Small, independent automakers trying to find ways within their limited resources to stand out from their bigger competitors have done some pretty innovative things. Kaiser had a short run on the American automotive scene—just a decade, from 1946 to 1955—but in that time produced a pioneering subcompact, a fiberglass sports car before the Corvette, some radically handsome styling work from Howard Darrin, and this, the first-ever hatchback. This first-year example of the Traveler hatchback can be found here on craigslist in the Sierra Nevada mountains not far from Lake Tahoe for just $2,500—a small price for such an historic item!
Okay, so a sort of dumpy-looking brown Kaiser sedan may not be the most visually exciting, but there’s a lot of ingenuity to admire in its conception and design. The Traveler’s origin story is somewhat shrouded in myth, but the bottom line would seem to be that Kaiser (and, until 1951, companion marque Frazer) dealers needed more models to sell, but the company couldn’t afford to radically modify its existing four-door sedan body. In addition, Kaisers were already a bit on the expensive side for what was intended to be a mass-market car, and creating a true station wagon, which in the late ’40s still almost exclusively meant a wooden body, would have meant a Cadillac-sized pricetag. So, instead, an opening was added around a slightly smaller rear window, hinged at the top, with a drop-down tailgate in place of what would normally be the bottom half of the trunklid. A fold-down rear seat was added, creating an eight-foot long load floor.
This ad, which incorrectly refers to the Traveler as a four-door sedan, elides one of the more peculiar side effects of the sedan-to-hatchback redesign. In order to create that wide, level rear deck, the spare tire had to be moved from its normal mount. The solution was to weld the driver-side rear door shut and mount the tire upright alongside the back seat! You can just see in the photo above this one that the rear seatback doesn’t fully span the width of the car. A dummy door handle on the exterior hides this peculiarity.
The Traveler, as its name implies, was aimed in large part at traveling salesmen, and was a fairly utilitarian piece of equipment. There was a fancier version, the Vagabond, but even this lower-spec car has a pretty elegantly appointed dash for 1949. The big exterior sunvisor is a nice addition though, since only the driver gets a fold-down visor inside!
“Ran when parked” seems like some kind of bad running gag most of the time, but I find it especially amusing when that claim is then followed by the information that “when parked” was fifty years ago. I’d guess there will be a bit of work to do to get this Kaiser running again. The other advantage to small automakers is that they couldn’t usually design and built many components in-house, so there are a lot of off-the-shelf parts, and the Kaiser is no different. Its L-head six was a Continental design, mated to a Borg-Warner transmission, and the works are slowed down by Bendix brakes. Most everything seems pretty complete and, despite a few bumps and bruises, mostly straight. Not a bad project for $2,500—and for such an interesting automotive pioneer. Plus, with that big hatch, it can haul its own spare parts when needed!
This is a post-lottery-win car for me. Nice find, Nathan!
An example of engineering ingenuity back in the late 40s. I would love to have this unique Kaiser sitting in the garage for nothing more than just to look at it.
The 1949 version of a salesmans car.
Everything old is new again.
hatchbacks are becoming the thing now with all types of manufacturers.
I bet Kaiser didn’t know they could just leave the spare tire out like new car manufacturers are doing these days.
Sure. But the only “run flat” tires at that time would be solid rubber wheels from an era gone by…
I got heavily into Kaisers a few years back when I bought this ’51. Even shot a documentary on the company and put it up on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n1_Py9xqws
Nicely done documentary.
It has been for sale for a long time.
I know that California does weird things with license plates. But with an actual year on the plate, doesn’t that indicate that it has been off the road for over 60 years?
I have yet to see one in person, but I’ve always loved this hatchback design and have wanted one.
The last oil change and service was 3/16/58.
At 59,000 miles. It has 78,838 now.
The 226 flathead saw a lot of use for many years. Kaisers, Willys, Jeeps, and even Checker Cabs until 1964. It was also known as the “Super Hurricane”.
I wished that I could have it! What a nice car it is! I always seem to forget about the awesome Kaiser, there seems to be very few of them around! I would take it and completely restore it! This car should be preserved not chopped up!
I was born in 1949 so that means I’ll be 70 soon. Never thought I’d see that day. When I was about 8 or 9 years old, a new family moved in up the street with 3 boys and a couple of girls and their weird parents. Weird dad, which is what my mom called him, drove one of these, some kind of blue color. Weird mom didn’t come outside much and the boys were about the same age as my brother and me.
