Herbert Henry Franklin was a Syracuse, New York, industrialist.

He was introduced to John Wilkinson, a Cornell-educated engineer, and became enamored of an automobile that Wilkinson had built.

His company began production of the car in 1902.

A man of strong principles, Wilkinson was fanatical about weight, and this led him to dispense with cooling water and to use the lightest suspension components possible, like tubular axles and flexible, full-elliptic springs.

Aluminum was used extensively in drive trains, and aluminum-clad bodies and laminated ash frames also aided his objectives.

He also believed that beauty stemmed from functionality, not ornamentation, so during his tenure Franklins did not look like other cars.

From 1904, a “barrel front” hood was adopted, with a simple screen at the front to let the cooling air in.

Later on, Renault-style “scuttle” hoods were adopted and still later a “horse collar” grille.

There was no mistaking a Franklin on the road.

The earliest o...