Audrain Automobile Museum, Newport (RI), USA
Until July 13, 2025
An original exhibition at the Audrain Automobile Museum, focusing on a technical solution widely used by engine manufacturers: air cooling. An engine that delivers power generates heat, so it must be cooled. There are 2 main solutions: air cooling and liquid cooling.
The latter solution was used on early engines, but in 1895 and 1896 several inventors – Karl Benz, Armand Peugeot, De Dion Bouton and Henry Ford – filed patents for air-cooled engines, some of them “flat”. This was a popular solution for cars, motorcycles and airplanes alike, as the engines were simpler, lighter and required less maintenance. However, liquid cooling will eventually become the norm in the automotive sector, due to increasing power, engine complexity and pollution standards.
But air-cooled engines were still widely used until the late 1990s. The Audrain Automobile Museum invites us to revisit this rich history through a number of emblematic models. At the beginning of the 20th century, Franklin chose the air-cooled engine for the design of its models, in particular to offer lighter, better-handling and more reliable cars. Franklin is considered the only major American manufacturer to have opted for this technical solution. The brand is represented by 2 models. The 1905 E-Type is equipped with a 12 hp in-line 4-cylinder engine, and uses wood and aluminum to create a light, robust structure.
The second is a 1923 Series 10 Touring model, this time with a 25 hp flat 6-cylinder engine. Franklin was the first American manufacturer to offer 6-cylinder engines. Franklin models enjoyed reasonable commercial success, but the brand did not survive the 1929 Great Depression.
The models on display jump forward in time to the 1950s. After WWII, the solution of air-cooled engines was adopted by the vast majority of popular European cars: Citroëen, Fiat, Isetta, Renault, Volkswagen… Several representatives of these models are on display, such as the VW Beetle (1956), the Citroen 2 CV (in a beautiful 1988 “Charleston” configuration), an Isetta 300 built by BMW (1956) recognizable by its tilting front door, or the Autobianchi Bianchina based on a Fiat 500 (1959).
Porsche is one of the icons of air cooling, with the 356 (on all models) and the 911 until 1997 with the 996 generation. The switch to liquid cooling came as a great shock to Porsche enthusiasts, many of whom still consider “real” Porsches to have air-cooled engines! So, it’s hardly surprising to find here a Porsche 356 (a 1960 B Super 90 coupe) and a 911 2.0 S from 1967. Let’s not forget that the Porsche 356 uses a large part of the VW Beetle’s powertrain.
Porsche also used this solution on its racing models, like this 1995 Porsche 962 Kremer K8 Spyder, one of the last air-cooled racing Porsches, with its turbocharged 3L flat-6. Also from Porsche, but perhaps less well known, is a Junior 108K tractor with its 900cc single-cylinder diesel engine, a reminder that Porsche also built tractors in the 1940s and 1950s.
Still in the spirit of small popular cars, Subaru also used this solution to power its small 360 of the Japanese “Kei Cars” class, a major sales success in Japan between 1958 and 1971.
This selection also includes 2 much larger cars. The Chevrolet Corvair Lakewood 700 (1961) is a family station wagon with a flat-6 rear engine. Built for only 2 years, this model is quite rare and was the top of the Corvair range. The Corvair is the only (mass-produced) post-war American model to feature a rear-engine and air-cooling system.
The Tatra 603 is an imposing sedan built in what was then Czechoslovakia and was primarily intended for the dignitaries and apparatchiks of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. It features a 2.5L V8 developing around 100 hp, aerodynamic bodywork and a luxurious interior.
Motorcycles (Indian, Honda, Moto Guzzi or Triumph) and a few examples of engines complete this exhibition with its original theme.
The photos on this page belong to the Audrain Automobile Museum, no right of reproduction without the express permission of the museum.