In 1896 Freelan and his brother Francis visited the Brockton County Fair. They saw a steam car and decided to build one themselves. In 1897 the two brothers began making steam-powered cars. Their steam cars had a much lighter boiler and a lighter steam engine than the rest. They were soon making about 200 cars a year. In 1899 they purchased a bicycle factory in Watertown and began building their cars. They then sold their car company to John B. Walker and Amzi L. Barber for $250,000 USD. With it they sold the rights to their car designs. The sale had a clause that the two Stanley brothers could not build and sell cars for two years. The Stanley brothers broke the clause and had to give their new design to the company Walker and Barber formed, the Locomobile Company of America. In 1901 Francis and Freelan Stanley formed a new car company, the Stanley Motor Carriage Company.