Production is going to go next level I found out so many cool things in the last few days that I never knew.. I honestly can’t wait.. To make the next video it’s an engine episode I haven’t figured out which one I’m doing yet it might not come out until Thursday it depends I’m leaning toward a small block Chevy but there’s so much information on that engine family.. but it’s easily researchable. If you know what I mean
Yes, Justin (or Jay, not sure which) has a definite passion for these cars which is why I subscribed to his channel a long time ago ! He's just such a darned likeable kid with a great passion!!
Just call me J Lol Back story my dad came from a family of 5 boys the 5 boys had 13 grandchildren and they was 5 J names (including great uncle John) my brothers name is Jordan, there was also Jason Jeremy so I was never the right J name ( I don’t get upset by it or anything people still call me Jason lol it’s whatever figured J is one letter easier to remember but I’m easy going so whatever you’d like =) Thank you so much I’ve always liked/ attracted to the different stuff glad you dig this channel I always look for your comments as well as others who watch a lot and have been with the channel from the early days =)
Great episode! Two things to note- the Duesenberg engine was build by Lycoming and not by Duesenberg. And the second fun fact- by 1907, Franklin was the single largest consumer of aluminum in the world- as their cars were both aluminum engined and bodied. Yes, early Franklins were bodied from the doors to fenders in aluminum. That ceased due to the Great War, but this post war Franklin is such a beaut! Thanks, Jay, for posting this!
Glad you did this episode thank you so much I should have said Lycoming made the engine for auburn cord and duesenberg thank you so much for sharing that information as well as Franklin being the largest producer of aluminum Great information
Thank you,I never knew how advanced Franklin engines seemed to be, aluminum pistons,air cooled seemed to be fairly durable, really leaned alot about these engines and Franklins.Please keep these coming.Any one of those cars would be nice for me.
What a fantastic looking car. The LeBaron influence is apparent especially around the windows. They remind me of the beautiful square-cut window openings in the gigantic 1941/42 Packard LeBaron limousines, which are for my money, the greatest prewar limousines. First round goes to the Packard, Although the Cadillac is awfully nice looking. Second round goes to the Pierce, because it’s hard to argue against that mighty twelve. It outlived the Pierce-Arrow company by decades.
Thanks Jay! Another great episode The pinstriping is unbelievable! Imagine doing that for every Franklin the rolled off the line back in the day Whoever owns this unit has done a fantastic job of restoring the car, the panels and paint took my breath away!
Interesting nugget about the Duesenberg supercharged 8. It was the most powerful American production passenger car engine made until Chrysler introduced the Hemi in the 50's. A period of around 20 years in a time when there were a lot of automotive advancements.
Totally thank you so much for sharing that information the Duesenberg non-supercharged Lycoming in line 8 wasn’t a slouch either at 265 hp.. to put it in perspective the Cadillac V 16 only made 150 hp..
Yes…unless you consider the Duesenberg SSJ, of which two were built. Purportedly producing 400+ hp, these were produced for Clark Gable and Gary Cooper, friends of EL Cord. Cord had a mansion out in Beverly Hills, known as Cordhaven.
The Chrysler 331 HEMI made 180 horsepower in it's first three years, then 235 for 54, 250 for 55. Not until the 1956 354 HEMI, in the 300, did it make more than the supercharged Duesy.
Back in the 70s, not far from Syracuse, I worked in a sheetmetal shop with an old timer who could fabricate a Franklin fender from scratch with hammers, a leather sand bag and a dished out log. He said he worked on Franklins when they were in production and the bodies were made pretty much by hand. He made a pattern by laying paper on the other, hopefully undamaged, fender, tracing it out the flipping it over. Guy had a million tricks and was just warming up to me enough to share but the summer was over and I was back to school.
When looking at these cars, sometimes I forget a lot of the body parts were pounded out by hand . . Using Rawhide mallets, and wooden bucks. These were the days that craftmen were truly talented. Today they just stamp out parts on a press.
A true lost art I’m just amazed at how big those fenders are and they look like they are single piece I could be wrong but if they are single piece they are absolutely huge
@@What.its.like. They are a single piece fenders. The bodies are multi piece of course. There were craftsman that carved the bucks from hard wood. They used wax, and rawhide mallets to bend the metal. A lot of the English cars were made like that. Wooden bucks, and English wheels. The English cars were aluminum, ACs, Jags, and Morgan's. All pounded out, and rolled, by hand!
@@robertwatkins364 Older Ferrari's were hand-made and unique, thus replacement body parts didn't exist. If you crashed a fender, you sent the whole car back to Ferrari to fit a new one. There are experts who can tell you which man made which part by studying their work.
