Herbert H. Franklin, the founder, began his career in the metal die casting business before establishing his automobile enterprise.

[3] The two major characteristics of their automobiles were their air-cooled engines and in the early years their lightness and responsiveness when compared with other luxury cars.

Offerings for 1904 included a touring car model with a detachable rear tonneau and which seated four passengers.

The transverse-mounted, vertical straight-four engine, producing 10 hp (7.5 kW), was mounted at the front of the car.

Demonstrating reliability, L. L. Whitman drove a Franklin from New York City to San Francisco in 1906 in 15 days 2 hours 15 minutes, a new record.

Before the invention of antifreeze, the air-cooled car had a huge advantage in cold weather, and Franklins were popular among people such as doctors, who needed an all-weather machine.

Starting in 1925, at the demand of dealers, Franklins were redesigned to look like conventional cars sporting a massive nickel-plated "dummy radiator" which served as an air intake and was called a "hoodfront".

In 1930 Franklin introduced a new type of engine which ultimately produced 100 horsepower (75 kW), with one of the highest power-to-weight ratios of the time.

It was designed to be installed in a lightweight chassis, but the car became a 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg) behemoth when Franklin engineers were overruled by management sent in from banks to recover bad loans.