Automotive History: The 1928 Franklin

The 1928 Franklin was the most important car for the Franklin Automotive Company. The company declared bankruptcy in 1934. The company was best known for its air-cooled engines and lightweight wood frames. The company started selling cars to the public in 1904. However, the zenith for the company was with the 1928 Franklin.

Despite the company’s issues, exacerbated by the Great Depression, models A through M were produced, as well as a sedan. In the first part of the twentieth century, the Franklin Automotive Company was a major producer of cars. Did you know that cars were produced in Syracuse, New York?

The 1928 Franklin’s History

The 1928 Franklin carried on a long tradition of the Franklin Automotive Company producing automobiles. 1928 was the zenith for the company, which had been producing automobiles since 1904. The main innovation for the Franklin cars was their air-cooled engine. The company held that this method was superior to other methods, such as water cooling.

The 1928 Franklin was known as the Airman. The Airman series was named after pioneer aviator Charles Lindbergh, a fan and sponsor of the Franklin Company. There is now a robust market dealing in these cars. They have become collector’s items because the company declared bankruptcy more than ninety years ago. Lindbergh was one of the biggest celebrities at the time.

The Franklin Automotive Company declared bankruptcy in 1934, but not before it produced Models A through M and a Sedan. So, the company was successful, and automobiles were produced in Syracuse, New York. Unfortunately, the company produced a huge and innovative automobile at exactly the wrong time. The cars are now part of Americana. Because of their unique style and their high-profile sponsor, they have become collector items.

Design and Engine

Franklins were often rather odd-looking cars. Even so, some were distinctly handsome with Renault-style hoods. Starting in 1925, at the demand of dealers, Franklins were redesigned to look like more conventional cars, and the 1928 Franklin was probably the best-looking car. The Franklin sported a massive nickel-plated “dummy radiator” which served as an air intake for the engine and was called a “hoodfront.”

The Franklin Airman was powered by a 3.9-liter, six-cylinder engine. It had front-wheel brakes and the dummy radiator grille, both of which were first adopted in 1925. The engineers in charge of development thought this made the car more attractive; however, as we will see, the car was odd-looking. This radiator grille was the car’s main identifying characteristic.

In 1930, Franklin introduced a new type of engine which ultimately produced a whopping 100 horsepower, with one of the highest power-to-weight ratios of the time because the cars were light. In 1932, the twelve-cylinder engine went into production, likely ruining the company financially. It was air-cooled and produced 150 horsepower. The behemoth arrived at a time of bad loans from banks. This was simply the wrong vehicle to be building after the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. The cars sold poorly and failed to recover the company’s investment. The company declared bankruptcy in 1934.

Parting Shots

One has to wonder if the Franklin Automobile Company would have survived if Syracuse had been to America what Detroit was. At any rate, the 1928 Franklin represented the high point for the company; surprisingly, the company went bankrupt. Because this occurred more than ninety years ago, many people have forgotten that the Franklin Automotive Company existed. A main purpose of this article is to remind people.