It’s hard to imagine now, with traffic jams in Accra and ride-hailing apps at our fingertips, but there was a time when a single car in Ghana could turn heads and stop conversations.
That moment came in 1902. And the man behind it? Not a businessman. Not a celebrity. But the then-Governor of the Gold Coast—Matthew Nathan.
Before you picture leather seats and Bluetooth speakers, let’s talk about the car. It wasn’t like anything on our roads today. This was a French Gardner-Serpollet steam-powered vehicle—yes, steam! The kind where water had to be boiled to make the engine go. It was more science experiment than road trip companion.
And the price? A whopping £543. At the time, that was a small fortune—enough to buy serious land or fund an entire project.
But why would a colonial governor want such a car?. Well, apart from making a statement, Nathan needed to move. His job involved traveling across rough, unpaved roads to oversee administration. The car made it easier—and, let’s face it, much more impressive.
Imagine the reactions. People in the Gold Coast had never seen anything like it. The sound, the look, the very idea of a moving machine—it must have felt like a glimpse into the future.
For locals relying on horses or hand-pulled carts, it wasn’t just a vehicle. It was a symbol of power, of change, and of a world rapidly modernizing.
Little did they know, that strange steam car would be the first whisper of a transportation revolution that would shape Ghana’s future.
And maybe, just maybe, it planted the seed of curiosity in someone watching from the roadside.
Who knew that one car could carry so much history?
