SIGNED FIRST EDITION - PRESENTATION COPY
Vintage Franklin:
A history of the car in its time
by Mark Chaplin
Published by H. H. Franklin Club. First Edition. Presentation Copy, Inscribed & Signed by author on title page. Very good hardcover, in very good dustjacket. Tight binding, solid spine, clean unmarked text. Illustrated, oblong 4to, large heavy volume, 412 pages. This coffee table book contains over 600 vintage images and is the definitive resource on the history of all models of The Franklin Car. Automobiles, early manufacturers, Upstate New York, Camel, history.
The Franklin Automobile Company was a marketer of automobiles in the United States between 1902 and 1934 in Syracuse, New York. Herbert H. Franklin, the founder, began his career in the metal die casting business before establishing his automobile enterprise. Controlled by Herbert H. Franklin it had very few other significant shareholders. Franklin bought its vehicles from the H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company which was only moderately profitable and frequently missed dividends on common stock.
The two major characteristics of their automobiles were their air-cooled engines and in the early years their lightness and responsiveness when compared with other luxury cars.
The Franklin companies suffered financial collapse in April 1934.
Franklin innovations
All Franklin cars were air-cooled, which the company considered simpler and more reliable than water cooling, and the company considered light weight to be critical in making a well-performing car given the limited power of the engines then available. Most Franklins were wood-framed, though the very first used an angle iron frame (1902) and, beginning in 1928, the heavier cars adopted a conventional pressed-steel frame. Lightweight aluminum was used in quantity, to the extent that Franklin was reckoned to be the largest user of aluminum in the world in the early years of the company.
Loc: A9
SIGNED FIRST EDITION - PRESENTATION COPY
Vintage Franklin:
A history of the car in its time
by Mark Chaplin
Published by H. H. Franklin Club. First Edition. Presentation Copy, Inscribed & Signed by author on title page. Very good hardcover, in very good dustjacket. Tight binding, solid spine, clean unmarked text. Illustrated, oblong 4to, large heavy volume, 412 pages. This coffee table book contains over 600 vintage images and is the definitive resource on the history of all models of The Franklin Car. Automobiles, early manufacturers, Upstate New York, Camel, history.
The Franklin Automobile Company was a marketer of automobiles in the United States between 1902 and 1934 in Syracuse, New York. Herbert H. Franklin, the founder, began his career in the metal die casting business before establishing his automobile enterprise. Controlled by Herbert H. Franklin it had very few other significant shareholders. Franklin bought its vehicles from the H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company which was only moderately profitable and frequently missed dividends on common stock.
The two major characteristics of their automobiles were their air-cooled engines and in the early years their lightness and responsiveness when compared with other luxury cars.
The Franklin companies suffered financial collapse in April 1934.
Franklin innovations
All Franklin cars were air-cooled, which the company considered simpler and more reliable than water cooling, and the company considered light weight to be critical in making a well-performing car given the limited power of the engines then available. Most Franklins were wood-framed, though the very first used an angle iron frame (1902) and, beginning in 1928, the heavier cars adopted a conventional pressed-steel frame. Lightweight aluminum was used in quantity, to the extent that Franklin was reckoned to be the largest user of aluminum in the world in the early years of the company.
Loc: A9
