fwiw, my stab would be along these lines, tho' I'm not entirely sure of a couple of the more techy aspects:

The only manufacturer of steam cars in the years from 1870 to 1890 whose work deserves to be highlighted is the French engineer Amédée Bollée. His father founded a factory in Mans in 1842.

Amédée was born in 1844. In 1867, he visited the Paris Exposition, where he saw a good number of road engines. He was already an engineer. Following that, he installed a small workshop in the family factory in 1871 where he worked every evening on his steam car, which took to the road in 1873: `The Obedient’.

It had some pretty useful innovations. Its wheels, swivelling in forks, were each independently suspended. The steering consisted of chains actuating on cams calculated to steer geometrically correctly in the tightest of curves. Its engines had two cylinders arranged in a ‘V’ of 90° and were placed in side compartments, releasing more space for the passengers. The conductor sat in the front and the driver at the rear.

On October 9, 1875, Bollée got under way for a 200 km trip to Paris. With each change of département (civil district), an official stopped him to check that the machine would not damage the roadway. He received 75 penalties on the voyage – but these had little after-effect, since Bollée had taken along the Prefect of Police in person!

‘The Obedient’ created a sensation in Paris, but no firm orders followed.