Was the Olympic a rebadged REO with Franklin eigine? If so, was it done to make it lighter and faster or cheaper (Like a companion car) or both?

The Olympic was basically a rebadged REO with a Franklin engine. Franklin needed a less-expensive car to sell, but had no money to design and tool for one. Apparently REO was doing just as poorly as Franklin, and so was happy to sell them cars minus the engine and some trim. Franklin had to make up their own bell housing and a few other unique parts, but I think the entire tooling cost was said to be around $5,000. There was a lot of creative engineering involved with the assembly. For example, in order for the air filter housing to clear the steering box, Franklin smashed the bottom of the housing in with a hammer. Each Olympic's air filter is dented a little differently.

The sedan and coupe sold for $1385, the convertible for $1500, while a standard Franklin sedan went for $2800.

The Olympic is about 1,000lbs lighter than the Airman. I understand that it has the highest power to weight ratio of any car from 1933, except for the Duesenberg SJ.

Thanks for the info Steve! A friend of mine has a '32 Franklin roadster. Car did great on last years tour! Pretty quiet car as I remember, and my wife loved it!

Is it green with orange wheels?