The car offered here has rarity going for it, and not a whole lot else. It’s a 1951 Frazer Manhattan, and it’s completely derelict east of Wausau, Wisconsin, on Facebook Marketplace. On the upside, the seller is only asking $1,000 or best offer. Admittedly, the seller doesn’t know much about the car. As they put it, “I haven’t messed with it at all”, but the previous custodian “had it running and moving on spray.” Presumably, that means a spritz of fuel or starter fluid into the carburetor. The deal includes a “spare locked-up engine,” new rocker panels (very much needed), and some other miscellaneous parts.
The title is long gone. In the old days, we’d have called this a parts car, but today every old wreck is deemed to be restorable. The problem is this car needs absolutely everything, and even when fixed up it wouldn’t be worth much—mid-50s American four-door sedans, especially if they’re not Chevy Belairs, are at the bottom of the trough at the moment.
The road is visible through the driver’s floorboards, and the aforementioned rockers are totally gone. The tires are flat. Oddly enough, many body panels don’t look too bad, and the front and rear chrome—probably impossible to find—appears salvageable. The glass is there, and I see one hubcap.
This Kaiser-Frazer buggy’s history is a bit complicated. One positive is that Howard “Dutch” Darrin styled it, famous for his work on custom Packards for the stars. And it won a design award. The Fraser debuted in June of 1946 as a new four-door sedan at a time when few new cars with postwar styling were available.
The bodyshell was very similar to that of the slightly cheaper Kaiser. Under the hood for 1951 was the 115-horsepower Continental Red Seal “Supersonic” L-head six with 226 cubic-inch displacement—very similar to the upper-level Chrysler Slant Six.
The Frazer Manhattan Series F47C was the luxury model, introduced in 1947 and costing $500 more than a Frazer F-47. The “Manhattan” name adds a touch of sophistication, no? Frazer had a whopping 1.5 percent of the American car market in 1948.
In ’51, you could get a Frazer as a four-door convertible (ever seen one?), a hardtop sedan, and the Vagabond, which had an early hatchback. This one is apparently a hardtop sedan. 1951 was the last year for the Frazer nameplate; after that it was all Kaisers. The marque went out with a bang. The public liked the ‘51s, and 50,000 orders were placed, but by then Joseph W. Frazer had left the company, and it was too late.
So if you owned this car, you could probably get it running with all new fuel lines and a new gas tank. But you probably wouldn’t want to move it, for fear it would just fall apart. You’d immediately have to begin an expensive rotisserie frame restoration. And then you could work on the disgustingly bad interior, which at least retains its seat frames. A guess is that $40,000 would get this car into respectable shape. But Classic.com has records for only one recent sale of the Frazer Manhattan, and it sold for $33,600. That was a fully restored convertible, worth vastly more than this bread-and-butter sedan. Of course, if you were restoring one of those convertibles, this vehicle would be a treasure trove. So we’re back to a parts car.
It’s a parts car, for sure.
It’s a shame, but this is a parts car at best, but more likely scrap at this point. The seller may need to pay someone to haul it away.
I wish I could save it.
Since there is so much rust repair/fab work, it would be a good candidate for a two door hardtop conversion. I like the roof/back glass area. Gotta hold your breath and cross your eyes to picture the idea.
Fred Flintstone Edition Vented Floor pans!
I used to own and enjoy a Kaiser and was a member of Kaiser-Frazer club. Continental engine is very durable and we knew of many cars in salvage yards that would start and run well thereafter with just a little running and tuning. The Frames on the Frazer hardtop and convertible were identical and made to support the convertible weight and stress… so it is likely strong enough to carry the load or weld some flat iron to the rails. Offer the car for free to a high school automotive class. There are a dozen shop lessons in this car and a chrome shop might be convinced to subsidize the chrome restoration. Brake parts interchange with ford’s of the era including master cylinder. Contact the K-F club. They will likely find a possible taker.
