I honestly have never heard of this brand of car until now. What a classy looking automobile! Cars from that era sure did have more character than cars from our current time ✌️
This is the kind of videos that we really get excited about, All these pre 1980s automobiles because the RUclips is full of newer cars and very little content on such cars, And that's why I love your channel ❤.
While 1951 may have been the last year of the Frazer brand, the Kaiser continued to be manufactured in Willow Run Michigan until 1953, and in Toledo Ohio until 1955. After that, tooling was moved to South America where Kaisers were built in Argentina and Brazil until the early '60's. Kaiser continued to build Jeeps in Toledo until they sold the brand to AMC in 1970.
The Frazer was what Graham-Paige would have been called after the war. The 226 engine began life before the war as a Graham design, produced by Conitnental (Joe Frazer sat on the board of both companies), and was widely used as an industrial engine as well as in the Willys wagons and trucks. 1954 was the last US production year for Kaiser and Willys cars (Kaiser Industries bought Willys in 53), although Willys Jeep production continued. Kaiser Industries sold the Jeep division in 1970 and exited automotive production altogether.
Now THAT’S a rare car! And I love that front end, especially how that big chrome schnozz stands out when the hood is opened. And, with all due respect, it’s “Frazer,” which rhymes with “laser.” Not “Frazier.” P.S.: I’m old. P.P.S.: Thank you for these great videos!
Neat car; definitely more of a 40s car, as it came out in '46. Henry Kaiser was a famous industrialist, whose companies also took part in building the Hoover Dam and Liberty ships during WWII, and he founded the Kaiser Permanente healthcare company, which is still around today.
There's something reminiscent of the looks of the first generation of the Soviet Volga in the style of that Frazer. I love seeing obscure cars, and this is a really attractive vehicle - what a rare thing.
K-Fs worst mistake was investing resources in the ill-fated "Henry J" small car in 1950 for the 1951 model year, which was a market failure (albeit a very cute car), using up resources which should have gone into updating the main K-F line, including a V-8 engine. That being said, the new for 1951 Kaiser was one of the most beautiful cars of that era- designed by renowned car designer Howard "Dutch" Darrin...
Early in my career, I worked on a project with an engineer who had worked on development of the 288 cubic inch Kaiser V8 until Henry J pulled the plug.
This is so cool. Only read about them. Kaiser went on to buy Willys Overland and then phased out Kaiser Automotive in the 60's. Rebranding as the Jeep Corporation. Kaiser still exists todau as Kaiser Permanente. Healthcare I think. Awesome video. This Frazee came in blue. I want one. 😊
As someone from Southern California, Kaiser Permanente is very big here. But it was indeed started by Henry Kaiser who also made steel before venturing into medical
When i was a kid in the 1970s, there was a frasier at a garage on the side of rte 10 and 202 in either Easthampton or Northampton Massachusetts, i remember i was just getting into cars and asked the garage owner what it was. It was there until about 1980. They had a continental flathead six, but had a bad rep for blowing headgaskets.... Especially the later kaisers that were supercharged
You might want to recheck the operation of the overdrive. Every one I've ever driven locks overdrive (and freewheeling) out when you pull the handle. When the lever is in, the transmission freewheels when you let off the gas until you're going fast enough (usually between 26 and 30 mph) for overdrive to engage. Floor the throttle for passing gear kick-down.
Nicely styled for '51, more modern looking than some GM and Chrysler cars of that year, I was always fascinated by Kaisers and Frazer's, too bad they didn't have a V8 in order to be competitive, I read that they almost reached an engine agreement with Olds around '53
I think Kaiser was supposed to get the Olds 303 V8 from the Rocket 88 after Olds went to a larger motor. I believe there was a fire or something that destroyed the old engine plant so the deal fell though.
@@jamesbosworth4191 In a way yes. Kaiser took the resources he should've spent on developing a V8 and put in into releasing the small Henry J car...which didn't sell as well as he hoped it would. That was why 1951 was last year for Frazer...Joseph Frazer did not like the business decisions Kaiser was making and decided to bow out. As it turns out, Frazer was right. Kaiser lasted until 1955 in the states. He was very much in debt and Argentina came to the rescue...they paid off all the debts and moved the manufacturing down to Argentina where the 1954 styled Kaiser continued on as the Carabella until 1962.
@@cjpappas7726 I meant the fire killing the deal for the Olds engine. They made a few 55 Kaisers. The only thing different was the hood ornament - the center fin was taller and there were two mini fins on each side of it.
