Franklin

US, 1901 – 1934

(1) H.H. Franklin Mfg Co, Syracuse, N.Y., 1901 – 1917

(2) Franklin Automobile Co, Syracuse, N.Y., 1917 – 1934

Probably the world’s most successful air-cooled car before the advent of the Volkswagen, the Franklin inspired an intense make-loyalty. H.H. Franklin had founded a factory for the manufacture of die castings in 1895, and in 1901 he was introduced to John Wilkinson’s air-cooled designs by Messsrs Brown and lipe, later well known as manufacturers of proprietary transmissions. The New York Motor Co had already made three prototypes before the first Franklin car went on sale in 1902. These Franklin featured transversely-mounted 1.7-litre 4-cylinder air-cooled engines – the valves were overhead, with mechanically operated inlet valves from 1905 – float-feed carburetors, 2-speed planetary gearboxes, central change, full-elliptic suspension and the wooden frames which were to be standard on all Franklin cars up to the end of 1927. A push-on handbrake was used until 1906. Although a Franklin version with water-jacketed engine was projected, the Franklin company remained faithful to air-cooling until they closed down. Sales rose from 13 in 1902 to 184 in 1903, when wire wheels gave way to the wood artillery type, and in 1904 a Franklin broke the San Francisco-New York record. The transverse-engined Franklin cars were catalogued until the end of 1906, but from 1905 onwards new Franklin models with conventionally-located engines made their appearance. These had auxiliary exhaust valves, shaft drive, 3-speed sliding-type gearboxes and round bonnets modelled on the Delaunay-Belleville. A 4-cylinder Franklin sold for $1800, but there was also a 6-cylinder Franklin Model H with a 7-bearing crankshaft and a 9ft 6in wheelbase for $4.000: all subsequent 6-cylinder Franklin cars had seven main bearings. A straight-8 appeared without success in the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Eliminating Trials. Franklin’s full-elliptic suspension was continued. This gave an excellent ride and resulted in tyre mileages in the region of 20.000: this is why the Franklin company was refusing to fit detachable rims as standard equipment as late as 1922. In 1907 an automatic advance-and-retard was fitted on the Franklin and in 1908 a gear-driven fan. The 1910 Franklin cars used a suction-driven sirocco fan incorporated in the flywheel. Smallest of the 1909 range was the 18hp Franklin Model G, a 2.3-litre 4-cylinder car with quadrant change sold at $1850. Selective change was used on the bigger Franklin fours and sixes which had oversquare cylinder dimensions and cost $2800 and $3750 respectively. With the 1912 Franklin models came a Renault-type bonnet and full pressure lubrication, and a 4-cylinder was still available at $2.000, or $1.500 less than the big 38.4hp 6-cylinder.

In 1914 only a 6-cylinder car, the ‘Franklin 6/30’, was offered, and Franklin fell into line with the rest of the American industry by going over to left-hand drive, central change and full electrical equipment. A year later aluminium pistons were adopted. A stunt drive by Franklin from Walla Walla, Washington, to San Francisco in bottom gear demonstrated the car’s ability to keep cool. The 1917 models had electric chokes, while imitators arose in the industry to try and cash in on Franklin’s success with air-cooling. One of these firms, Holmes, was headed by former vice-president of the Franklin Automobile Co. By the end of World War 1 a 6-cylinder Franklin could be bought for $2.050, reduced two years later to $2.000. 8.648 Franklin cars were sold in 1920. Late in 1922, came a redesigned Franklin car with a ‘horse-collar’ bonnet allegedly modelled on the Fiat, pressure air-cooling with frontal blower, unit gearbox, single dry-plate clutch, 6-volt instead of 12-volt electrics and detachable rims. Sales rose to 11.000 and the Franklin company which had pioneered series-production closed cars as early as 1913 was offering a Franklin sedan at $2.850. During 1925 the design was face-lifted once again and the De Causse-styled Franklin Series 11 introduced. Cylinder capacity remained a modest 3.3-litres, but appearance was entirely changed with a 9ft 11in wheelbase and a vertical-barred ‘radiator’. This revolutionary step so appalled John Wilkinson that he resigned from the Franklin company forthwith. Some of the semi-custom body styles – especially the boat-taled sports coupé at $3.150 – were remarkably attractive. Subsequently some excellent and expensive custom bodywork was designed for Franklin by such firms as Derham, Willoughby, Holbrook, and (especially) Dietrich. Over 13.000 Franklin Series 11s were sold between mid-1925 and the end of 1926, among those who favoured Franklins being Colonel Charles Lindbergh. Yet even the ‘Franklin 11B’ of 1927 retained the wooden frame, full-elliptic suspension and foot transmission brake. Front-wheel brakes did not arrive until the introduction of the 1928 3.9-litre Franklin Airman, which boasted internal-expanding Lockheed hydraulics at a time when the contracting type was generally favoured in America. In 1928 long-chassis models were given steel frames, standardized in 1929, and a standard sedan sold for £885 in England. All but the cheapest Franklin cars now had silent 2nd gearboxes. This was the period in which Dietrich introduced their delightful speedster (actually a 4-door convertible sedan) and a 4½-litre 6-cylinder Franklin engine actually took to the air in a Waco biplane. Prices were generally in the $2.200 - $3.500 range, with custom Franklin models running up to $7.200.