One summer night, one of the boys asked if me and my brother could sleep over with them which turned out to be in the back of dad’s Kaiser with the hatch left up. (there were 2 of the brothers). We all used sleeping bags (my brother and I slept in our backyard regularly). I slept good, lots of stars and about 630AM my brother woke me up and said, where’d they go? No sign of the neighbors or their sleeping bags and it looked like everyone inside was still asleep. So we picked up our bags and walked home, about half block. The 2 brothers never said a word and we were never invited again and the family got even more weird.
Pretty good sign that they were all being abused by their mom and dad! Back then nobody picked up on those signs, but today everyone is too observant!
Wow, that thought never crossed my mind. Of course, back in the 50’s and 60’s, even if that’s what was happening we never knew about it. I should Google them to see if they’re still around, I think they left our neighborgood within a year or so and weren’t in our schools. I
We have a 49 Traveler also,but haven’t been able to sell it,we have been asking $1995.00,and no bites, but it needs a lot more than this one.It is from N. Ca about 3 hrs from Tahoe.After seeing this one..,someone will get a great deal.
These are really neat cars,but not worth a lot when restored.The plus side is they don’t cost a lot to restore,they are very simple,and not too much chrome.Kaiser’s rusted out even in somewhat dry climates,you would think that they would have had the “best” steel around…LoL..
nice to see another one..at a very good deal to boot!
It will sell and don’t understand why that nice one for 1995 doesn’t sell. Both more than fair prices. I sold a 51 Frazer Vagabond 8-10 months ago and still getting calls on it.Join the Kasier/Frazer club or just join the guys online on the KF forum and they will help you place these cars. Pretty easy to get parts genuinely nice people just had their International meet this month up inN. Tenn.Not terribly valuable cars but fun and nice piece of history. The Travelers and Vagabonds are pretty rare and desired by KF collectors. Hope they get a good home would love to have kept mine but age catching me too fast
I think you could open the rear door to get to the spare tire.
Sorry to burst your American bubble but somewhere I have a photo of a 194? Citroen Traction Avante with the same sort of hatchback. If I manage to find it I will post asap.
Nothing wrong with a Citroën, absolutely nothing! I myself love those cars! It’s a definite on my bucket list for sure! Who does it matter what or who built a better car? I don’t get it! If I fall in love with a paticular type of car I could care less who made it or where it came from! Just my thoughts!
Ron, I don’t get it either, and thank you Nathan. These cars are unique and are generally an uncomplicated restoration. The biggest problem will be with trim and bits and pieces. There’s an Owner’s Club. Buy this car, or the other one, and immediately join the Owner’s Club who will be very cooperative and helpful about where parts are, help with problems and so on.
Went to the show in Tennessee a few weeks ago. Never saw so many K-F in one place. Of particular interest to me were the dozen or so Darrins, and swarms of Henry Js. Great, active (though long in the tooth) car club!
“a sort of dumpy-looking brown Kaiser sedan may not be the most visually exciting”
There was never anything visually exciting about any Kaiser (or Frazer). They were ugly cars that shouldn’t make you wonder why the company went under. I’d take a 1949 model car from any other US manufacturer before I’d haul this ugly heap home.
The ’51 and up were VERY pretty cars, designed by “Dutch” Darrin. Even the first generation were the first American cars that didn’t have separate rear fenders. I don’t see anything ugly about them. Have you ever seen a ’61 Valiant?
Not the prettiest car ever built, but it sure would be usable. Just remember, not everyone has a pick up back then.
Interesting footnote: restorers have discovered that the left rear door wasn’t always welded shut; on occasion, it was merely locked.
Locking it would make more sense for getting the spare out.
Kaiser, Frazier, Kelvinator all names gone bye, bye. but somehow connected in history. Continental engines had a very good reputation, not very powerful but very dependable. Henry J was a price leader with along with Sears Allstate. Some relation of mine owned a Kaiser Or Frazier can’t remember for sure, just remember it had seats that laid all the way down to make a bed. Seams like it had lots of interior lighting and even A/C. It was a top of the line model. The weird thing was the windshield with that dip at the center top. It was two tone green and white. I was pretty young back then so my memory could be wrong. Just saying
I was born in 1956 and the first car I remember is a grey Kaiser, I don’t know what year, I think two door, my parents owned it. It seemed so huge and had that old car smell. I wish I could have it to restore…..
So how does one get the spare out? Haul it across the back seat?
The seat is shorter than a normal seat, spare bolts to door You pull around front of the seat and out the right back door or the hatch opens up like a station wagon and the seats flip forward and down flat and you can remove from the inside that way