@@jamesbosworth4191 Yeah once the GM plant that was making the old 303 engine got destroyed that was the end of the deal. Ya kind of wonder now if that was some of the conspiracy theory of GM trying to kill the Kaisers? Was the fire intentional? Did GM suspect if the Kaiser got the V8 they would become stiffer competition? Hmmm. Stuff to think about.
Kaiser would eventually become part of AMC Motors via Jeep. Not sure if you’re familiar with the Kaiser Darren Roadster but it’s a very interesting and rare car
Dutch Darrin designed cars for Packard before The War, and built the prototypes for the Kaiser Darrin in his own shop with his own money. Henry J disliked the Darrin and went ballistic at the thought that this car had been built behind his back. Darrin replied that no Kaiser money or resources had gone into its development. Kaiser's wife, on the other hand, absolutely loved it, and had enough pull with her husband to get 435 examples built.
@@winstonelston5743 Forgotten today are the 53 prototypes. They had a split windshield with the Sweetheart dip, thin strip on the rockers, a different dash, sat a little lower, and supposedly used a tri-power Willys flathead 6, rather than the F head version the 54s had. I once saw one of those 53s parked right outside of the east end of Golden Gate Park. It was red and had that split windshield. Supposedly, 3 or 4 53s have been found, but I never saw another 53, only 54s. Maybe most of the 53s were converted to 54 specs?
Kaiser’s last year building cars in US was 1955, they owned Willys Overland by then, and dropped the Willys name and continued building Jeeps until the sold it to AMC in 1971.
I think one of the reasons Kaiser-Frazer didn't facelift or introduce a new model for 1949 or 1950 was they had new clean-sheet designs in 1946 when the Big Three mostly waited until 1949 to introduce any substantial post-war designs ('46 to '48 cars were mostly warmed over 1942 models) and in 1946, their cars looked much more modern. They probably though it was enough (not to mention the cost of tooling).
i only heard 1 sqeak bearly audable at the end of the video awesome car wow . love the old west gauge cluster font. and over drive! don't understand why overdrive went away in the 60-70s when the technology was there.
Coldwarmotors daily driver is a Kaiser and is saving a 1951 Frazier... cool looking cars and beat everyone to the punch, but, oh well,. watch...and the Metropolitan was actually British...my Dad had one. I can't print what he said about it....yeah, replaced it with a Corvair...
Other way around. Not that it matters, 1951 was the only year there was any difference in the bodies, as the '51 Frazier was using leftover body shells, while the Kaiser got new bodies.
Frazer went belly up because Joseph Frazer left the company due to disagreements that he had with Henry Kaiser's business decisions. You know Kaiser sold a compact car from 1951 through 1954. Look up the Henry J. It was also sold through Sears as an Allstate. Maybe do a video on those two cars.
Frazer (pronounced just as it is spelled) DID retool a substantial amount on the car including an entire new front end and totally new rear end for 1951! It is true that the Kaiser body was used from bodies-in-white left over at the factory but that was the central core of the car only.
I never noticed before the wings flanking the headlight trim, almost like the '53 Kaiser. Frazer, not Frazier. 6:04 You couldn't find a public domain picture of the Metropolitan (British built, by the way) so you substituted an US built Crosley? 7:36 Of course you see more forties than fifties. The basic body shell dates to 1946 (model year '47). Kaiser had a bunch of unsold '49 and '50 Kaisers and Frazers left over when Henry J. Kaiser and Joseph Washington Frazer parted ways (less than amicable), and Kaiser had spent a bunch of development money on an all-new body for the'51 Kaisers. The Kaiser was thoroughly up-to-date, but they had all those old bodies left over. Henry J's solution was to mount the Kaiser bodies on the long-wheelbase Frazer chassis (that's all a Frazer really was, anyhow) and add the new Frazer front clip and rear quarters to the old bodies (see something of the Henry J/Allstate influence in the grille?), new serial numbers and when the last one was sold, lights out for Frazer. The earliest Frazers were badged as _Graham-Paige Frazer_ partly because Joe Frazer (no relation to the boxer) had hoped to keep Graham-Paige as an independent make. 1948-'49 was the end of the sellers' market in the US auto industry (you could sell anything with wheels driven by an engine in those days) and when sales began to slow, Frazer advised Kaiser to suspend production of the '49s until the all-new cars could be ready. Henry J Kaiser famously replied, "Kaisers never retrench!" and carried on with convertible sedan, hardtop sedans, and hatchbacks badged as _Vagabond_ and _Traveler_ and the subcompact _Henry J_ (badged as a separate brand) and retrimmed Henry Js sold by Sears, Roebuck, and Company as Allstate brand cars. Kaiser had done some work with engine supplier Continental toward developing a modern overhead-valve V8, to have been introduced at 288 cubic inch displacement. His staff had also recommended developing true station wagons instead of the split-gate Travelers and the almost unsellable Henry J. Kaiser engineers added a variable-ratio centrifugal McCulloch supercharger to the 226 engine for 1954, but even Studebaker had a V8 by 1951. And if GM was trying to scuttle the independents , why did they sell the Hydramatic transmissions to most of them including Kaiser-Frazer (Studebaker and Packard had their own in-house Automatic Drive and Ultramatic gearboxes), and, for that matter, why did GM sell Hydramatics to Ford for use in Lincolns (Ford and Mercury used three-speed automatics built by Borg-Warner)?