The 1930 Franklin Series 14 introduced a new radiator and side-blast cooling, an the elegant Pirate models had concealed running-boards as well. The unconventional, however, could no longer sell in America, and only 2.851 Franklin cars were delivered in 1931. In 1932 came synchromesh, free wheels and ‘Startix’ devices, as well as a magnificent Dietrich-styled 6.8-litre supercharged V12 (Franklin Series 17) on a 12ft wheelbase. Unfortunately this was re-engineered to incorporate proprietary axles and semi-elliptic suspension, and in production form it weighed nearer three tons than the two tons of the prototype. It combined elegance, 95mph, and 150bhp for $4.400, but few were sold, though a dratic price cut to $2.885 was made for 1933. The last new Franklin was the Franklin Olympic, an inexpensive 6-cylinder using a Franklin engine wedded to a REO chassis and body. The Franklin factory closed down in 1934. The patents were, however, taken over by the Air-Cooled Motors Corporation (now Franklin Engine Co.), whose Syracuse factory has specialized in light horizontally-opposed aircraft engines: a 6-cylinder Franklin helicopter engine, converted to water-cooling, powered the Tucker of 1947. 2-, 4-, and 6-cylinder untis up to 5.7 litres’ capacity were being produced in 1972.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Hotchkiss

France, 1903 – 1955

(1) Hotchkiss et Cie, St. Denis, Seine, 1903 – 1936

(2) Automobiles Hotchkiss, St. Denis, Seine, 1936 – 1955

The American Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss set up his ordnance Horchkiss car factory at St. Denis in 1867; the Hotchkiss cars were the result of an arm slump. The work of Terrasse, these first Hotchkiss cars were T-headed fours with pair-cast cylinders, 5-ball-bearing crankshafts, low-tension magneto ignition, round honeycomb radiators, 4-speed gearboxes, and the famous Hotchkiss drive by live axle and open propeller shaft. Initially cylinder capacities of Hotchkiss cars were 4.6-litres and 7.4-litres, but the Hotchkiss car company’s first racers of 1904 were 17.8-litre monsters notable for their aiv and chain drive. Though their 1905 successors conformed once more to touring-car practice, they were even bigger Hotchkiss cars, with 18.815cc and an alleged 130bhp. Hotchkiss’s last racing season was 1906 with their Grand Prix Hotchkiss cars had 16.3-litre L-head units and quick-detachable wire wheels. Though these Hotchkiss cars were unsuccessful, Hotchkiss sold 167 cars that year, with gate change standardized, and a choice of five Hotchkiss car models: a short-lived 4.2-litre petrol brougham, fours of 18, 30 and 42hp, and their first six. The last-mentioned Hotckiss car was the large V-type that evolved into a 9½-litre machine and was still being offered in 1912 as a Hotckiss car. Chassis price was £1.000 and it was capable of 60mph.

The slump following the Agadir crisis led to the abandonment of ball-bearing crankshafts on Hotchkiss cars; at the same time there was a move towards smaller Hotchkiss cars with the 3.1-litre T-type, with side valves in an L-head and high-tension magneto ignition. Two years later came something even smaller and more modern, the 12/16hp Hotchkiss X-type with 2-bearing crankshaft and three forward speeds at £390. Soon monobloc engines spread up the range to the 3.7-litre Hotckiss AB of 1912. From 1911 there were some smaller L-head sixes, the 4.678cc Hotchkiss X6 and the 5½-litre Hotchkiss AC6; 1912 sales were a record 598 Hotchkiss cars. Electric lighting was available from 1913, and all the 1914 Hotchkiss car models – the 2.6-litre Hotchkiss AG, the 4-litre Hotchkiss AF, the 5.7-litre Hotchkiss AC, and the 6-cylinder Hotchkiss AC6 – had semi-elliptic suspension all round.

The wartime demand for Hotchkiss machine guns led to the establishment of a branch factory under the Englishman Harry Ainsworth, this subsequently making engines for W.R. Morris until it was absorbed by him in 1923. At home Hotchkiss sold off their surplus works capacity at Lyons and concentrated on a revised Hotchkiss car again, the AF with full electrics and a horseshoe-shaped radiator in place of the traditional round one. Its successor, the Hotchkiss AH of 1921, had cantilever rear springs and torque tube drive, and a year later came the Hotchkiss AL with ohv, and a detachable head; front-wheel brakes were added for 1923. There was also a prototype luxury Hotchkiss car at the 1921 Paris Salon; this Hotchkiss AK had a 6.6-litre 6-cylinder ohc engine, dual ignition, 4-speed unit gearbox, servo-assisted 4-wheel brakes, and a cruciform-braced frame, but it never went into production.

