Kaiser called this beautiful color Indian Ceramic, but I would have guessed it would have a tropical name related to coral or Florida or something like that. The Kaiser Virginian is a really interesting car, and this one is posted here on craigslist in the Grass Valley, California area, and they’re asking $12,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to T.J. for the tip!
1949 produced the Buick Riviera, which some sources say was the first American-made hardtop car. Others say the 1949 Kaiser Virginian was the first. I tend to go with the Buick, since the little windows between the doors on the Virginian, as seen in the photo above, don’t roll down. So even though it appears to be a hardtop, with those little windows there, it really isn’t.
Our own Jim O’Donnell showed us a nice black version of this car a couple of years ago here on Barn Finds, and we’ve seen three “Virginians” so far here. Two were Kaiser Virginians, and one was – are you sitting down? – a Ford Granada Virginian! Kaiser made the sleek Virginian for only 1949 and 1950, so they’re pretty rare to see today. This example looks great overall, but the seller mentions some rust and shows a photo of it, so there is some work to do.
The seats are leather, and the front seat needs major surgery, or replacement is more like it. Maybe a good upholstery shop can piece it together with matching leather to save most of it. The back seat looks great, as does the trunk, or what we can see of it. The dash is like jewelry, and the third pedal is for a Borg Warner T-86E three-speed manual with overdrive, making this car a nice highway cruiser.
The engine is a Continental 226-cu.in. L-head inline-six with 112 horsepower and 190 lb-ft of torque when new. The seller says it runs, stops, and drives great and has a NOS carburetor, a new gas tank, and a new master cylinder. If the rust can be stopped in its tracks and the paint matched there, this would absolutely be a show-stopper at any car show. Have any of you heard of the Kaiser Virginian?
3 speed w overdrive… more details on the transmission anybody ?
Thanks ✍️ SG
Standard first, second, and third running gears with a driver controlled 4th gear ratio for highway cruising. Some are mechanical and some are electric to shift into 4th gear. 4,5 and 6 speed transmissions took over the overdrive role in the late fifties and early ’60s, ’70s. Our Mini Cooper has a 6 speed manual and our hot rod van uses a 9 speed automatic to get up to the “warp 9” speeds. Both are surprisingly fast with all those gears to play with.
👍 thanks bobhess
This is a very interesting design. I think the jurys out as far as I’m concerned with that little quarter window in between the doors. It looks kind of like a hartop, yet kind of not at the same time. Actually, I agree with Scotty, its really not a hardtop. But an interesting design just the same.
I love the color too. I wonder what would’ve happened if Kaiser had a V8 in the very early 50’s, if it would have helped them. Unfortunately we’ll never know.
I think Frazer also had a model like this. They also had a 4 door convertible with that little window. These were nice looking cars, but were trying to compete with Buick and Olds. That 6 cyl flattie just wasn’t a hot ticket. In later years K-F cars were offered with the G.M. Hydramatic and a super charger, but was too little too late. Frazer wanted to make a luxury car and compete with Cadillac, while Kaiser wanted to be in Ford territory. Kind of hard to do while using the same basic car.
Interesting car but where would you find parts for this? The listing mentions NOS carburetor where did they find that? Ultimately this is just a curiosity, a foot note in car history.
Most parts are easy to come by. The Kaiser-Frazer Owner Club International as a great source for NOS and repro parts.
The best thing is to join a club for whatever make your working on. A great place information and parts supply
Both Kaiser and Fraser did indeed have a version of this car. The hardtop configuration is strange. However, I love the color of this one. Although Kaiser-Frazer spent a lot of money on design, they needed a V-8 engine. They went to the horsepower race and had nothing. They were doomed!
Money for V-8 development went to bring the Henry J compact to market.
K-Fs were essentially “kit cars” with most components farmed out to suppliers. This is most evident in the use of the Conti mill and B-W gearbox/OD. The carb, thusly, is probably the same as used on “majors'” engines requiring similar CFMs for inhaling.
I was a bike-riding kid at the time of these cars’ appearances and recall, even at that early age, that they seemed to be assemblages of bits and pieces from here and there. But I remember being most impresses with the Dutch Darrin design, not on the “161” sports model, but the sedans. Still on my “best ever” list along with the likes of Albrecht von Goertz’ strikingly beautiful BMW 507. Both have a timeless beauty that is still smile-worthy even today.
Dutch’s Kaiser sport never impressed me… seems to be sucking on a lemon!
I prefer the Kaiser Vagabond with the hatchback. Great find, not many remain.
Mr. Kaiser and Mr. Frazer Poured millions of dollars into fight to compete in the post WW2 auto marketplce. They did well and these four door hardtops and four door convertibles were no exception. These were custom hand assemble “off assembly line” in their own plants. The “little glass windows” between the front and back doors were made to be easily removed to complete the “hardtop” or “convertible” option. Cadillac also offered a two door Coupe de Ville hardtop in early 1949. Chrysler produced very limited numbers of Newport two door hardtops in 1947-48. With that, I think K-F was first with the four door hardtops and convertibles.
The little window was common on the 4 door convertibles of the 1930’s, most, like this, lifted out when you wanted the top down, or here, the open air. Realize that A/C was not a thing, let alone in cars that parallel Fords of the day, today being Toyota Corollas or Nissan Sentras, and highway speeds were about 45 mph in the East and maybe 55 in the West so the wind blowing on you was tolerable.