My folks had a 1950 Kaiser Traveler when I was a little kid. A little more econo than the Frazer depicted here, but otherwise very much like it. K-F were creatively designed and well-executed, but very much underpowered. Ours had extreme difficulty going up Donner Pass and we all had to get out and walk a half-mile up a steep grade.... I'm convinced that if Kaiser-Frazer had sourced a V-8, say for example equivalent to the Oldsmobile Rocket they'd have had a real winner, especially with the styling upgrade starting in 1952 and been profitable far longer. A surviving Kaiser with or without Frazer might well have played a part in the Packard-Nash-Hudson-Studebaker kludge merger just a little later on.
It was underpowered, but your's couldn't get up the hill? Must have had something wrong. I agree though that it should have had 8 cylinders for what they cost.
@@jamesbosworth4191 It was pretty steep. Dad took a long run at it and got over the top. He WASN'T pleased and a few months later traded it off on a '51 Buick Super.
@@davehopping7212 I remember I had to put my Buick with DynaFlow in Lo on the hill I think you are talking about. DynaFlow operated entirely in High Gear when in Drive, as you probably know.
I heard that first brake squeak at 1:02, and was like, "Who the heck is stopping in front of my house?" Not sure what editing software you're using, but you should be able to do a pitch filter that takes out just the high frequency stuff like the brake squealing while leaving the rest of the audio intact. Depending on your video editing software, this may be something you have to do in a stand-alone audio editor (I believe Audacity has this filter, and it's free software).
Big 3 did squeeze out independent, smaller car makers. It's not really a conspiracy theory because government helped them. The very same thing happened in aviation,rail and food production industries and this was general trend in all western countries like UK, France, Germany and so on. Somehow only Italian smaller car makers survived.
@@jamesbosworth4191 1. The trans, 3 on the tree, had a very unreliable linkage that jammed many times. 2. Leaks from all points around the glass. 3. The engine was a very poor design that was not intended for use in a car, but for stationary uses, like running a conveyor belt. 4. A very high numerical axle ratio, over 4.00 : 1, leading to excessively high RPMs on a highway.
@@Marc816 Never owned or worked on one, but here is what I know; KF used the same trans as the Chevy, and that unit easily jammed into 2 gears at once. That was a problem even on my 81 Chevy truck. You had to shift slowly and carefully like an old lady. I eventually swapped in a Tremac transmission, the same one used in back of 427s and 454s. End of problem. If memory is correct, I had to have my driveshaft shortened. Can't vouch for the leaks, as I never had one. The engine was indeed intended as a car engine, as it was a slightly bored version of the late 30s/early 40s Graham engine. Industrial uses were not it's original purpose. GM cars and Studebakers also used short rear end gearing, on some models as late as the late 60s! I do think though, that they made a big mistake taking 5 inches out of the wheelbase for the 51 Kaiser. Pontiac added length and bulk for 53, and that made the Kaiser look kind of puny by comparison. Maybe your's wasn't as bad as you thought?
@@Marc816 I have heard some people describe them as perfectly OK, if slow, and some describe them just as you do, so I guess their biggest problem was inconsistent quality - some good, some OK, some horrible.
@@markhealey9409 Lucite is clear, Tenite is kind of an off-white color, which allowed it to be made in almost any color you want. Even phones were made of Tenite.
Technically, it never went out of business. It merged with Willys and later became Kaiser Jeep, which merged into American Motors, which was bought by Chrysler, which today is part of Stellantis.
