Car Franklin Series 17-B Twelve Limousine 1933 for sale

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To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' Sealed June event, Bidding Closes 24-26 June 2026.
Offered Without Reserve | $150,000 - $200,000 USD

Among the rarest and most sought-after CCCA Full Classics
One of just 16 surviving Franklin Twelves, the majority in long-term ownership
Exceptional quality and engineering
Formerly part of the renowned Harrah’s Automobile Collection
Highly attractive older restoration by Thomas Hubbard

IN THE TEMPO OF TOMORROW

Come enjoy a new kind of performance. A performance in the tempo of tomorrow, that completely shadows all your present conceptions of fine car travel. A super-performance made possible in Franklin alone, by the new supercharged, air-cooled, twelve cylinder airplane engine.

In a world of Packard Twelves, Duesenbergs, and Hispano-Suiza J12s, there are some Full Classics that have somehow largely had their praises gone unsung except amidst a lucky few. One of these is the Franklin Twelve, the ultimate product of the Syracuse, New York, automaker that had made its name in idiosyncratic but durable, fascinating engineering, most prominently their air-cooled engines. Franklins were always wonderful cars, but “the banker’s car,” built at the behest of the financiers who had taken over the company, was something beyond wonderful. It was an exceptional piece of craftsmanship by any standard. At its heart was a fabulous 390-cu.in. V-12, air-cooled in Franklin tradition, and fitted with an unusual ‘supercharger’ system that essentially forced a small venturi of air into the carburetor. This rested in a robustly built chassis, surrounded by handmade bodywork, crafted in the Syracuse factory to an especially elegant LeBaron design, that was virtually all-steel save for wooden body sills.

As often happened in the Classic Era, Franklin’s finest product was built in the company’s waning days. Money was lost on every single Twelve, but those that were made – it is estimated about 200 – were each an amazing piece of work. With 150 horsepower, they boasted exceptional performance up to 90 mph with wonderful drivability, and, needless to say, outstanding build quality from tip to tail. In sum, they were among the best American automobiles of their generation. The tragedy was that so few were built, and even fewer survive to tell the tale. Today the H.H. Franklin Club records but sixteen extant Twelves, the vast majority of which are in long-term ownership within museums and private collections, in some instances for several decades.

It is a testament to the car that the people who buy them, do not sell them. A Twelve bought is a Twelve kept, as has been the case with this example now for 37 years.

The only surviving Twelve limousine, this car was formerly part of the famed Harrah’s Automobile Collection, one of the largest, finest, and most complete ever assembled. Bill Harrah loved many cars but had, to put it mildly, a special appreciation for the Franklin, which he favored above most any other for their quality and innovative engineering. (He was also an admirer of H.H. Franklin, the man; his personal parking space at Harrah’s Club was “Reserved for H.H. Franklin.”) A tally of Harrah’s cars indicates that some 84 Franklins were part of the collection at one point or another. This included a remarkable four Twelves, one quarter of the known survivors - a club brougham, five- and seven-passenger sedans, and this limousine!

It is believed that the limousine was acquired, in rather well-worn but largely intact condition, in the Independence, Ohio, area in the 1960s, having been used for many years in livery service. As with many of the Harrah Franklins, the restoration of this Twelve was not undertaken by the famous HAC shops in Sparks, Nevada, but rather by Thomas Hubbard of Tucson, Arizona, perhaps the second-greatest Franklin collector to have lived and a renowned historian of the company’s products. Harrah entrusted Hubbard, a skilled restorer and craftsman, to finish many of his best Franklins to an exceptional standard, and such was the work done on this limousine. Its restorer noted at its completion, in a 1973 issue of the Franklin Club’s Air-Cooled News, that the restoration of the only known Twelve limousine had “cost about double what the usual rough Franklin restoration has run…and is now a magnificent show piece.” Afterward the car was used to illustrate Stan Grayson’s Twelve retrospective in Volume 12, Number 3 of Automobile Quarterly.

When the Harrah’s collection was broken up in the mid-1980s, the limousine was sold at the landmark 1984 auction. It is believed to have been acquired there by a German collector, one W. Ehrot, with whom it was recorded by the H.H. Franklin Club. In 1989 it was then acquired for the present collection, where it has since resided alongside several other significant examples of the Franklin marque. During its ownership it has been well-conserved in the collection but is believed to have not been displayed at a major concours or show in the last thirty-odd years of its life.

This is a very special opportunity to return to the show circuit – and to the Franklin Trek – one of the most special examples of the marque.To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/auctions/s0626/.