Stored 60 Years: Pair of 1950s Kaiser Manhattans
Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was founded after World War II as another independent automaker whose goal was to do battle with the giants of the industry. Due to pent-up demand after the war, K-F should have done well, but the “Big 3” (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) took most of the available market share. Manhattan began as a Frazer nameplate but was rebadged as a Kaiser in 1952 with the demise of the Frazer brand. The seller has a pair of these cars from 1952 and 1953, and they have been in storage for decades. Due to losing this space, the cars are now on the market.
The Manhattan was the breadwinner sold by the company during its brief time in business (less than seven years). These bigger cars (the Henry J was a compact) were sold as Frazers in 1947 through 1951 and as Kaisers the two or so years after that. Styling was credited to independent designer “Dutch” Darrin, and they were bolder in appearance than most of the “shoebox” products offered by the competition. Only one engine was offered, a “Supersonic” 226 cubic inch inline-6 though the seller references an I-4 in his/her listing.
Fewer than 18,000 Manhattans were built in 1953, the swan song for the nameplate (though some 4,000 leftovers were titled as 1954 editions). Two Manhattans appear in the seller’s listing, a blue car and a white one that appears to wear two-tone paint. Most of the attention seems to be placed on the blue car, so perhaps if you were going to make one good automobile out of two, this would be the one to focus on. The blue car is said to be a basic model that is devoid of many options.
The primary car may have been dry stored for 60 years, so it’s quite dirty though the body may be in okay shape. The interior is another matter, and it will require a lot of attention. We don’t know when it last ran or what it will take to change that status. Located in Battle Ground, Oregon, this rare pair of 1950s automobiles is available here on craigslist for $3,500 where offers will be considered along with trades.
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Comments
The blue car is definitely a ’52, but the white one appears (based on seeing the edge of a headlight in one photo) a ’54. The latter had headlight trim remarkably like contemporary Buicks, with the main lamp above a smaller turn signal/running light.
It’s hard to tell from the lousy photos, but if a major cleanup gets the exteriors in decent shape, mechanical work isn’t difficult. Mechanically, Kaisers were pretty much parts-bin cars, so much is still available. The Continental engines had many farm and industrial applications, so some searching will net just about anything, and the automatic transmissions were GM Hydra-Matics.
Interior retrims can be problematic. I don’t think anyone reproduces “Dragon Vinyl” (dashboard and door panels) and the seat fabrics were often unique as well.
Wish I had the resources to take these on. Based on the three Kaisers I owned over the years, these are very nice machines. They are stylish, comfortable and reliable cruisers. If the seller represents them correctly and there are no surprises lurking in the areas we can’t see/aren’t told about, the price is right.
You are correct. The white one is certainly a 54.
They are beautiful.
The price is tempting.
The mention of the resemblance to Buicks of the same era brings to mind Edgar Kaiser saying if a Buick nameplate was slapped onto a Kaiser or Fazer those cars would sell like hotcakes.
My memory from all those many years ago may be a little sketchy, but I do remember as a 5 year old in 1947 my father had a new ’47 Kaiser, not a Frazer. He kept it until ’53 and bought another new Kaiser. My “little” brother who was about 6 at that time would climb up on the shelf behind the rear seat and fall asleep on our way home from an uncle’s near the Jersey shore. The ’53 had a Continental on the rear which was stolen on a winter trip to Florida. Not long after returning , Pop traded it in on a new ’57 Dodge Coronet.
How much without the dirt?
He looks more like a hoarder an a enthusiast
Potato/Pototo. 😏
Three guys are having beers at the bar. First guy says he’s going to buy his wife a Kaiser…and surprise her. Second guy says he’s going to buy his wife a Frazer…and amaze her. Third guy takes a sip of his beer and says he’s going to wait for a Tucker….
Love the joke!! But I’m REALLY tickled to hear a familiar name from back in the ‘70s. I remember the Jim Benjaminson who was Chief Guru of the Plymouth 4 & 6 Cylinder Owners Club. My first car back in the ‘50s was a ’37 Plymouth – and I still want another. My “auto”-biography has been MGs since 1984 but I still have a passion for Plymouths.
‘Sorry this isn’t about Kaisers, but it is a tribute to one of the True Builders of the old car hobby. ‘Always thought Jim Benjaminson must be older than I am; in which case I’m especially happy that you’re still around and still kicking tires. Keep it up!
Fantatic!
