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I always enjoy walking through the groups of cars of all types. We had a couple of Bugattis, an Alfa with a supercharger (from the 20's) and a far too many over-restored relics of both the steam and gas variety.
But the one that really caught me was the 1926 air-cooled, wooden-framed, aluminum-bodied Franklin. The man who owned it bought it in 1951 from its original owner when it had only 18k on the odometer.
This was an unrestored car in really good condition. The leather interior had a few tears, the brass work had quite a patina but overall, it was hard to believe the thing was 75 years old. A real testament to its initial build quality.
Franklins were innovative cars. This one had an air cooled inline six (for year-round operation, no anti-freeze in those days)an aluminum body for lightness and for you step-phobics, a three speed manual trannie. These were luxury cars of the highest order. No compromises here.
Not a "handling" car in any sense of the word, but in 1926, this car cost 2700 bucks, about equivalent to spending 200k on a car today.
At the show's close. The man got in and drove the thing home to Oxford, CT, about an hour's drive away.
Impressive to say the least.
Ed
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