In January of 1902, a Los Angeles photographer named Oliver Lippincott planned to undertake what then was an outlandish journey: driving the roughly 70 miles from Flagstaff to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Accompanied by a local guide and two reporters from the Los Angeles Herald, Lippincott's car became the first vehicle to successfully make that trip. What they thought would take seven hours took two days.

It wasn't just any antique car. The vehicle was a 1901 Toledo steam car, made by the American Bicycle Co. of Toledo, Ohio. Like other steam cars, it used a boiler to heat water into steam, which drove the pistons. Steam cars were among the many types of vehicles vying for prominence as the new horseless carriage, in an era before the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine — like the one in Ford's Model T — became the world standard.

More than a century later, British car enthusiast Nick Howell came upon a Toledo steam car at an auction in Michigan in 2004. It had with some interesting modifications: A chassis lengthened by six inches. A larger-than usual water tank. An added trailer. Curious, he purchased it, then set off reaching out to other Toledo owners around the world and comparing notes. Did their vehicles have the same features?

After extensive research, Howell, 63, concluded his wasn't just any Toledo. It was the steam car previously owned by Lippincott, the same vehicle that was the first to reach the Grand Canyon in 1902.

There was only one thing left to do, naturally: Ship the car back to the United States and make the same journey.

On Aug. 26 and 27, Howell and his brother, Chris, plan to retrace as much of Lippincott's original route on the dirt roads between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.

The Howells' 1902 steam car currently is in a shipping container in Los Angeles, where the brothers arrived Thursday. They met with late-night talk-show host and antique car collector Jay Leno, who heard about the steam car and offered them space in his garage.

As long as the vehicle clears customs, the brothers will then show it at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance car show, then ship it to Flagstaff for the beginning of their journey.

What a journey

The Howells have never seen the route or the terrain in person. They admit this is not something they ordinarily would do. But they couldn't resist after discovering the car's unique history. ("This is the only the second time I've been to the USA," said Chris, 61. "Old in body and young at heart!")

At first, they tried to piece together an itinerary from afar.

"From England, it was pretty hard to try and work out just on Google maps where we were going to go," Chris Howell said. They reached out to the Arizona Trail Association, who advised them on part of the route. Soon the Grand Canyon Historical Society and even the Flagstaff mayor knew about their adventure.

Last week, Flagstaff resident Tom Martin drove the route and emailed about 200 photos of the road to the Howells in England so they would have some sense of what lay in store for them. The path is far easier to traverse than it was 112 years ago, said Martin, secretary of the Grand Canyon Historical Society. The beginning and end of the route is mostly forested — but in the middle it's wide open sagebrush land, with houses few and far between.

"It's just kind of stunning... We've biked it before," Martin said. "The locals know it as the cool dirt roadway to get to the Grand Canyon. You've gotta go out and open a gate or two and close the gate behind you."

However, it is still 70 miles on a single-lane dirt road. If all goes to plan, the Howells will travel through the Coconino National Forest, Babbitt Ranch and Kaibab National Forest. Per the advice of the Arizona Trail Association, they will use U.S. Route 180 to bypass part of the route that is harsh volcanic basalt escarpment, difficult even for four-wheel drives. Other than that, the brothers will follow Lippincott's original route as closely as possible, hoping to arrive at what used to be the old Grandview Hotel at the edge of the Grand Canyon.

The steam car

The trip sounds simple enough to the modern ear, but this is no modern car.

The brothers have spent years restoring the car, replacing three pieces of wood in the body and installing a new burner, boiler and pilot light. All the other components, including the upholstery, are original, they said.

In most modern cars, fuel combustion takes place inside the engine, and the combustion gases act directly against the piston to move the car. A steam car uses an external combustion engine — an 18-inch burner for pressurized gasoline brings water up to a boil and creates enough high-pressure steam to power the pistons.

It was this technology that drove both the steam car's allure and its demise, said Lou Dinwiddie, a docent with the California Automobile Museum.

"Steam cars, if you've ever heard one, they're beautiful," Dinwiddie said. "They have a nice sound. They're much quieter."

They also could not compete with the increasing efficiency, popularity and affordability of gasoline-powered cars, especially after the Model T entered the scene. By the 1920s, the steam car was obsolete, Dinwiddie said.

Based on their test runs in England, the brothers know there will be challenges getting to the Grand Canyon. The car is a two-seater, big enough only for Nick and Chris Howell. Its "fuel efficiency" is a dismal one gallon per mile. Since the car can only hold 40 gallons of water at a time, the brothers will have to use natural water sources to refill the tank.

"At the end of the day, we want to do that pioneering run that they did 100-odd years ago," Chris said.

Replicating history

Martin said he and the Grand Canyon Historical Society only found out about the Howells' plan at the beginning of August. It was unique, to say the least.

"These days, you hop on the 180 and 64 and go north and you're there in 70 minutes and you're done," Martin said. "You don't go messing around in a two-day stage ride or a four-day steam ride."

But he can relate: A few years ago, Martin built a full-size replica of a boat that went through the Grand Canyon in the 1950s.

"I'm kind of jazzed about replicating history — and I know nothing about cars. I know nothing about steam. I am steam-clueless," Martin said. "But the concept is stunning. It's brilliant. These guys realize they are caretakers of history. So we're catching their excitement."

Martin said there will be set times the public can view the car in Flagstaff on Aug. 25, 26 and 27. Each night the brothers will transport the car back to Flagstaff, where they will stay in a hotel. The following mornings, they plan to haul the steam car back to where they stopped the day before and pick up their journey from there.

Originally Martin assumed the Howells were going to camp near the dirt road on their two-day journey. He offered the brothers camping support as well — but it turned out there was a limit to their sense of adventure.

"They said, 'Why, are you crazy?' "

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