I am a (much disliked) Baby-boomer, one of my first bosses in the 1970's often spoke of his family's Franklin V-12 from the 30's. He and his dad were Engineers, so was I. He said that an air cooled Franklin was one of those technically interesting vehicles, like a Tesla is today or a Wankel engined car in the 1970's. He spoke very fondly of it. He said it was powerful for its day and very reliable. Thanks for posting this, first time I've seen one. I was driving an air cooled beetle at the time, which gave us something in common.
Hey I’m a millennial don’t let your generation get you down.. I think boomers are cool definitely better than my generation.. my generation want everything for nothing I was born to late and believe if you want something in this life you have to work for it Thank you so much for sharing that car with us I wonder if it survives
@@What.its.like. I'm quite sure the old Franklin is long gone. The fellow I mentioned in the comments was a teenager in the 1930's, he eventually served in WWII. We lived in the northeast, cars rusted. I'm guessing the car was melted for scrap during the war. I remember talking to him about my Beetle, how clever I thought the design was. He told me Franklin was making air cooled cars in the USA long before Volkswagen, which is very consistent with your video history of the brand.
I didn't really remember that Franklin made automobiles, but some Piper Cub J-3's had Franklin engines. Franklin engines were used in Tucker automobiles. Preston Tucker even brought the company.
HH Franklin’s mansion was a block away from where I live now. It was demolished to make room for office buildings! His chief designer/engineer lived down the block; his house was demolished also. There are bits and pieces of the original Franklin manufacturing facility/factory still standing, but you can’t recognize them. There is an old hardware store that sits right in the middle of what was the original factory; these folks know “everything Franklin “ with a large map/diagram of what/where the factory was in relation to where the store is now. Franklin paid top wages to workers for that time and workers came from as far away as Auburn NY, some 35 miles, by train, to work at the Franklin plant. The cars were way ahead of their time but built with the utmost skill and dedication, which is why there are so many (?) left in running condition today…….and “yes” I had the opportunity to ride in a Franklin because of the generosity of a collector/owner at one of the shows I mentioned!
One more thing which I leaned a two cycle Detroit Diesel had to have a blower since it has no intake valves .They had intake openings in the cylinder liners but in could not get enough air to run right,so the blower helped the engine recieve enough air for it to breath and run right and it had exhaust valves.So if you have ever heard a two cycle diesel run they have a roar all thier own.
Just another thing,a four cycle diesel will run with out a blower,but a two cycle with intake holes in the cylinder liners have to a blower to supply air to the engine.
Nice car! First time I ever saw a Franklin was in high school in 1965. An auto shop student drove a 1929 Franklin 4dr. to school. Since it had wood spoke wheels, our teacher used to jokenly say to the owner "the car would fall apart if the termites would quit holding hands"😂
Both the Auburn and the Franklin are works of art. Wow would it be cool to have a daily driver like one of these. Love the perfect shaping around the rear side windows, and the subtle chrome trim and pin stripes. The body proportioning and balance is outstanding. It would be most interesting to see how the Franklin performs with the aluminum engine and body etc, with the air cooled engine. Would be great if you could buy a car like this today, but with the improvements that could be achieved with what we know today.
Yes it did seem strange that the Franklin didn't have a hood ornament but the hood ornaments were usually a part of the radiator cap so that might explain it I think. Then I think, 'if it didn't have a radiator then why did it have a grill the shape of a radiator?' Huh? Neat car! Thanks!
My late grandfather ran a taxi service, in Newport, RI, using Franklin's. On the way from Newport to San Diego 1933 for my pregnant mother to join my Navy father, the family journeyed west in one of the Franklin cabs. My grandmother fell asleep in the rear seat. With the divider closed she almost succumbed to the faulty exhaust which filled the rear cabin. No hyper chamber for her. The exhaust fixed they continued west with the windows down. Narragansett Bay
I've seen exactly one Franklin in my life. A local nob passed away leaving an air-cooled Franklin of unknown year that looked similar to this and a couple other cars behind in a dark warehouse. The rest were sold before I showed up and I didn't take the closer look I wanted to because I was there to try buying an 80ci flathead Harley chopper. Not only was the Franklin gone the next day but the Harley got sold out from under me even though I had a deal and the cash we'd agreed on. Two losses in one day- not fun at all. WYR I like the Packard which looks a little more 'sporty' and then the Franklin with it's understated classy look and air-cooled engine.
