1927 Franklin Series 11B 'Air Cooled' Sedan

Description

Newspaper publisher Herbert H Franklin’s eponymous company was founded in 1901 following a chance meeting with an engineer and recent graduate of Cornell named John Wilkinson, who had just developed a prototype for an air-cooled motor car. Based in Syracuse, New York the new venture began production the following year, with the first Franklin delivered to S G Averill in New York City on June 23, 1902. Wilkinson continued to develop and refine his design over the years, using the philosophy of “high quality with less weight”, and Franklin gained a reputation for building unconventional cars, with air-cooled engines, full-elliptic suspension and frames of laminated ash common to all models made between 1903 and 1929. From 1914, Franklin moved exclusively to six-cylinder engines, with a bonnet similar to the Renault’s until 1921, when a distinctive “horse collar” front-end was introduced. Pressure from Franklin’s dealers for a more conventional approach to styling saw a range of new bodies styled by designer J Frank de Causse, of New York City, introduced for the 1925 model year and de Causse presided over Franklin’s Custom Department until his premature death in 1928. Development continued through the 1920s, with the wheelbase increased to 119-inches in 1926, while the overhead-valve engine, with separate detachable copper-finned cast iron barrels, had a seven main bearing hardened crankshaft. Rated at 32 horsepower in 1927, the same motor was used to successfully power Waco aeroplanes in 1928 – indeed famous aviation personalities Charles Lindberg and Amelia Earhart both owned Franklins. The 1927 Model 11-B line-up consisted of eleven different body styles, including a Sedan, Sports Sedan, Coupe, Sport Coupe, Tandem Sport, Victoria, Enclosed-Drive Limousine, Cabriolet, Touring, Sports Runabout and a Rumble-Seat Coupe. Total Franklin production for 1927 was just 8,103 units and the company only lasted a further seven years before closing its doors in 1934.