The return of Ainsworth to St. Denis in 1923, coincided with the construction of a new Hotchkiss car factory and a more realistic type of car, the 2.4-litre 12CV Hotchkiss AM, with 4-cylinder sv engine, 4-speed unit box, four-wheel brakes, wire hwwls, and Hotchkiss drive once more. Between 1924 and 1928 it was the Hotchkiss car company’s staple product, selling at the rate of over a thousand a year and offering a 70mph performance at a modest outlay. It persisted until 1932, acquiring ohv in 1926 and rod-operated brakes in 1928, and its engine was used in some Morris-Léon Bollées. Even better was the Hotchkiss AM80 of 1929, largely the work of Bertarione. This was a short-stroke (80x100mm), 7-bearing ohv 3-litre six that owed a good deal to the AM2, though early cars featured torque tube drive; it was to be the basis from which all subsequent Hotchkisses were evolved. A silent 3rd gearbox featured on 1931 Hotchkiss car models, Hotchkiss drive reappeared in 1932, and 1933 improvements included Bendix brakes, cruciform-braked frames, down-draught carburetors and mechanical fuel pumps. Hotchkiss AM80 engines were also fitted to Sizaire Frères and Tracta cars.

The 1933 Hotchkiss car range was expanded both up and down, with new Hotchkiss 12CV (2-litre) and 13CV (1.3-litre) fours for the economy market, and an 85mph fast tourer, the 100bhp 3½-litre Hotckiss AM80S, for the enthusiast. This Hotchkiss car was based on the car with which Vasselle won the 1932 Monte Carlo Rally. Hotchkiss cars repeated this success in 1933 and 1934: in the latter year the Hotchkiss cars collected two Glazier Cups in the Alpine Trial. There were further wins in the Monte Carlo in 1938 and 1939; on the latter occasion a Grand Sport Hotchkiss car tied with a 3½-litre Delahaye. Radiators were moved forward on the 1934 Hotchkiss cars, and the 3-litre gave way to a 2.650cc 15CV that was not a success and lasted only one season. The 1935 Hotchkiss cars had synchromesh and integral boots, and at the top of the 3½-litre 20CV range was the twin-carburettor Hotckiss Paris-Nice, a 115bhp sports car capable of 95mph. Hydraulic brakes appeared in 1936 on Hotchkiss cars (to be quietly dropped halfway through 1937). The sports 20CV engine was now giving 125-130bhp and when allied to a short 9ft 2in wheelbase resulted in the Hotchkiss Grand Sport, a true 100mph saloon.

By 1938 the horseshoe radiator on the Hotchkiss car was now a wire-mesh grille, but despite the exigencies of French rearmament programmes the Hotchkiss car company managed to deliver 2.751 Hotchkiss cars that year, made up of the two fours, the reinstated 3-litre Hotchkiss 680, and the 3½-litre Hotchkiss 686 in various forms, including seven-seater limousines with the single-carburettor 100bhp engine. Hotchkiss also came to the rescue of the ailing Amilcar concern, helping to make the Grégoire-inspired 1.185cc Compound, a small fwd saloon with unitary construction in Alpax; this was sold in England, though not in France, as a Hotchkiss car. A 1.3-litre ohv development, the Hotchkiss B67, was ready for production when France collapsed in the summer of 1940.

Hotchkiss never really recovered from World War 2, though Peugeot were briefly interested in the Hotchkiss car company and Hotchkiss 686 cars won the first two post-war Monte Carlo Rallies of 1949 and 1950. The Hotchkiss 12CV and Hotchkiss 20CV were back in production, unchanged, by 1946, but the first year’s output was a miserable 117 Hotchkiss cars. Hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension did not appear until 1949 on Hotchkiss cars (though Hotchkiss had experimented with the latter in 1937), and a Cotal electric gearbox became a factory option. The 1951 Hotchkiss car models were ‘facelifted’ with V-screens, recessed headlamps and auxiliary coil rear suspension, but in the meantime there had been an expensive mistake: the acquisition by Hotchkiss of the rights to the Grégoire flat-4. This ingenious device was a development of the 1938 Amilcar theme featuring all-round independent suspension and a 4-speed overdrive gearbox, as well as front wheel drive. Production Hotchkiss car models with 2.2-litre engines were said to achieve 95mph and 30mpg, but the teething troubles were endless, and Hotchkiss only managed to make 250 Hotchkiss cars in the end. There was a shutdown in 1952 and the price of recovery was a merger with Delahaye that led inevitably to concentration on commercial vehicles. The old Hotchkiss cars 13CV and 20CV received another facelift in time for the 1954 Paris Salon, but his was their swansong, though medium-powered trucks continued to be made until 1970, along with a version of the American Jeep built under licence.

GB, 1920

Hotchkiss et Cie, Coventry, Warwickshire

Hotchkiss of Coventry, a British offshoot of the famous French Hotchkiss car firm, was set up during World War 1 to make engines in Britain. Their units became best known as the motive power for Morris and BSA light cars, but before they were taken over by William Morris, Hotchkiss experimented with a small car of their own. The Hotchkiss car consisted of their 1.080cc air-cooled V-twin ohv engine installed with a 3-speed gearbox in a pre-war Morris Oxford chassis. It never went into production.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS, TRN

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com