- America's favorite air-cooled automobile
- Fascinating restoration history
- Body in the style of Cantrell
Herbert Henry Franklin was a Syracuse, New York, industrialist. In
1901 he became fascinated by an automobile designed by John
Wilkinson, a neighbor and Cornell-educated engineer. Wilkinson was
fanatical about weight, favoring air-cooling and the lightest
components possible, like tubular axles and flexible, full-elliptic
springs, aluminum-clad bodies, and laminated ash frames. The H.H.
Franklin Company put Wilkinson's car into production in 1902.
Wilkinson believed that beauty stemmed from function, not
ornamentation. Their nicknames described Franklins aptly: "Barrel
Front," "Shovel Nose," and "Horse Collar." For a new look, Franklin
hired French-born J. Frank de Causse, formerly with Kellner and
Locomobile, to style the Series 11, introduced in March 1925.
Handsome and modern, the cars adopted a conventional-looking dummy
radiator, to Wilkinson's dismay. The Series 11 followed in 1925 and
Series 12 in 1928.
First discovered in the 1950s at Fiske Brothers salvage yard on
Cape Cod in Massachusetts, this Franklin was finally rescued in
1969. Hank Manwell brought the remains home to Liverpool, New York,
near Syracuse. The Manwells came to know Mae Cantrell Spilger,
daughter of Joseph Cantrell of Long Island, New York, head of J.T.
Cantrell & Co. Originally the firm did carriage building but in
later years specialized in station-wagon bodies, supplying a number
of Detroit automakers like Chevrolet, Dodge, and Studebaker. Ms.
Spilger was encouraging, and woodworker Dan Burnham in Connecticut
crafted components for the body using remnants as patterns. The
project was finally completed eight years later, true to the
Cantrell motif. Subsequent owners have included B.B. Mills of
Denver, Colorado. The Merrick Auto Museum acquired it in 1990.
The workmanship is simply superb.To view this car and others
currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/hf19.