Frazier left the company because he disagreed with the Henry J. The Henry J was a mistake because it didn't leave enough money to develop a V8 and because it was barely less $ than the base model, full size Chevy. But the Ford v. Chevy price war hurt all the independents and was out of anyone's control.
@@jamesbosworth4191 Instead of a station wagon, Henry J Kaiser had his designers basically chop the rear end of the car from just above the rear window down to the bumper and substituted a two-part tailgate for the trunk lid, hinged to fold down just above the bumper and the upper liftgate hinged at the roof. The spare tire was mounted inside what would have been the driver's side rear door, said door was bolted shut. The rear seat could be folded like a station wagon's for maximum cargo capacity. These Vagabond and Traveler models were available both on the carry-over Frazer body as well as the all-new Kaiser body in 1951.
What ended up killing the Frazer more than anything else was its price - and flathead 6 with a 3 speed/OD only. A base 51 Frazer sedan cost slightly more than an Olds 98 - with the rocket V8 and you could get Hydramatic for $150 (which everyone in this price class did). The Manhattan - not that many were made - was in Cad Series 61 territory, even worse. Not to mention that Frazer the man had had it Kaiser and he basically left. Costs were way too high, and even though Kaiser did get a very attractive restyle for 51, nothing could save the company - especially after they dumped most of the available development money into the Henry J.
I honestly have never heard of this brand of car until now. What a classy looking automobile! Cars from that era sure did have more character than cars from our current time ✌️
Being a kid from the 40's, yep I remember the Frazer. Rode in a few, but never had one.
That's pretty much what everyone said back then to. That's why cars went from boxy to curvy for decade's
This is the kind of videos that we really get excited about, All these pre 1980s automobiles because the RUclips is full of newer cars and very little content on such cars, And that's why I love your channel ❤.
While 1951 may have been the last year of the Frazer brand, the Kaiser continued to be manufactured in Willow Run Michigan until 1953, and in Toledo Ohio until 1955. After that, tooling was moved to South America where Kaisers were built in Argentina and Brazil until the early '60's. Kaiser continued to build Jeeps in Toledo until they sold the brand to AMC in 1970.
The Frazer was what Graham-Paige would have been called after the war. The 226 engine began life before the war as a Graham design, produced by Conitnental (Joe Frazer sat on the board of both companies), and was widely used as an industrial engine as well as in the Willys wagons and trucks. 1954 was the last US production year for Kaiser and Willys cars (Kaiser Industries bought Willys in 53), although Willys Jeep production continued. Kaiser Industries sold the Jeep division in 1970 and exited automotive production altogether.
The 226 was also used in Willy's cars in 54 and 55, and on the Checker as well.
My grandfather gave my brother his Kaiser Manhattan! We called it The Bomb!
Now THAT’S a rare car! And I love that front end, especially how that big chrome schnozz stands out when the hood is opened. And, with all due respect, it’s “Frazer,” which rhymes with “laser.” Not “Frazier.”
P.S.: I’m old.
P.P.S.: Thank you for these great videos!
I love these old underrated cars
Neat car; definitely more of a 40s car, as it came out in '46. Henry Kaiser was a famous industrialist, whose companies also took part in building the Hoover Dam and Liberty ships during WWII, and he founded the Kaiser Permanente healthcare company, which is still around today.
There's something reminiscent of the looks of the first generation of the Soviet Volga in the style of that Frazer. I love seeing obscure cars, and this is a really attractive vehicle - what a rare thing.
K-Fs worst mistake was investing resources in the ill-fated "Henry J" small car in 1950 for the 1951 model year, which was a market failure (albeit a very cute car), using up resources which should have gone into updating the main K-F line, including a V-8 engine. That being said, the new for 1951 Kaiser was one of the most beautiful cars of that era- designed by renowned car designer Howard "Dutch" Darrin...
Early in my career, I worked on a project with an engineer who had worked on development of the 288 cubic inch Kaiser V8 until Henry J pulled the plug.
51 was final year for Frazer
Kaiser made it to 54 or 55.
That's a nice car. No one remembers Kaiser which is a shame because they had some stylish cars. The Henry J was one of the first economy cars.
This is so cool. Only read about them. Kaiser went on to buy Willys Overland and then phased out Kaiser Automotive in the 60's. Rebranding as the Jeep Corporation. Kaiser still exists todau as Kaiser Permanente. Healthcare I think. Awesome video. This Frazee came in blue. I want one. 😊
Henry Kaiser introduced employer health insurance to America.
