Eric Minoff
Vice President, Head of Department - US
LOT 512
1905 Franklin Model A 12HP Four-Cylinder Runabout Engine no. 1524
Sold for US$61,600 inc. premiumLot to be sold without reserve
Lot 512
1905 Franklin Model A 12HP Four-Cylinder Runabout
1905 Franklin Model A 12HP Four-Cylinder Runabout
Engine no. 1524
Engine no. 1524
107.8 cu in, Pushrod Overhead Valve Inline 4-Cylinder Air-cooled Engine
Approx. 12hp
2-Speed Planetary Transmission
Fully Elliptic Leaf Suspension
2-Wheel Rear Drum and Transmission Brake
*Formerly in the Indianapolis Museum of Speed Collection
*Rare early four-cylinder car
*Unusual transverse engine format
*Eligible for HCCA, Audrain Veteran Car Tour and other events
EARLY FRANKLIN CARS
H.H. Franklin was a successful industrialist in Syracuse, New York with a good business making metal die castings, itself something of an emerging technology. In 1902 he was introduced to John Wilkinson, a recent Cornell University engineering graduate who had designed an air-cooled automobile for a client who hadn't paid him. Franklin took a ride, was impressed and undertook to acquire the deadbeats' interests and manufacture Wilkinson's cars. At a time when even quality automobiles were powered with single cylinder engines with atmospheric intake valves, ignition advance engine speed control and tiller steering Franklin's little runabouts featured inline four-cylinder engines, throttle control, overhead valves and wheel steering.
Cornell engineering graduate John Wilkinson designed his first prototype air-cooled cars for the New York Automobile Co. but, unsurprisingly fell out with them when he failed to be properly recompensed. Finding financial backing from Alexander T Brown, combined with support from Herbert H Franklin, Wilkinson's prototype designs went into production with the H. H. Franklin Co., the first car leaving the production lines in June 1902. From the outset, air-cooled engines were the norm for Franklin with four-cylinder engine units featuring overhead valves and being transversely mounted at the front in European, rather than typically American style. The Franklin was mounted on a wooden frame and proved robust on the primitive American dust roads. In 1904 L. L. Whitman challenged the records set by Winton and Packard for the trans-America drive from New York City to San Francisco and set a new record of just 33 days. Franklin remained in motor car manufacture until 1934 and throughout the name Franklin was synonymous with air-cooled engines.
THE MOTORCAR OFFERED
A counter position to its successor the Model G (see lot 528), this example displays the origins of the Franklin motorcar. According to information on file, the car was acquired privately through Charles Bronson. It is understood to have been part of a package of cars that emerged from the Indianapolis Speedway Museum in the early 2010s and therefore was previously part of the Tony Hulman Early Wheels Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana. Cars in that collection were generally acquired in adolescence of the hobby and so it is likely that even by then it has spent some 40-50 years housed at Indy.
The car appears to have received a much older restoration, and probably only seen limited use since then. Based on its lightweight construction, limited coachwork and relatively substantial engine for its day, one would imagine that these cars have quite a turn of speed.
By merit of its age it would certainly be a usable car for any Horseless Carriage Club Tour here in the USA, or even this weekend on the Audrain Veteran Car Tour. Further afield it would no doubt be welcomed in Veteran Car Club circles, or staying marque specific within the H.H. Franklin Club.
Approx. 12hp
2-Speed Planetary Transmission
Fully Elliptic Leaf Suspension
2-Wheel Rear Drum and Transmission Brake
*Formerly in the Indianapolis Museum of Speed Collection
*Rare early four-cylinder car
*Unusual transverse engine format
*Eligible for HCCA, Audrain Veteran Car Tour and other events
EARLY FRANKLIN CARS
H.H. Franklin was a successful industrialist in Syracuse, New York with a good business making metal die castings, itself something of an emerging technology. In 1902 he was introduced to John Wilkinson, a recent Cornell University engineering graduate who had designed an air-cooled automobile for a client who hadn't paid him. Franklin took a ride, was impressed and undertook to acquire the deadbeats' interests and manufacture Wilkinson's cars. At a time when even quality automobiles were powered with single cylinder engines with atmospheric intake valves, ignition advance engine speed control and tiller steering Franklin's little runabouts featured inline four-cylinder engines, throttle control, overhead valves and wheel steering.
Cornell engineering graduate John Wilkinson designed his first prototype air-cooled cars for the New York Automobile Co. but, unsurprisingly fell out with them when he failed to be properly recompensed. Finding financial backing from Alexander T Brown, combined with support from Herbert H Franklin, Wilkinson's prototype designs went into production with the H. H. Franklin Co., the first car leaving the production lines in June 1902. From the outset, air-cooled engines were the norm for Franklin with four-cylinder engine units featuring overhead valves and being transversely mounted at the front in European, rather than typically American style. The Franklin was mounted on a wooden frame and proved robust on the primitive American dust roads. In 1904 L. L. Whitman challenged the records set by Winton and Packard for the trans-America drive from New York City to San Francisco and set a new record of just 33 days. Franklin remained in motor car manufacture until 1934 and throughout the name Franklin was synonymous with air-cooled engines.
THE MOTORCAR OFFERED
A counter position to its successor the Model G (see lot 528), this example displays the origins of the Franklin motorcar. According to information on file, the car was acquired privately through Charles Bronson. It is understood to have been part of a package of cars that emerged from the Indianapolis Speedway Museum in the early 2010s and therefore was previously part of the Tony Hulman Early Wheels Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana. Cars in that collection were generally acquired in adolescence of the hobby and so it is likely that even by then it has spent some 40-50 years housed at Indy.
The car appears to have received a much older restoration, and probably only seen limited use since then. Based on its lightweight construction, limited coachwork and relatively substantial engine for its day, one would imagine that these cars have quite a turn of speed.
By merit of its age it would certainly be a usable car for any Horseless Carriage Club Tour here in the USA, or even this weekend on the Audrain Veteran Car Tour. Further afield it would no doubt be welcomed in Veteran Car Club circles, or staying marque specific within the H.H. Franklin Club.
Additional information
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