Old Cars Salon Stunner

[lovevui92]

Imagine that you were a member of New York's elite society in December 1930, flush with wealth and status. Dressed in black tie and holding your exclusive invitation to the 1931 New York Automobile Salon, you enter The Commodore Hotel's ballroom and scan the rows of automobiles, crystal chandeliers glittering in chrome and exotic floral arrangements reflecting in glassy paint. Among the Duesenbergs and Senior Packards, you spot a Franklin, the custom Derham-bodied De Luxe Sportsman's Coupé. Eighty-two years on, that special Franklin has been restored to its designer's ideal and remains a spectacular example of the coachbuilder's art.

For all of its expense and technical brilliance, the typically owner-driven Franklin automobile isn't one that is commonly associated with custom bodies and invitation-only car shows. Their unusual appearance through the early 1920s resulted from their trademark air-cooled engines, but by the middle of that decade, Franklin dealers were demanding more conventional styling and longer wheelbases that could accomodate custom-commissioned bodies. They got their wish when Parisian designer J. Frank de Causse brought fresh style to Franklin in 1925.