At first glance this early Franklin looks like a conventional touring car of the day. Even its big round grille wasn’t that out of place in 1910. Delaunay Bellevilles sported similar grilles. Look a little closer, though, and some unusual things begin to become apparent. The Franklin had full-elliptical springs, for instance, which most marques had abandoned by 1910 in favor of semi-elliptical and 3/4 elliptical springing that provided more accurate wheel and axle location. The Franklin’s laminated wood frame was worthy of notice, too, at a time when such wood frames as survived were pretty generally at least steel “armored”.