You mention the one of a kind Peerless V-16 which is at the Frederick C. Crawford Auto Aviation museum in Cleveland and I remember also seeing (not hearing, it was that quiet) running across the viewing field at Stan Hyuet in the annual old car show I think it was during the 1980s. I would have missed it if I would not have looked up in time. It was an awesome sight.
Great choices =) I wish I would’ve asked the gentleman what everything did some of it was labeled but I couldn’t read the tag on the one label I usually can find dashboard Maps but I couldn’t find one on this car Which was a total bummer
For WYR, it's the Packard, then the Pierce Arrow. Yet another beauty that did not survive the Great Depression. I really found myself liking the grille. And the interior. Nice, understated car.
Beautiful, very high quality cars. Gilmore has a great collection. Was in Tucson a month ago, drove out to the Franklin museum there - closed for the 'summer' (bummer). 'Production' Tuckers used a Franklin 6 designed for Bell helicopter. The 12 was built in Syracuse, designed by LeBaron - Dietrich, maybe (?) He did a lot for Franklin but not certain about the 12. Interesting transitional design- has hoodline extended to the cowl, full fender frontal aspect and the beavertail, but not yet valanced fenders (bareset hint here, Graham was just introducing them in 32; everyone copied and they would be the norm in 33). WYR: 1) Sorry Franklin, the Packard, 2) Sorry Franklin, the Pierce Arrow. Great though it is.
Ransom E. Olds said his REO cars were some of the best on the streets - and that his cars were basically unbelievable powerhouses on the roads. Seems time didn't let his CARS prove themselves as WW2 war era production took over all production from aircraft to ships and REO was shuttered for good.
Not my favorite era, but…..I like this car. Being air cooled is really impressive. Great overview of the history. Oh, btw……don’t you dare stop the toodaloo sign off…..it’s fantastic!
Glad you dig this one I wish we could’ve gotten inside I wish we could’ve done so much more and it breaks my heart that I didn’t know all of the button switches and knobs generally I’m able to find a map.. in an owners manual that tells everything but I could not find one on this car.. I won’t stop doing that that’s our thing.. I don’t care if a few people don’t like it most people do and it will feel empty without it =)
My all-time favorite Packard is a 1934 aero coupe body by LeBaron so I know how you feel.. i’m hoping to go to Amelia Island this year I wanted to go last year and I probably could’ve went but I really want to go this year maybe there might be one there who knows..
The Packard and the Pierce-Arrow. You say 348 cubic inches, while the text reads 398 cubic inches, but your bore and stroke figures give 386 cubic inches.
It’s supposed to be 398 I’m dyslexic sometimes I saythe wrong numbers I usually catch it when I go over it and prove it it must’ve slipped through sorry about that They might have rounded up to make that number all of the information that I used is in the description I started putting my sources in so I can direct people to that instead of trying to find the sources years afterwards
Well, if you can afford a Franklin, you probably can afford to have someone make you a fender! 😅 Cool car, love the cover / fan on the first cylinder, looks like a Wisconsin engine cover. 😊. Those are vacuum operated wipers? Jay, thanks for the video on the Franklin, I've seen footage of one 1912 Franklin in a parade here, they had really cool looking hoods back then that looked like a big steel drum, distinctive grills, and some nice colors for a time of toned down colors.. Nothing as fancy as a LeBaron style though! Keep on making great videos on these rare gems 💎! Many thanks.
Not sure when electric wipers came along, but a Super or Turbo charged engine has no intake vacuum, so a mechanical vacuum pump would be needed for vacuum wipers. Hope someone has a definitive answer!
8:06 Those cowel vents (if that's what they are) are sure interesting. They're directly into the hood, which I assume moves, rather than being in a stationary piece in front of the windshield.
I knew a guy that had 12 of them he was always fascinated with them but I haven’t seen him in years he always said that they were different after he got his first one it started a cascade affect..
33 Packard 33 Pierce Arrow Hey, where's the radiator? Oh wait. Really beautiful body lines on that Franklin. A very roomy interior and I really love the dash just beautiful and a really nice grill too. Since the Franklin was air cooled I was wondering how they did the heaters and defrosters in them? Or did they not have them?
For some of your conflicting info.: Franklin was founded July 4, 1893 to make die-cast parts. (Mr. Franklin reportedly coined the term ‘die-casting’.) The Series 17 Twelve bodies were styled by LeBaron but made by Franklin, of steel panels over a wood structure. Franklin made 201 Twelves plus 6 prototypes. The 1933 Series 18-A Olympic was a REO Flying Cloud Model S (117” wheelbase) powered by a Franklin engine. Doman-Marks Engine Company was founded in 1933 and bought the rights to Franklin (name, patents, and goodwill) in 1937 and changed their name to Aircooled Motors Corporation after briefly spelling ‘Air Cooled’ as two words. (The name changed to Aircooled Motors, Inc. in Dec 1945.)
