Disclosure: This site may receive compensation when you click on some links and make purchases.

Reasonably Priced Runner: 1949 Kaiser

Is it really possible to find an old rust free driver in decent condition for $4,000? This Kaiser listed on craigslist might just fit the bill.  It’s located in Napa Valley in Geyserville, California. This Kaiser is has been stored indoors for about twenty years. The interior is beautiful, or at least in great condition, it runs well and just needs new tires. Kaiser is a name most don’t associate with automobiles. Here in California, it’s a one-stop healthcare group Henry Kaiser founded in 1945.  In 1947 Henry and Joseph W. Frazer bought the Graham-Paige Automobile company and founded the Kaiser Frazer corporation. The Frazer and the Kaiser automobiles were intended to be very different cars but ended up pretty much the same with Frazer being the luxury version. Scotty wrote an interesting article a few months ago here about the Kaiser and there are also several interesting comments.

The interior was redone shortly before this Kaiser was stored. It looks really nice, but perhaps the parts on the back seat are waiting to be installed. The Craigslist ad lists this car as a “Kiser Frazier” but it would be either a Kaiser or a Frazer and as has been said here, “it says Kaiser on the dashboard so it must be a Kaiser”.

The 226 CID 100 horsepower flathead six runs well. Some would say this is a Continental engine, but it’s not that simple. It’s a Graham-Paige design, which is an updated version of an earlier Continental engine and built in a Continental engine plant managed by Kaiser Frazer and later purchased by Kaiser-Frazer, or so it’s been explained to me slowly and patiently. So, you can say it’s a Continental engine unless you’d rather call it a Kaiser-Frazer. In either case, it needs a good cleaning under the hood.

I could call this car stylish or say the design is graceful, but who would take me seriously? It’s more like Barn Finds member Howard A said lovingly, it has “got to be the “frumpiest” looking car made.” The Kaiser was the first post-war car with the new slab-sided styling. Other manufacturers were still selling prewar designs.  This does appear to be a solid car with terrible paint for a reasonable price. Words one might use to describe the paint might not be suitable for this site. Given its shortcomings, if this Kaiser is as represented, does this look like an inexpensive candidate for a driver? Would it be worth repainting?

Comments

  1. Avatar Fred W.

    Despite the 6K of interior work a restoration doesn’t make economic sense. This is for the die hard Kaiser guy (and surprisingly there are quite a few in the club).

    Like 0
  2. HoA Howard A Member

    I said that?? Oh yeah, frumpiest car made, but that was Kaiser’s intent. He knew there was a market for “generic” cars, nothing fancy, and they were “assembled” cars, meaning, most of the mechanicals were off the shelf items, that most other cars were using anyway. Even though they looked “frumpy”, they actually had many features like dual horns, dual sun visors, automatic choke, and dual acting brakes, independent front suspension, and a long list of options. While a stout reputation after the war, Kaiser was just another generic car, and most people that didn’t buy Ford or Chevy, usually went with the Plymouth or Dodge. What a great find.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Thomas

    Now it doesn’t look frumpy. Looks fabulous.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Sam

      Frumpulous

      Like 0
  4. Avatar 86 Vette Convertible

    Frumpy – nah. Grandpa & Grandma had one when I was young, a green one. We went to the lake more than once in that one and a few other short trips. He had it till he traded it on a 54 Chevy. I really can’t speak too much on it as I was a very young kid at the time.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar Dennis Prichard

    My dad (an engineer) purchased a new Kaiser like this one in 1949 when I was 5 years old. It was a medium green color with very attractive beige interior. He immediately added a cruise control of his own design which consisted of an electrically operated cable linked to the accelerator through the firewall. Two doorbell buttons were mounted on the steering column, one for winding up the cable and the other for unwinding. Two months after the purchase we took a road trip from western PA to Los Angeles so the cruise control was designed to let dad drive on the wide open western highways at high speed without keeping his foot on the gas pedal. The Kaiser cruised easily at 90 mph and we arrived in LA on the 6th day of our trip. Dry ice hung from windows in bath towels provided air conditioning as we crossed the Arizona desert. The Kaiser traversed the Rocky Mountains with no hint of overheating as we passed by dozens of Ford, Chevys and Plymouths pulled off to the side of the road with steaming radiators. This was June of 1949. We stayed in tourist cabins and motels along the way and meals were provided in picnic areas along the road prepared by my mother. The large Kaiser trunk provided space for kerosene stove and ice box as well as family luggage for the 5 passengers. We began driving every morning at 4 am and started motel search at 4pm every afternoon. We stayed in LA one week and then returned to PA. The Kaiser remained in our family until 1956 when it was traded for a 1956 Ford Ranch Wagon with Thinderbird V-8. The Kaiser had to go because we moved to a country house high in the hills which was too great a challenge for the 6 cyl aging Kaiser engine. The Kaiser could only creep up the steep two mile grade in 2nd gear while the Ford flew up the grade at 60 in high gear. Later we had 4 speed Corvairs that also flew up the hill in 3rd.gear.

    Like 0
    • Avatar geomechs Member

      Thanks for sharing your story, Dennis. One of the things I like about the hobby is sharing the stories about the good ol’ days and the cars that went with them. And they WERE good ol’ days….

