Picked it up this last weekend... now, what do I do with it.. Resto/mild custom, is what I think I'll do, this thing's pretty cool though! Engine's stuck, but it's all original and damn near complete! Who's got'm and lets see them!
They were a style leader in their day, the first postwar car with the fenderless, smooth sided style that others did not get around to for another 3 years. One thing about them bothers me, and bothered Ray Deitrich who did the styling. If you compare his models and drawings they look a lot sleeker because the roof line tapers down at the back. He complained that the engineers spoiled his design by raising the roof. The engineers replied that he made a mistake, the car as designed did not have enough rear seat head room as called for in the specs. And that "we only raised the roof an inch" (I think it was more than that). Wonder what one would look like with the roof tapered down at the back according to the original design. You wouldn't have to change the doors or back window just take the hump out of the back.
Yes, the lower priced model was the Kaiser, the deluxe model was the Frazer. Both used the same body, engine and chassis. The difference was in grille, trim, and deluxe upholstery and appointments. They went all out on the interiors. They had a noted fashion designer do them, and offered a wide selection of fabrics and colors. They did this because they only had a 4 door sedan to sell, no convertible, coupe, station wagon etc. so they did their best to offer the public something the other car makers did not have. In those days most cars came with drab gray or brown broadcloth interiors. They were well regarded in their day. They were style leaders, lower than most cars, good handling, durable and easy to drive. But they only offered a rather small 226 cu in flathead six cylinder engine. It gave excellent economy and had enough performance to get you where you wanted to go but not very exciting. They used the same engine in Jeep station wagons up to 1962.
Long story short. Henry J. Kaiser (something familiar about that name), president of Kaiser Steel decided to go into automobile construction after World War II. He partnered with Joseph Frazer (who had a long career with a number of car companies; Willys-Overland and Chrysler come to mind) to Form Kaiser-Frazer. The Frazer was just an upscale Kaiser (better interiors and different trim), but basically the same car. The last Kaisers were attractive cars, but lacked a V8 engine (the big thing in the early fifties) and didn't sell too well. Kaiser added a supercharger to the basic Continental 6, but it didn't help. They ceased production in 1955, although the body dies were sold to an Argentine firm who produced the car into the '60's. My dad, who was a mechanic in the 20's and 30's was openly contemptuous of his brother, who showed up at our house with a new Kaiser in 1948, an opinion generally shared by car guys in those days.
In the book "The Reckoning" by David Halberstam, there's a great chapter on K-F. While Henry Kaiser knew concrete and steel and could knock out a Liberty Ship in short order, he had no idea of the scope and magnitude of the auto industry and what it may take to break through the insider Big 3 world of Detroit. He announced at a high society dinner chock full of top auto industry exec's' "I've raised 50 million dollars and plan to enter the auto industry". A voice from the back of the room cried "Give the Man one white chip"!
After the car venture was over Kaiser remarked "I expected to throw $25 million into the pot. I didn't expect it to disappear without a ripple". Frazer was an experience automobile man going back to the early days of the industry. He set up Packard's service department and named the Plymouth, among other things. If Kaiser had listened to him more, and had less grandiose ideas of his own, they might have done better. There was nothing wrong with the cars they made. But in the end, car buyers turned away from the independents in favor of the Big 3.
If you decide to try and fix the engine parts should be available. They were a Continental design built by the millions as industrial engines and used by Jeep up to 1962. The look of the car is distinctive enough as is. It really needs some chrome to break up those long slab sides and maybe some fender skirts.
I'd go Mild Kustom. Consider an accessory visor, ditch the bumperettes, skirts, get the stance dialed in, interior, paint, warm up the engine, and maybe see how lake pipes will look.
Second to this. Mild custom should look cool. It is already a clean, unique look. Removing bumperettes and adding skirts will go on right direction, but absolutely no lakes pipes (cheap looking trick). Sun visor will balance the windshield, which is too high on forehead. Actually it will probably look like chopped with a sun visor hiding the top of the windshield because the hood is high. Hopped up Continental flathead six and an overdrive trans should be cool different drive train for an odd bird custom cruiser.
The slab sides remind me of the Muntz Jet quite a bit. I'm typically against cutting the roof off of a car, and it would probably require shortening the wheelbase too but someone with some great metalworking skills could make a cool cut-down Popular Mechanics type sports car with a removable Carson style top out of one of these.
I see this car totally restored inside and out, maybe funky green with one of those crazy Kaiser Frazer interiors on an Art Morrison chassis with a big block Chevrolet. big steel wheels and fat tires with some sort of original dog dish hubcaps. you will never customize the ugly out of it.
If you want to go real nutty - the Jeep company had that flathead engine redesigned into a hemi. I am not kidding, they hired an Italian engineer with experience of sports car engines to design a hemi head OHC engine that could be built using the existing tooling. It was used in Jeep Wagoneers and pickups around 1962 - 65. They called it the Tornado. If Kaiser and Frazer cars had continued in production no doubt they would have got it too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Tornado_engine
Kaiser owned Jeep thru 1971 when it sold to AMC, so the Tornado engine is a Kaiser. Sent from my SGH-T399 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Kaiser had one of the first hatchbacks in 1948. The spare tire was behind the left rear door, you opened to access it. That door did not access into the car. My Dad had one in the early 50's that was always hard to start. The only car I ever saw him kick.
why would you customize it? are you afraid you might park next to 20 others when you go to the store! i say stock body and interior with a big motor under the hood.
These engines held a few NHRA stocker records when some lower class race cars still had license plates.
They made them for several years; they called them "Travelers". I went up to Pine City, Minnesota in the late '60's to look at a bunch of cars an old guy had in a barn. One of those was a complete "Traveler" that was in very good condition. I passed on it to buy a '48 Buick Super convertible with a blown engine. I'm not sorry.
@Dave Glaspie This is most likely nothing like what you have in mind but I thought it might offer you a little inspiration....
That's the one thing that sticks out to me, is that damn roof.. lol, maybe I'll chop it then! Sent from my SM-G900V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I don't know if you need to chop it or just slim down the part above the door frames. This would involve some pretty advanced metal work to get the right shape. Remember if you try it and mess up a vinyl top will cover it up lol. Later... the more I compare the first pic to Moose's phantasy the more I like the top chop. It would really make the car but you would need mad skilz to pull it off.
Here's one that I just found on Denver craigslist. It's not the same body style. I'd drive it but then again I like all the oddball ugly makes. If you do customize it don't make it look like a Merc. Keep it recognizable as something different. The body appears unaltered but the interior is completely non-HAMB.
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