Franklin engines, while advertised by Franklin as supercharged, actually were not. The air cleaner was ducted to the shrouding for the cooling fan, so Franklin decided to call that "supercharging" due to the fact that the air inside that shrouding was at higher than atmospheric pressure. Also, the Cadillac V16 made 165 horsepower in it's first year, 185 for the rest of it's life.
Yeah thank you for that correction On the Cadillac V 16 I was going off of figure off the top of my head I knew it didn’t make less than 150.. Awesome information thank you so much for sharing that
I'd go for the Packard and the Pierce-Arrow, but they were well over $3000, yes? If the Imperial was at a similar price point, I might go for the Franklin with more cylinders, and no radiator to worry about. Cars used to boil-over ALL the time back then.
@@What.its.like. The first few Series 17 Franklins (that's the official name of the V12) were delivered with single speed rear ends. They got such horrible gas mileage that they started putting in Columbia 2 speed rear ends as standard. My V12 Franklin in high range just purrs at 75mph. It feels like driving a locomotive.
You pose a question of which car you would want, but the Packard Custom Dietrich Stationary coupe you picture is a 4 million dollar car so that isn't quite the same as the others.
Very true but take price out of the equation.. A two-door Franklin supercharge v12 would be a very expensive car as well.. if all the cars are the same price lol =D Sad thing is a lot of those cars ( depending on what they are some will never lose value like type 35 Bugatti ) the pre war cars keep losing money to the point in 10-15 years those cars will be affordable that’s why this channel exists to get younger people inspired about the real cars
John Wilkinson, the chief engineer wanted the company to manufacture a basic/affordable Model Z a la Henry Ford's Model T. Unfortunately H.H. Franklin disagreed and the two parted ways. Who knows how much longer(1950's, possibly the 1960's)the company would've remained viable had they done so?
Thank you so much for adding that information I had no idea.. I wondered why he wasn’t in the picture for as long as he could’ve been I didn’t know if he passed away
It is a beautiful crafted auto for sure, the dashboard and interior is very nicely done. I would given the choices though, pick the I'd pick the Packard 12, although the Caddy runs a very close second. The second I'd go with the Auburn 12. 😎
@@What.its.like. Glycol was used with coolant back then to prevent freezing but it wasn't cheap until after WW2, nor was it as effective as modern antifreeze. Alcohol was also used as it was cheaper, but it tended to evaporate. Most older cars had accessible coolant drain valves on the block as well as the radiator, so lots of people just drained the water at night then filled it up in the morning if the temps allowed.
I would rather... have a 33 Chevy truck over those luxury cars... LOL Though I would say the Packard is the most stylish, while the Franklin is a close second and the Cadillac is more of an elegantly traditional look. In the second list, that Auburn is quite attractive, but the Pierce has a very unique style... especially for a period where most cars looked basically the same. Once again, I have no idea what the song is... I almost had that last one though...
Hahah I honestly thought this song was super easy it’s a very popular mid 60s song.. popular artist I think they’ve been on the channel once before could be wrong though after doing 360+ episodes it gets hard to remember what artist were done and what wasn’t lol Great observations 33 Chevy Truck would be really cool to have as well =D
@@What.its.like. Leno yesterday had the only known to be left or one of 1923 McFarland Knickerbocker,,,IT was owned by fatty Arbuckle,,,who was involved in Hollywood first known underage sex scandle,,,what a car !
5:37...so...this very expensive car cost in today's dollars, what a pickup truck now costs...puts into perspective just how out of hand vehicle prices are now......
Totally agree stuff is out of control now but also have to remember these cars didn’t have power brakes or anything crazy plastic and electronic fillers cost a lot
Great guess you guys are going to flip your lid when you figure out what it is very iconic mid60s song possibly overplayed.. it’s from a band that was really popular back then but not so popular now singular artist.. honestly can’t believe nobody’s gotten it yet Great choices =)
Packard always .... Caddy has great styling 👏❤️ Pierce Arrow 🤔👏👏👏 Great episode if i remember right the Franklin i worked on had a wood frame 😱... Happy Motoring ✌️🤠🍻
I dont like the toodalew either.certainly not a man's expression. And Willys is Willys not Willis as you tried to convince us. I had a friend who's name was Willis. He spelled it Willis. They both are spelled as they sound.
