Franklin Automotive opened its doors in February 1992.  Frank Polhill founded the business at the age of 27 after spending 5 years crafting his business plan.He graduated from the University of South Alabama with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and graduated from the #1 technical school in the country, Wyoming Technical Institute, earning a degree in Automotive Technology. Polhill then worked for a local franchise automotive dealership before opening the doors to Franklin Automotive.

The first location was a small rented warehouse in Homewood, Alabama. Growth was fast, and word about the new Shop in town quickly spread. Space was limited, and with the rapid growth, a new location had to come quickly.
The current location was opened after only being in business for 3 years. Vacant land was acquired on Acton Road and construction began on a state-of- the- art 10 bay repair facility. At that time, Franklin Automotive was the only air conditioned shop in the Birmingham area. Over the years, the business has grown to include other imports. We currently service Lexus, Toyota, Nissan, Infiniti, Honda, Acura, Volkswagen and Audi. We can usually handle routine maintenance on most makes and models.

In 2013, Franklin Automotive completed its 3^rd expansion on Acton Road. This brings the facility up to 26 working bays with 11 technicians.

Over the years, Franklin Automotive has hired only certified master technicians that specialize only on one line of car. These technicians are the best of the best and are experts on their make of vehicle. By doing this, the customer knows that their car is being worked on by an expert, not by a technician that knows a little about a lot of different cars.

In 2017, Ward Drennen, an Alabama native, bought the business from Frank. A 1988 Graduate of Vanderbilt University, Ward comes from an automotive family that has sold and serviced vehicles in the Birmingham area for 4 generations. Ward has been in the business all his life, and recently sold his dealership, Don Drennen Buick/Chrysler/Jeep to Hendrick Automotive before acquiring Franklin. Ward brings decades of experience with him as he pledges to continue the customer-oriented tradition started by Frank of employing only the best technicians to take care of your vehicle, while exceeding your expectations of service and convenience.