By Cameron Moore
At 21 years old, Edwin Buiter is already steeped in a century’s worth of automotive history. As a senior Automotive Restoration student from Ireton, Iowa, Buiter has developed a deep appreciation for vintage cars, with a personal collection that includes a 1966 Chevy Corvair and a 1989 Chevy Caprice wagon. But the true crown jewel of his garage? A rare and elegant 1929 Franklin 135 Victoria Brougham.
The Franklin 135 came equipped with a 274 cubic-inch (4.5 liter) overhead valve straight-six motor that produced 60 horsepower at 2500 RPM. Paired with it was a 3-speed manual transmission. Depending on which trim level the buyer purchased, they were initially priced between approximately $2,485 and $2,625, with the Victoria Brougham priced at $2,595. In modern times, that would’ve cost $48,000, adjusted for inflation.
With a background in air-cooled vehicles like the Corvair and Volkswagen Beetle, Buiter was naturally intrigued when he first learned about Franklin automobiles. “The Franklin Club hosts a week-long ‘trek’ every year in upstate New York, and I got a student experience scholarship that paid for me to fly out to the trek and experience Franklins and the Franklin club,” he explained. “Seeing all the Franklins as well as driving a few got me interested in the cars.”
That interest turned into ownership in late 2023 when Buiter acquired his Franklin from the Franklin Club in Massachusetts. “The car was donated to the Franklin Club with the intent that the club would sell it to one of the scholarship students at a discounted price,” Buiter recalled. Club records traced the car’s history back to the 1960s, including restorations done in the 1980s and ’90s.
Once the car arrived at McPherson, Buiter didn’t waste any time to get it running. It didn’t take much to get it to crank over with new parts, including a battery, various ignition parts, a new fuel line, and cleaning the oil pan, fuel pump, and carburetor. The car fired up without much issue. Getting the car roadworthy, however, was a more involved process. He replaced the clutch lining, rebuilt the driveshaft, installed new wheel cylinders, and even refurbished the seats. Upholstery, as it turns out, presented its own set of challenges. “The upholstery work has been pretty tricky,” Buiter noted. “Although the seats are a simple, plain stretched design, this means that any small error sticks out.” While the mechanical work has been relatively straightforward for the Buiter, parts acquisition hasn’t been as simple. “The mechanical work has been technically fairly easy, however, parts are a lot harder to find,” he said. “Replacing the clutch only took a day or so of labor, but I spent several months waiting for parts.” The Franklin’s early hydraulic brakes required costly rebuilding, and Buiter often had to source parts directly from Franklin Club vendors or fabricate them himself. “Most [of the] parts I need I buy from club members or I make myself,” he explained.
Fortunately, he has not had to go through the process alone. “The wealth of knowledge on the Franklin Club website and of Franklin Club members has been invaluable,” Buiter emphasized. “A huge amount of factory parts drawings and service manuals are digitized and available, and I frequently call experts in the Club for technical advice or when I need parts. For Buiter, the Franklin is more than just a vintage vehicle—it’s a symbol of automotive innovation. “The air-cooled engine set the car apart from water-cooled competitors for its simplicity and reliability,” he said. “Less moving parts and no fear of coolant boiling over made the Franklin an excellent all-weather car.”
For Edwin Buiter, reviving the Franklin is about honoring a legacy and preserving a unique chapter of American automotive history. In a world that has rapidly shifted toward modern technology, it’s young enthusiasts like Buiter who keep the past alive—one crank, cast part, and carefully stretched seat at a time. We’re excited to see where his journeys, hopefully in the Franklin, take him.
