving this beautiful monstrosity around town. Aside from the fact that they’re basically cruising at a speed where the camera team can even keep up on foot, the moment a hill was encountered, you could really see old Mildred (the vehicle’s name) struggling to get to the top. Mike even mentions that at one point Mildred is running at about 2 mph (3.21 kph).

Sure, it may not be the fastest car on the planet, but if you like to get yourself some attention with a one-of-a-kind vehicle, just throw a steam engine onto just about anything and all eyes are on you.