That’s a good idea, but I doubt anyone running these programs has any interest in teaching this “old” technology.. They likely don’t know it themselves.Which is too bad. They haven’t had any kind of shop classes in the schools around here in several years. Sad.
Not to paint all younger car buffs with the same brush, but there’s an entire generation who can’t begin an automotive diagnostic session or complete a repair without connecting a scan tool to tell them where the sources of the problems might lie. They couldn’t use a dwell meter or a timing light if their lives depended on it. They probably couldn’t back a vehicle out of a repair stall by using the rearview mirrors since the dashboard camera came into being.
There’s nothing left. Not even a lot of parts for a parts car.
My great-grandfather owned a ’52 Kaiser Manhattan as his first car, and there are currently four of the same car in various stages of completion rotting on the family farm. I really want to make one good car out of them, if possible. Because of my Great-Grandfather, I like these cars, sort of a nostalgic and sentimental value. I like the Kaiser Manhattans better than the Frazer Manhattans, though.
what good is a locked up motor? it probably has that already. should have sold this decades ago. not much value here and really not being restored anymore. they will either need to drop that price more or just give it away.
The 51 Kaiser was so much prettier a car than this boxy 51 Frasier which was essentially the same design as the late 40s Frasiers. Definitely has usable parts, but you’d have to be an afficionado.
Maybe that dent in the roof inspired the Kaiser’s window’s peak?🙂
My friend owns about 200 kaiserFrazier! All kinds from vagabonds to a dragon! Couple 2 doors( not many made) neat to see the different cars that the two company’s made!
Do they have a Darrin?
I think this would make a great parts car for the right person. The price may need to come down some but there seems to be a lot of good stuff there. A closer inspection would be needed of course but you’d think some of those parts are getting pretty hard to find.
Unfortunately for this old relic, the window of opportunity for a restoration closed years ago. It’s too far gone. Some body parts may be good enough to be used for another project but that’s about it. The seller should be happy to find someone who will haul it away for free. And good luck with even that.
Wausau, Wisconsin is about 1,450 miles away from the Edmonton area of Alberta, Canada. Too far even for Scott Newstead of “coldwarmotors” fame. He must be the most prominent Frazer owner in North America. I’m sure he’d love to have that Frazer, eh?
If Frankers would enjoy riding in it, then that proves they’ve found a winner.
Cold War Motors? Been watching his videos since 2011.
And you gotta admit, he’s got one
hell of a collection! If he ever got
his hands on this car, you can almost bet he’d restore it. Am I missing something here? A lot of
folks here see a parts car but I see the potential for a kick ass
restomod. If the frame is toast,
then how about putting what’s left of the body on a a Fatman
frame with a 3800 GM V-6 hooked to a 700R4 tranny. In stock form, a 3800 engine can,
depending on tune, make up to
205 HP in stock tune. And that’s
more than enough to motivate this car down the road and give you respectable fuel economy to
boot. If I had the money and a place to work, that’s what I’d do with it. I’d have to get it almost free as the shipping costs for a
non running car will herniate your
wallet. Oh sure, you’re gonna be
under water on this one so just treat it as a labor of love because
that’s what it will be. I know my
neice and SIL would have my head examined for taking on a project like this, but I’d still do it
just because it’s there to do. A real car guy or gal would and could have a blast with something like this. Just wish I
was the one doing it!
This is a luxurious and extremly rare car. It is not a conventional 4door sedan. It is a hardtop styled sedan with glass posts. No one in the car industrie offered a car like this but Frazer. There might have been 50,000 orders, but actual model year production peaked at only 10214 units. Only 150 of them were Manhattan hardtop sedans! This car is equipped with Hydramatic automatic transmission and power windows! Power windows were an optional equipment. So how many of the 150 produced hardtop sedans would have power windows?
This car is rare, rare, rare!
There is no other possibility than saving and preserving it! Unfortunately i am living in Germany. Otherwise i would have done it.
Sold for $1,000 Dollars. Someone showed mercy.