At first glance we assumed this car was the same one we featured in July. Turns out it is another 1954 Kaiser Darrin. Considering that there were only 435 ever built it seems strange that we would find two in similar condition within a few months of each other. This project might be in little better condition than the last one and the asking price reflects that. The car is located in Cannon Falls, Minnesota and is listed for sale here on eBay with bidding at $5,877 and a BIN of $35,000.

These cars are rare and this one was actually thought to be lost by the Kaiser registry. The seller does not mention how they discovered it, but we are sure it is an interesting story. This car may look rough in the photos, but they can look amazing after being restored and are popular at Concours events these days.

This Darrin comes with the original Supersonic Six engine and transmission. The single carb inline six is not the most potent of power plants, but we like that it is original to the car. After Darrin production ended, a few of the left over cars had Cadillac V8s fitted, so it would be tempting to make the swap. That would jeopardize the originally of this car though, so we would probably rethink that if this was our project.

The body looks like it is in good condition and the seller mentions that the hood and trunk are reproductions costing around $2,000. It is missing many trim pieces but the seller makes some suggestions for replacements. He states that the bumpers can be pulled off a 1953-1954 Henry J and that the gauges are the same as those found in the 1949-1951 Frasier (with a color change). The seller had some new firewall tags made and listed the paint code as a special order color. It was originally a Champaign color, but they were going to paint it black.

The seller sounds very knowledgeable about these cars so it may be a good idea to use their shop for the restoration, but they are booked out for the next 6-8 months so you may want to find another avenue. You would need to be a very skilled restorer with deep pockets to take this one on, but it may just pay off financially with excellent examples selling for well over $100,000.

The Kaiser Darrin was a very innovative sports car in its day. It was the first  American sports car to feature a fiberglass body, beating the Corvette by a month. The best feature of the car though was the sliding doors. They may be a pain to align, but we cannot think of another car that has doors which actually slide into the body. It is wild to see today, and must have been astonishing in 1954!