Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-02-10
FRANKLIN CAR
AMONG PIONEERS
Americas First Four-Cylinder
Car Is Being Exhibited at
Auto Show

When we recall that the automobile
industry is only eighteen or twenty
years old and consider what was called
an automobile back in the early days,
1t is easy to appreciate the enormous
growth of the countrys greatest in
dustry for its age. Looking at the
modern car. the problems of the pio-
neers seem insignificant But there
was vast ignorance with regard to
the internal combustion engine, the
characteristics of which differed so
widely from those of the steam en-
gine in common use. Many of the
features of present-day design were
undreamed of then.
among the pioneers of the industry
| probably, no man had more advanced
ideas than John Wilkinson. In 1898
! he built his first ear" crudely and
simply to be sure, but embodying ali
of the fundamental principles, such as
alr-cooled engine, wood chassis frame
and full elliptic springs, that charac-
terlZe the Franklin car to-day. In
addition the engine had four cylinders
| compressed air starter, surface car
buretor and jump spark ignition. The
need OF transmission was appre-
| cfated. but the knowledge regarding ii
was so vague that it was dispensed
with, the machine being built with
only one speed forward and no re.
verse. Since his ''car" had the first
four-cylinder engine built in America
lack of experience in both ignition and
carburetion had to be contended with
/, fhe correct application of high-tension
ignition was developed only after a
] painful process of experimentation
Short exhibition runs were then made
quite successfully.
| Profiting by experience with this
nrst modei, second was built in the
spring of 1900, which made extended
country runs as high as so miles on
one trip. In the meantime compressed
air starting was abandoned as toe
| heavy and cumbersome and the sur
! race carburetor gave way to the float
| feed type of to-day. A two-speed trans
mission was then designed and q third
car built in the fall of 1901. This was
the model after which the eleven cars
sold in 1902 were built and had a
valve-in-the-head, four cylinder, air
cooled engine, wood sills. full elliptic
springs, fioat-feed carburetor, throttle
control single high-tension coil
ignition, planetary transmission and
chain drive.
| 1t is interesting to note that the
Franklin car has the distinction of be-
ing the first in America to have a
tour-cylinder engine (1902), the first
in America to have a six-cylinder en-
gine t19O5), the first to use valve-in-
| the-head construction. and the first to
adopt the fioat-feed carburetor, trottle
control, automatic fabrication and
drive through the springs. The present
Franklin enlbodies all of these
| features.
Light weight construction was men
toned as Franklin principle in the
| first catalog issued in 1902; the heaviest
car in the Franklin line for 1917
| weighs 2.620 pounds, the lightest
xVaiChInp v1nt
Franklin production grew gradually
from eleven cars in 1902 up to O few
more than 1900 In 1919. Then in
1913 the company decided to build one
chassis only. to which all body types
were adapted. Such step made nos
sible more efficient production and In
creased volume. with a material saw
ing In the manufacturing cost and sell
ing price of the car. The success OF
this move Is best shown by the in
crease IN sales from 1900 in 1912 to
about 1000 in 1915 and projected