All the comments were very good….Nice guys. I remember from ’47 on. Girlfriend’s Dad had a Frazier “Travler” Three doors and wooden floor, etc.
Buddy of mine had his Mother’s Frazer….We wrecked it once…didn’t hurt
it..just pushed it out of the mud and went home.
Comments great….guys know their stuff…
Vive la Panhard
The thing about ’50s Kaisers is that they keep getting better looking with every successive face lift instead of the other way around culminating in the stunning ’54-55 models that barely sold.
Yeah, these ’52— Kaisers were georgous cars – way far ahead of their time. Although very different from the Studebaker offerings of 1953, they were equally pleasing. It would be over a decade before the Big Three achieved comparable aesthetics. (I’ll save my thoughts on the tail-fin era for another time…)
But will somebody correct me? IIRC, the first year of this body style (52?) had sheet metal chrome grill louvers, later replaced with the chromed pot-metal ones we see here on the blue car. So I would hazard that the blue car is therefore a ’53. (??)
I was just 14 when I saw the top-end Dragon (??) at a car show, and I was stunned at the interior treatment – the faux-bamboo-covered dash was a real delight. My memory also seems to tell me that in those years when everybody was in this giant V8 horsepower race, Kaiser got left in the lurch with their pathetic flathead sixes. And they just could not come up with the resources to develop a V8. Ultimately that’s what killed the Kaiser. They tried their best with the add-on superchargers. I thought that was in 1954 – and that the ’55 Kaisers were the unsold ‘54s. Is my chronology correct?
Two other thoughts about Kaiser: anybody remember that they briefly owned Jeep? And though they couldn’t build a V8, they did build a “sporty car” to compete with the Ford Thunderbird more than the Corvette – the Kaiser Darrin with sliding doors – an act never followed.
Right you are the Kaisers were beautiful cars, and it doesn’t cost so much more money to build a beautiful than a plain one all you need is a genius designer like Darrin and taste. But they were not ahead of their time, had to buy their hydra Matics from GM, (lame) engines from Continental and not obviously at cost.
Kaiser just didn’t have the funds to R&D their own drivetrain. Henry Kaiser was a proven genius industrialist/ship builder, road builder, and dam builder who thought he could show Detroit a thing or two about building cars and discovered he was going head to head with some of the best and most dedicated men of the age with far more resources.
@bachldrs
Yes! The Darrin was a great little car, and as fascinating as the doors were, they were never copied because the were always getting stuck. I read they were quite problematic.
As for Jeep, my 2nd husband had a 1972 Jeep Wagoneer. On the plate riveted to the firewall it said Kaiser-Frazer Jeep Corp. Even though Fazer went out in the 50s as did Kaiser, I believe they owned the rights up to 1972. I never did much digging on it and really don’t know that much about it but I remember it well as I was surprised it said K-F Corp. When did AMC aquire Jeep?
Also, side note; had a great uncle in Pennsylvania coal country, or was that steel?, who when my mother went to visit him in the very early 60s would take me. I was around 6 or 7 and bored to tears. I went outside to play and distinctly remember he had a Kiaser-Frazer sitting in the garage/barn. Don’t know what year it was, looked alot like this blue one and it, too, was probably a Manhattan.
And of course we should all remember the Henry J: Kaiser’s early entry into the small car market – which in those earliest days could hardly support one. Nash Rambler captured that market.
And IIRC, the Traveler had five doors, not three. The rear window hinged with the trunk lid, forming a station-wagon-like rear hatch opening up to the whole interior.
Lots of fresh ideas from these Kaiser folks. They certainly did a lot in their short corporate life.
From what I’ve seen the Travelers had a rear driver side door that didn’t open because that was where the spare tire was mounted.
The Gentleman commenting on the “Traveler” Yes, yes,
That’s the one I remember here in my town!! Three doors
and the “hatch” which I think opened….also wooden floor.
Luv’em. The Continel engine was Ok, no fire bird but
at that time what was…..nothing util the Rocket 88 Oldsmobile ..right?
AMC was owned by RENAULT who sold it to JEEP around 1970. The
Renault Alliance was produced by AMC alas AMC
Battleground is actually in Washington, about 15 miles north of the Oregon border. 35 – 40 years ago outside of Salem, Oregon was an old farm house on a hillside. Said hill was littered with dozens and dozens of old Kaisers, Fraziers and 1940s & 1950s Packards. The old hermit finally died and everything was auctioned off. Can’t imagine there was much left, the cars were left to rot in the weather and mud.