I read that a vehicle will go 5 times farther on steel rails than on rubber tires. I know that trains don't really have much rolling resistance.
You can buy a steam engine that would work nicely for low speed.
http://www.mikebrownsolutions.com/20hpkit.htm
20 HP. would be plenty of power.
It would be interesting to build a steam powered art car. It would sound pretty cool too. As a side benefit, you could cook lobster and hard-boiled eggs.
There is something that occurred to me a while ago.
Tell me how cool this would be.
Build a steam powered, rubber-tired vehicle. The tow-behind would hold all the burnable trash that you picked up [a good way to meet people]
It would also hold an open top water tank. During night drives, you would bypass some of the output from the boiler and heat your on-board hot tub [an equally good way to meet people] You would need a steam whistle to "call" for trash. A small aux steam engine could run a generator for electric power. The same company sells them.
You could start with a truck chassis. No need to build your own. Next, go to this site or some other place that would have an efficient boiler.
http://web.govliquidation.com/
Buy the engine from Mike Brown. Build a cab. Build the trailer.
I could build this without straining a single gray cell. It's what I do.
I just don't have the motivation at the moment.
Rabbi, you're in Hollywierd, I'm in Van Nuys. If you get a few motivated people and a pocket full of cash. I'll do the design.
Let's see; high pressure tires, on-board bar-b-cue, water filter, lobster steamer,,,,does a sauna seem a bit "overboard"?
Dan
Post script----topic,,,,,we donna need no stinkin topic.
Dan