@@seed_drill7135
Cool. That i didn't know. Nice. Thanks
As someone from Southern California, Kaiser Permanente is very big here. But it was indeed started by Henry Kaiser who also made steel before venturing into medical
When i was a kid in the 1970s, there was a frasier at a garage on the side of rte 10 and 202 in either Easthampton or Northampton Massachusetts, i remember i was just getting into cars and asked the garage owner what it was. It was there until about 1980. They had a continental flathead six, but had a bad rep for blowing headgaskets.... Especially the later kaisers that were supercharged
With all those head bolts?
You might want to recheck the operation of the overdrive. Every one I've ever driven locks overdrive (and freewheeling) out when you pull the handle. When the lever is in, the transmission freewheels when you let off the gas until you're going fast enough (usually between 26 and 30 mph) for overdrive to engage. Floor the throttle for passing gear kick-down.
That is how they are supposed to operate. Most people under a certain age have no idea.
A car that I (as a Swede) have never seen before, great review, thanks for sharing your content like this
I’m American, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one, either. They’re very rare.
Ever hear of Liberty Ships? That's Mr Kaiser...
Nicely styled for '51, more modern looking than some GM and Chrysler cars of that year, I was always fascinated by Kaisers and Frazer's, too bad they didn't have a V8 in order to be competitive, I read that they almost reached an engine agreement with Olds around '53
I think Kaiser was supposed to get the Olds 303 V8 from the Rocket 88 after Olds went to a larger motor. I believe there was a fire or something that destroyed the old engine plant so the deal fell though.
@@cjpappas7726 Is that what killed it?
@@jamesbosworth4191 In a way yes. Kaiser took the resources he should've spent on developing a V8 and put in into releasing the small Henry J car...which didn't sell as well as he hoped it would. That was why 1951 was last year for Frazer...Joseph Frazer did not like the business decisions Kaiser was making and decided to bow out. As it turns out, Frazer was right. Kaiser lasted until 1955 in the states. He was very much in debt and Argentina came to the rescue...they paid off all the debts and moved the manufacturing down to Argentina where the 1954 styled Kaiser continued on as the Carabella until 1962.
@@cjpappas7726 I meant the fire killing the deal for the Olds engine. They made a few 55 Kaisers. The only thing different was the hood ornament - the center fin was taller and there were two mini fins on each side of it.
@@jamesbosworth4191 Yeah once the GM plant that was making the old 303 engine got destroyed that was the end of the deal. Ya kind of wonder now if that was some of the conspiracy theory of GM trying to kill the Kaisers? Was the fire intentional? Did GM suspect if the Kaiser got the V8 they would become stiffer competition? Hmmm. Stuff to think about.
Kaiser would eventually become part of AMC Motors via Jeep. Not sure if you’re familiar with the Kaiser Darren Roadster but it’s a very interesting and rare car
Dutch Darrin designed cars for Packard before The War, and built the prototypes for the Kaiser Darrin in his own shop with his own money.
Henry J disliked the Darrin and went ballistic at the thought that this car had been built behind his back. Darrin replied that no Kaiser money or resources had gone into its development. Kaiser's wife, on the other hand, absolutely loved it, and had enough pull with her husband to get 435 examples built.
@@winstonelston5743 Forgotten today are the 53 prototypes. They had a split windshield with the Sweetheart dip, thin strip on the rockers, a different dash, sat a little lower, and supposedly used a tri-power Willys flathead 6, rather than the F head version the 54s had. I once saw one of those 53s parked right outside of the east end of Golden Gate Park. It was red and had that split windshield. Supposedly, 3 or 4 53s have been found, but I never saw another 53, only 54s. Maybe most of the 53s were converted to 54 specs?
@@jamesbosworth4191 I saw one with column shift instead of floor shift.
Kaiser’s last year building cars in US was 1955, they owned Willys Overland by then, and dropped the Willys name and continued building Jeeps until the sold it to AMC in 1971.
The square doors remind me of Chequer Cabs!
That handle for the trunk had NO business to be that phallic
Wow. Totally beautiful... What a treat...
Kaiser made cars until some time in 55, Frazer cars were done in 51
😍😍 beautiful! I've never even heard of Fraser! 😮😮
My grandmother loved her Frazier. She said the only difficulty was you had to take off the front fenders to change the spark plugs. Lol.
My dad had a ‘49. It was one og his favorite cars ever.
