Franklin Twelve History

Introduced at dealer showrooms in late April 1932, the Franklin Twelve was the only production air-cooled V12 ever built. The 398-cubic-inch (6.5-liter) engine featured an aluminum crankcase and heads with finned chrome-nickel iron cylinder barrels, delivering 150 hp at 3,100 rpm. A crank-mounted 15-inch fan moved 5,720 cubic feet of air per minute through the vee of the engine at 60 mph. Body styles were limited to five-passenger sedan, seven-passenger sedan, limousine, and two-door club brougham, priced from $3,885 to $4,185 — formidable sums during the Great Depression.

Development of the Twelve had begun in 1928 when Franklin hired aeronautical engineer Fred Glen Shoemaker to produce a multi-cylinder flagship able to challenge Cadillac and Packard in the prestige market. The project passed to engineer John Rogers after Shoemaker departed for General Motors; a bank-appointed executive arrived in late 1931 and altered the final design before launch. The result was an engineering achievement that arrived at the worst possible commercial moment.

Fewer than 200 V-12 Franklins were built across 1932–1934, and approximately 18 examples survive today. The Franklin Automobile Company declared bankruptcy in April 1934, ending 32 years of air-cooled automobile production in Syracuse. The engine technology lived on: Aircooled Motors continued manufacturing Franklin flat-six engines for aircraft, and those assets were later acquired by Preston Tucker, who adapted them — with water cooling added — for the Tucker 48.