I spent the yesterday afternoon at the Northeast Classic Car Museum in Norwich, NY. They have a great collection of some very rare cars, including cars made right here in NY. The auto industry in the first three decades of the 20th century was much more diverse than it became in the wake of the Great Depression. The museum has one of the, if not the largest collections of Franklin automobiles manufactured by the Franklin Automobile Company of Syracuse, NY. Franklin manufactured and sold luxury cars from 1902 to 1934 and introduced a number of innovations.
A 1903 Franklin. This is the 2nd oldest known Franklin in existence. The first Franklin of 1902 is owned by the Smithsonian...
Innovations include the first 4-cylinder engine and elliptic suspension.
More after the squiggle.
1908 Franklin truck. It is the only one known to exist.
Some more early Franklins. Innovations include the first 6-cylinder engine in 1906.
Franklin was a pioneer in closed body cars introducing a sedan in 1913. They pioneered aluminum pistons in 1915 and became one of the largest users of aluminum in the world at the time.
Some of the later Franklins. The stock market crash his Frankin harder than most because they only manufactured luxury cars. They entered 1932 with $7 million in unsold inventory. They tried to introduce a lower priced car in 1932 but it was too little too late. The company declared bankruptcy in 1933 and sold a few more cars in 1934 before being liquidated.
My grandmother really liked this one...
The Franklin name continued on as a brand of Aircooled Motors of Liverpool, NY, a company started by former Franklin Automobile Company engineers to manufacture air-cooled engines for the aviation industry. Aircooled was later purchased by Preston Tucker. The company was sold again in 1961 and renamed Franklin before being sold to the Polish government in 1975.
This is a horizontally opposed 12-cyliner engine designed for a remote controlled drone bomber that was not ordered by the Army. As a result this is one of just 5 or 6 that is know to exist.
A 6-cylinder. This was the engine for the Republic Seabee.
A 4-cylinder. Used in planes like the Piper Cub and PA-7.