Quote:
Originally Posted by Plexus928
Air cooled straight six, that's different. how did it run?
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I think we're well beyond a hijack...
Car ran great. The engine was built by "Dutch" Kern - long gone Franklin guru. Big squirrel cage fan keyed to the front of the crank. Early Franklins were down draft. Later cars were cross flow. Individual cylinders with separate heads and overhead valves bolted to an alloy crankcase. Lots of torque as one would expect from a long stroke 6. 3 spd with an added on overdrive. Hydraulic brakes all around.
Franklins were air cooled from day one (1902). They were always conservative, sedate, high end "Doctor's cars." The Olympic model was kind of a last ditch attempt to introduce a more economical model in the throes of the depression. It shared running gear with the REO Flying Cloud and used a modified Hayes built body. With the big Franklin 6 in a smaller, lighter car, Olympics were definitely the "hot rods" of the Franklin world. List price on the Olympic, however, was still $1,500 when you could buy a Ford Model A for under $500.
Couple of beauty shots...
