Did I own the 1926 Franklin?

   / Did I own the 1926 Franklin?
  • Thread Starter
#21  
Dudley, the new owner sure did some detective work to find you. That's an awesome piece of automotive history and family history. I know you will want to follow every detail of the restoration. Do you know if Leno has one of those in his collection?

Jim, Leno has a 1915 Franklin in his collection. The largest collection of Franklins that I know of is in the Franklin museum in Tuscon AZ. The times I passed through Tuscon I did not know about it. Now I can't wait to go to Tuscon again to see it.

I offer the following info to further complete the history of the Franklins in our family. My parents bought two of them. They dismantled one to make a trailer out of it. I still have some of the parts as seen in the first photo. The story of what they used the trailer for is in the second photo.
 

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   / Did I own the 1926 Franklin? #22  
Gets me thinking about a trip to the Auto Museum in Reno NV, the old Harrah collection. They have some great old cars there. A lot were sold off after Harrah passed away, but they still have a lot of cool old stuff.
 
   / Did I own the 1926 Franklin? #23  
Dudley, when you consider that power tools were almost non-existent in those days, it makes what your parents did even more amazing. My father was a carpenter up until the early '50s. I don't think he ever owned a Skilsaw or power drill. Everything was done with handsaws and a brace and bit. I was always fascinated with his planes when I was a kid.

Did your folks actually ever finish the house to their satisfaction?
 
   / Did I own the 1926 Franklin?
  • Thread Starter
#24  
Dudley, when you consider that power tools were almost non-existent in those days, it makes what your parents did even more amazing. My father was a carpenter up until the early '50s. I don't think he ever owned a Skilsaw or power drill. Everything was done with handsaws and a brace and bit. I was always fascinated with his planes when I was a kid.

Did your folks actually ever finish the house to their satisfaction?

Yes they did finish it though it took more years than they planned on. The only electric tool they had was a new Sears table saw which I still have. Everything else was done with hand tools. Recent photos are attached. It turned out to have 15 rooms and 4 1/2 baths plus the built-in garage and porches.

One of the hardest parts was designing it to use only the materials that they had from the house they tore down in the French Quarter in New Orleans without having to buy many additional items other than paint, sheetrock, etc. The first few years they only used the old nails which they straightened out.

Also, building with century-old rough cut 2x4s, 2x6s, 2x8s and 2x10s isn't the easiest thing to do. Can you imagine the labor in just tearing down those old bricks, moving them, cleaning them, and then rebuilding that 16" thick wall with them?

I am extremely proud of my parents who did so much with so little, surviving the depression and building the nicest home in the neighborhood that I could live in for years to come. Sadly, the neighborhood went downhill, and after living there for decades, I opted to buy a home with acreage in a rural area and sell the old homestead. :( But the home I bought was as old and has as many stories as the one I left. :)
 

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   / Did I own the 1926 Franklin? #25  
Very cool, especially to discover a car from your childhood is still around and is being restored. :cool:

I bet it is going to take quite a few Franklins of the Benjamin variety to complete that restoration. ;)
 
   / Did I own the 1926 Franklin? #26  
Was gonna say magneto, but that's same as spark.
 
   / Did I own the 1926 Franklin? #27  
Just read this. Great story! Thanks for sharing. Never even heard of a Franklin before.
 

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