Franklin: Syracuse's Air-Cooled Cars, and How They Kept Flying

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I spent August 4 at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners. After the Model A hall I went into the Franklin building, a replica of Ralph Hamlin’s Los Angeles dealership from around 1918. Hamlin was Franklin’s biggest dealer. The H. H. Franklin Club put its collection there in 2010. The cars inside were built in Syracuse, New York, air-cooled from the first one in 1902 to the last one in 1934. When the factory closed, the engines did not. They went into light planes, helicopters, a flying boat, and then, briefly, into Preston Tucker’s sedan.

Franklin on ssnowden.com

Franklin: Syracuse's Air-Cooled Cars, and How They Kept Flying