In late November 1952 Sears announced that the company would begin limited selling of low-priced automobiles before Christmas in select stores in the South and Southwest. Named the "Allstate," after the popular brand of automotive goods and insurance, it was described as having a 100-inch wheelbase and fuel economy of 30-35 miles per gallon. The Kaiser-Frazer Corporate built the Allstate automobile for Sears. Kaiser-Frazer began building full size p***enger cars in 1946 and in 1950 sought to get the jump on the big automakers by bringing out a cheap subcompact called the "Henry J." Sears owned stock in a Kaiser steel subsidiary that supplied bathtubs and other enamelware. Kaiser-Frazer needed dealers badly and Sears had the outlets so Sears and Kaiser-Frazer reached an agreement to sell the Henry J under the Sears Allstate name. The Allstate came in either a Standard ($1,395) or Deluxe ($1,796) models with a choice of optional four or six-cylinder engines and a transmission overdrive. Sears also offered a 90-day guarantee on the Allstate. The Allstate only lasted two years. The demise came for a variety of reasons. For one, the Allstate was basic transportationa car ahead of its time in an era of abundance. For another it was not that much cheaper than the cheapest Chevrolet. Worst of all, customers expected Sears to take in their trades, do major repairs, and keep stocks of replacement parts on hand like regular dealers. At its peak in 1952, Sears sold 1,566 Allstate automobiles. The Allstate automobile disappeared from Sears stores in the fall of 1953.
A feature on someone's J in one of the magazines, this months or last months, claims they got the deck as an option in 1952 - Someone around here has a like 15,000 mile original Allstate they've trailered around to the car corrals at shows with like a $5000 tag on it. It's a little ratty but presentable, which is pretty good for being over 50 years old I suppose. First one of these things I ever saw in person was in a junkyard that since s****ped his old stuff. It took me a while as a kid to figure out what it was, with the nose gone and some wreck damage in the back - and what I knew already was a flathead Ford V8 motor in it. People've been rodding 'em since they were new -
I remember going with my older brother and his friends to buy a motorcycle. It turned out to be an "Allstate", although at the time we had no idea what it was. It was just some old bike to them. Paid fifty bucks for it. Single cylinder, air cooled, looked like an old Indian sort of. Left foot clutch, left hand twist-shift, as I recall. It was in pretty damned good shape, though with poor paint and a rusty muffler. A year or two later they gave it- gave it- to some friend who carted it off, pulled it apart to "restore" it, and last we heard, it was still sitting in crates. What do you think that bike, practically original and running, would be worth today? Doc.
To tie the extinct car post and this together, Allstate sold Cushman scooters, too. The Cushman factory made a deal with Sears to sell left over Cushmans every year, cheap. Turns out this was one of the worst things they could have done. You could ride out of Sears with the scooter on your credit card with little invested instead of paying the dealer up front. And like the car, Sears didn't repair or stock parts. Pissed all the Cushman dealers off. I've heard of Allstate cars, don't think I ever saw one. But there is an Allstate house close by, one of the first precut houses. And I remember getting day old chickens from the Sears catelog!!!
Nice write-up LC. The Allstates were rarer than I thought they were with only 1566 of them sold. I've only seen one and that was in a collection of non-restored HJ's & Caddy's on a guys property. Long gone cuz someone in Ventura county decided they were an affront to the eye while parked along a major two laner. The place wasn't a junkyard and the cars were complete and neatly lined up. Anyway - and I should know more about the HJ's since little brother runs one as a g***er, but I don't - I think the trunk lid models were the later ones. Not sure if the standard/deluxe models were the difference between trunk lid models and no-got-no trunk lid model. Little brother had four at one time, the g***er, two spares and a street runner. The street runner had a trunk lid and an SBC with 4-speed originally, but little brother swapped the stick out for an automatic. Either way, it was a fun little car to drive . . . but the g***er was really fun to drive....
Didn't Sears also sell the Nash Metropolitan in the late 50's? Or was it the early 60's? I think it was given the Allstate brand too.
Sears made everything back in the day. In the late 50's my old man was dirt tracking an allstate. if you can ever get your hands on one check out one of the old catalogs. Hell the old man even has an allstate pistol.. its a copy of a colt.
I also own a Vespa Allstate scooter. Sears also sold Puch and Gilera bikes under the Allstate name. Here's a link to see more: http://allstateguy.tripod.com/
funny i'm supposed to go look at a '67 allstate(puch) 250 this weekend, but it may be to late as i found a honda dream 305 15 miles from my house for the same money(500) today. we'll see i guess...ken....
My dad bought an Allstate (Vespa) scooter to drive back and forth from the Air Force base when I was a kid. (we lived just off base). He drug that thing from station to station for years after and never did ride it much. I begged him to give it to me but he thought I'd get hurt on it. He eventually sold it to an airman in his squadron when he was stationed at Lincoln Air Force Base in Lincoln , Nebraska. He would be surprised to see what they are worth today if he were still alive. Frank
I've got a Puch built Allstate bike hiding in my garage. 148cc Split single cylinder. I've always wanted to change over to an upswept exhaust and saddle seat. Go from this... http://www.tplus.at/~oldtimer/puchaltkl.jpg To this... http://www.tplus.at/~oldtimer/puch125sv1.jpg http://www.tplus.at/~oldtimer/puch125sv2.jpg
Sears sold cars through their catalog around 1905 or 1906. An old collector friend of mine showed me one he bought complete with the wooden shipping crate it came in. Shipped to your home and ***embled by you. I think the one he had was a 1906. It was a little 2 seat runabout, 1 cylinder, with tiller steering. overspray
The SEARS High Wheeler came with tall wagon like wheels that made it popular in rural areas. They made these two cylinder air cooled cars from 1908- 1912. At one time Sears offered complete houses, delivered in kit form to the local railroad depot. I grew up mext to one, two story with an attic, must have filled a few boxcars.
Ted! Your probably headed to the right area to find an Allstate. Have a friend in Anton, TX that has 5 Henry J's. So you never know.
I have a decent 52 Henry J Corsair (deluxe model) with the trunk and its a 6cly. Been sitting in my barn for over a year waiting for this old fart to do somthing.
The crates were specifically designed to be incorporated into the construction of the car. For instance..., the wood of the crate would serve as the "Floor Boards", Firewall and sometimes the base of the seat riser. The hinges on the crate would serve as the door hinges and the trailer tounge rest was the spare tire holder. Very clever set-up that was sometimes delivered by the "Wells Fargo Wagon" besides the rail roads...!
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