      Like 0
  6. Avatar leiniedude Member

    Great story Dennis ! Thanks, Mike.

    Like 0
  7. Avatar Madmatt

    My dad has a 49 traveler hatchback,not running, California
    car,with a little rust,tried for last 2 years to get $2,000 for it,
    and no takers!-?Its a very solid complete car, but Kaisers on a whole,
    other than “Darrins” arent worth much,
    but would not have a lot of the expense that other classics
    require to restore.They are “beautiful” in their simplicity!
    one I found on internet is a twin to ours,
    They sure made that one look good

    Like 1
  8. Avatar Madmatt

    Thank you for sharing with us Dennis,
    Here is a pic of our Kaiser,
    one of many old cars that will be sold soon,
    as my dad who is 80 has realizedthat “we can’t save them all”!
    Good day to you all!

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Dennis Prichard

    Madmatt, your Kaiser looks pretty nice. I never thought Kaiser interiors looked frumpy. In fact, compared to other cars of the period, Kaiser interiors were rather upscale. The ride in our Kaiser was very smooth. Can’t say that I noticed but my dad was pretty verbal about it. I was too young to notice the ride but I was very astute at identifying other cars on the road.Have you tried advertising your dad’s Kaiser with owner’s club?

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Fred W.

    Cool thing about many of these Kaisers is they often have the paint color in chrome script on the front fenders (you can see it on the green one above). Carribean Coral is one of the colors.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar John C Cargill

    Dad traded his war-worn 1939 Plymouth for a 47 Fraser. Brought me home from the hospital in it. Eventually traded it for a 1950 Plymouth. I remember sitting in the Frazer.

    Like 0
  12. Avatar PaulieB

    Worth the $4,000 and redoing the interior with correct looking upholstery. I’m sure that the foam and springs beneath have been done..should have for $6,000.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Allen Member

    Remember going to the dime-store as a kid and buying one of those generic plastic toy cars back in the late ’40s and ’50s? Those plastic toys were made so as not to look like any real car. They were just “a car”. One of them became a Kaiser. The Traveler, while still looking like the plastic “a car”, was a truly ingenious unique design – worthy of an honored place in automotive history. Circa 1951, there was a modest upgrade in the styling resulting in “finlets” – rather like breeding turtles with spoilers. But then in 1952, the butterfly crawled out of the cocoon. By that time, Frazer was dead, but the Kaiser was the automotive Cinderella if there ever was one. It took awhile to get her gown just right, but by 1954, she was truly the belle of the ball.

    Even by today’s standards, these remain one of the most beautiful American cars ever. But by then, Kaiser was on the ropes. Even the acquisition of Jeep couldn’t save them. They needed a V8 to survive, and they just couldn’t come up with the two extra cylinders. The closest they could come was a supercharger on the six – giving it 10 more hp. But in the mighty horsepower race of the mid-50s, even a Plymouth could blow their doors off. You couldn’t sell a full-size American car without a V8 back in those days. Regrettably, Kaiser proved it.

    Like 0
  14. Avatar craig m bryda

    May be ” frumpy ” but the look of the body puts me in the mind of same era Chrysler Corporation cars. I remember riding in the family’s ’49 Chrysler Highlander with the neatest ever window winder handles and leather and plaid wool seats. Thunder Grey with Oxblood interior . Flathead 6 with Fluid Drive.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Ross W. Lovell

    Greetings All,

    I’ll take “frumpiest” over the amorphous blobs they are selling now. At least this has useful room for passengers.

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Allen Member

    Craig,

    ‘ Glad somebody else remembers those spring-loaded folding window-crank handles. If memory has it right, they had those on previous models also. ‘ Loved the sense of quality they imparted.

    Like 0
  17. Avatar Rick McKee

    My father had a 1947 Frazer and about once a month we would make the trip from Davenport, Iowa to Lancaster, Missouri back to the farm. Friday nights meant listening to the Lone Ranger on the radio and stopping in Washington, Iowa for the worlds best tenderloin sandwiches. The amount of room in that car was amazing and he kept it until 1953 when he bought a new Kaiser Manhattan. I have some great memories of both those cars and the family trips taken in them.

    Like 0
  18. Avatar DrinkinGasoline

    I’d take this over any of the new cars sold today. Break out the Wesley’s Bleche-Wite and a short nylon bristle brush and clean those wide whites ! 0000 steel wool the chrome followed by wadding polish. Address the paint gently and appropriately and drive it !

    Like 0
  19. Avatar Dennis Prichard

    Lucky you had a radio in your Frazer Rick. My dad did not believe in wasting money by paying extra for a frill like a radio. First radio he had in a car was a 1963 Corvair. Come to think of it, he sent me down to make the deal. I was a freshman in college by then. I ordered a beige Monza 4 door with red interior, 4 on the floor and a radio.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Rick McKee

      Dennis I know what you mean that was the first car he ever had a radio in but I sure did enjoy it. Now when you look at what is standard equipment in most cars I wonder what Henry J. Kaiser would have thought.

      Like 0

Leave A Comment

RULES: No profanity, politics, or personal attacks.

Become a member to add images to your comments.

*

Get new comment updates via email. Or subscribe without commenting.