JP’s A to Z Challenge – K is for Kaiser

To most people, a Kaiser is a historic figure of WWI-era Germany, or perhaps a kind of sandwich roll. But to me, a Kaiser is one of the most fascinating cars ever made.

The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was the last new U.S. company to get into the auto business on a major scale until Tesla came along decades later. Henry J. Kaiser was a west-coast construction and ship building tycoon who saw an opportunity to make it big in autos. Kaiser did things in a big way, and bought a gigantic bomber factory in Willow Run, Michigan at the end of WWII.

After much hype about futuristic cars, the first Kaisers in 1946 were quite conventional. They were modern, but nobody would consider them beautiful. But the company’s follow-up 1951 model was something different.

These were low-slung cars for their day, and their styling was dramatic for their time. The one false note on the car was a roof that seemed to tall for the rest of the car – the result of upper management insisting on a higher roof before the cars went into production, overruling the designers.

My maternal grandfather was a farmer who had bought a new Ford V8 sedan in 1935 and had used it as both is car and his truck for the next 16 years. When he finally broke down and bought a new car, it was a blue 1951 Kaiser DeLuxe. My grandma remembered that once they got that car, it was never a secret where the family went because it was the only car like it in their small farming town.

In addition to the styling, Kaisers were known for bold exterior paint colors and for unique interior treatments. Like the rattan-style covering on the dashboard of this top-of-the line 1953 Kaiser Manhattan.

Unfortunately, things at Kaiser started to go downhill around the time these cars came out. They blew money to develop an unsuccessful compact called the Henry J. They failed to develop their own engines to replace the lethargic 6 cylinder engines they bought from an outside supplier – never mind the big fancy “V” on the front and back, because unlike on competitive cars, it did not signify a V8 engine. And most of all, it was a time when the Big 3 were getting stronger while the smaller independent companies began to wither.

Kaiser stayed afloat by merging with with Willys-Overland, the maker of the Jeepster we saw last week. And after a handful of 1955-model Kaisers were built in Michigan, all of the manufacturing equipment was shipped to Argentina where this car served that country’s need for a prestige vehicle called the Kaiser Carabela, until it was finally discontinued in the early 1960’s. It was Jeeps that would keep the company in the auto business through the 1960’s.

Today, Kaisers have been almost completely forgotten. Today’s mission has been to keep the memory of Kaiser alive for just a little longer by sharing this great example.

Photos by the author, June 19, 2022, Noblesville, Indiana.

27 thoughts on “JP’s A to Z Challenge – K is for Kaiser”

  1. I don’t think I ever remember seeing one of these in the “big city”, but in the 80’s, I photographed one in great condition, on used car lot in a very rural area. It had a Kaiser Buffalo front plate (I don’t think that was a model, I think they had a hood badge with a buffalo and a big “K” on it for a while). Since your maternal grandfather was a farmer, it makes me wonder if these were somehow marketed through industrial or farm equipment dealers, as well as through the usual methods?

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    • I think their dealer network was a patchwork, especially in smaller communities. Garages, equipment dealers and other businesses often got franchises in those areas, and maybe hoped to sell a dozen cars a year.

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  3. A local man (since deceased) collected Kaisers, including some models in all-original condition. These are striking cars. The styling of these is quite handsome for the era.

    Kaiser did try to buy the Oldsmobile V-8, but the division backed out of a potential deal at the last minute. Oldsmobile claimed that it didn’t have the production capacity to meet its own needs and also supply Kaiser. Others have said that Oldsmobile was really afraid of its own vehicles being dusted by Kaisers with a Rocket V-8, given the lighter weight of the Kaisers.

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    • I used to drive past a house where a K-F fan lived, there would occasionally be 2 or 3 of them parked on his property. But this wasn’t one of them.

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  4. The bold two-tone paint job stands out to me, or was that characteristic of cars of that era? Didn’t notice the dash rattan until you pointed it out but did notice the door/window lever on the driver’s side (which is it?). Would be hard to get leverage without a handle. I’d also vote for a model with a lower-slung roof. I think it might’ve been more in tune with the body.

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  5. Kaiser was known for bold colors and quite a few were 2-tones.

    I always thought one of these would have made a lovely convertible, but alas, only 2 and 4 door sedans.

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  6. I like your choice for K – lots of info I did not know!

    The only Kaiser’s in my photo files are the Kaiser Darrin sports car. We have seen two of them so far. They were built by Kaiser Motors in 1954. One sold at Barrett Jackson in 2015 for $170,000 plus commission – final price $187,000

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  7. This was a car I never heard of JP – the kaiser roll yes. 🙂 I did notice how low slung it was, just like another car you featured not long ago and I remarked on that. I would not have noticed the high roof at either angle in the photos, until you mentioned it. The rattan dashboard was different and hopefully it was durable, but you said it was on the high-end model Kaiser Manhattan, so maybe it will last the duration of the car. I see the owner brought his/her own fan (the yellow object that looks a little like a trouble light in the front seat.) That is amusing that everyone in town knew your grandparents’ whereabouts as they drove through town. (P.S. – I thought you’d write about a Chrysler K car, hardly anything as classic and fine-looking as this Kaiser. I’d better stick to guessing at Wordle.)

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    • I might have a K Car picture, now that I think about it. But this seemed so fun.

      I once captured a shot of one of these on the road in a rural area. It was a great shot of a weathered original car with its headlights on at dusk. It somehow got into the memory of an old phone and I could not get it out to save it elsewhere. Oh well.

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  11. A local doctor had a collection of 30 antique cars–one for every day of the month. Every day he drove a different one to the office. One of the cars was a 1951-53 Kaiser like this one. When I first saw it, I was surprised how big and massive it was! (I had only seen pictures in books).

    The 1951-55 Kaisers were supposedly nice cars to drive–relatively light steering, good handling, good riding. The 6 cylinder provided adequate power for normal driving. They didn’t sell as well as they should have because they were rather expensive (with low resale value). People in this price class wanted V-8s. The Kaiser’s virtues were too subtle for most people to appreciate. Also people are conformists. Why buy this when you can have a “Rocket” Oldsmobile, a Buick, or a Chrysler for the same money?

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    • My Uncle Bob was dating my aunt and occasionally got to drive the Kaiser when it was fairly new. He remembered it as a really nice car to drive. I believe that one was a 3 speed/OD car.

      I have read that these had a really rigid structure.

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  12. Saw one like this in two-tone blue a few years ago in Scottsdale, Arizona. Took a while to figure out what it was. Glad to see it not being a garage or trailer queen.

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