Despite last-minute pleas to the contrary, Georgia Concours d’Lemons Worst in Show Winner Jim Eby started his cross-country trip “Franklin Road Trip of Near Certain Doom” on Sunday, July 15. The Tour is a cross-country journey to Concours d’Lemons events in Michigan and in California from his home in Florida in the air-cooled 1919 Franklin that his great-grandfather bought new. Despite some delays in relaying news, Jim failed to find enough common sense to turn back and is now several hundred miles on his way to Detroit.

Through a cell phone safety wired to the Franklin’s dash, Jim is posting multiple daily updates from the road on the Concours d’Lemons Facebook page. You can have these updates piped right to you from the Cd’L Facebook page.

Bob Sellers, CEO of Reliable Carriers, is following along nervously as Reliable Carriers inexplicably sponsored the whole debacle by promising to transport the 1919 Franklin to the Michigan and/or California Concours d’Lemons events should something catastrophic happen to the car.

“What are the odds of a 99-year-old car breaking down on a tour around the country? I really don’t know what I was thinking,” said Sellers in-between repeatedly refreshing the Concours d’Lemons Facebook page.



So far on the Tour, temperatures have been mild, but Jill Swanson of FAST Cooling warns, “As soon as the humidity and heat set in, Jim is going to be glad he has a FAST Cool Suit System on board the Franklin. We can’t fix stupid, but we can keep it cool.”

The first leg is from Florida to Michigan where the Franklin is entered in the Concours d’Lemons and Concours d’Elegance of America on July 28 and 29, 2018, at The Inn at St. John’s, Plymouth, MI. From there Jim sets out for Monterey Auto Week and the Concours d’Lemons California on August 25, 2018, at the Seaside City Hall, Seaside, CA.

Come out to the events to meet Jim in person and follow the Tour right here.