Always thoughtful for the manufacturer to mount a cig lighter and ashtray in the rear for the kiddies!
I remember when most manual steering was six turns lock-to-lock. I don't miss that!
You wouldn't like my 73 GMC!
I think one of the reasons Kaiser-Frazer didn't facelift or introduce a new model for 1949 or 1950 was they had new clean-sheet designs in 1946 when the Big Three mostly waited until 1949 to introduce any substantial post-war designs ('46 to '48 cars were mostly warmed over 1942 models) and in 1946, their cars looked much more modern. They probably though it was enough (not to mention the cost of tooling).
They had planned the 51 for 1950, but they had so many unsold 49s that they had to make those the 1950 cars and delay the new car until 1951.
i only heard 1 sqeak bearly audable at the end of the video
awesome car wow . love the old west gauge cluster font. and over drive! don't understand why overdrive went away in the 60-70s when the technology was there.
Because they everybody wanted an automatic. Automatics allow taller gearing, which negates the need for OD.
KF lasted into 53, then became Kaiser Willy's and lasted through 55.
I remember back in the 1950's my Aunt had one of these. You could drive it through a brick wall and it would not dent .
That's a well loved car!
This thing is mint!
Coldwarmotors daily driver is a Kaiser and is saving a 1951 Frazier... cool looking cars and beat everyone to the punch, but, oh well,. watch...and the Metropolitan was actually British...my Dad had one. I can't print what he said about it....yeah, replaced it with a Corvair...
Other way around. Not that it matters, 1951 was the only year there was any difference in the bodies, as the '51 Frazier was using leftover body shells, while the Kaiser got new bodies.
Frazer went belly up because Joseph Frazer left the company due to disagreements that he had with Henry Kaiser's business decisions. You know Kaiser sold a compact car from 1951 through 1954. Look up the Henry J. It was also sold through Sears as an Allstate. Maybe do a video on those two cars.
Who are you working with Hubcaps Lesh?
Frazer (pronounced just as it is spelled) DID retool a substantial amount on the car including an entire new front end and totally new rear end for 1951! It is true that the Kaiser body was used from bodies-in-white left over at the factory but that was the central core of the car only.
I never noticed before the wings flanking the headlight trim, almost like the '53 Kaiser.
Frazer, not Frazier.
6:04 You couldn't find a public domain picture of the Metropolitan (British built, by the way) so you substituted an US built Crosley?
7:36 Of course you see more forties than fifties. The basic body shell dates to 1946 (model year '47). Kaiser had a bunch of unsold '49 and '50 Kaisers and Frazers left over when Henry J. Kaiser and Joseph Washington Frazer parted ways (less than amicable), and Kaiser had spent a bunch of development money on an all-new body for the'51 Kaisers. The Kaiser was thoroughly up-to-date, but they had all those old bodies left over. Henry J's solution was to mount the Kaiser bodies on the long-wheelbase Frazer chassis (that's all a Frazer really was, anyhow) and add the new Frazer front clip and rear quarters to the old bodies (see something of the Henry J/Allstate influence in the grille?), new serial numbers and when the last one was sold, lights out for Frazer.
The earliest Frazers were badged as _Graham-Paige Frazer_ partly because Joe Frazer (no relation to the boxer) had hoped to keep Graham-Paige as an independent make.
1948-'49 was the end of the sellers' market in the US auto industry (you could sell anything with wheels driven by an engine in those days) and when sales began to slow, Frazer advised Kaiser to suspend production of the '49s until the all-new cars could be ready.
Henry J Kaiser famously replied, "Kaisers never retrench!" and carried on with convertible sedan, hardtop sedans, and hatchbacks badged as _Vagabond_ and _Traveler_ and the subcompact _Henry J_ (badged as a separate brand) and retrimmed Henry Js sold by Sears, Roebuck, and Company as Allstate brand cars.
Kaiser had done some work with engine supplier Continental toward developing a modern overhead-valve V8, to have been introduced at 288 cubic inch displacement. His staff had also recommended developing true station wagons instead of the split-gate Travelers and the almost unsellable Henry J.
Kaiser engineers added a variable-ratio centrifugal McCulloch supercharger to the 226 engine for 1954, but even Studebaker had a V8 by 1951.
And if GM was trying to scuttle the independents , why did they sell the Hydramatic transmissions to most of them including Kaiser-Frazer (Studebaker and Packard had their own in-house Automatic Drive and Ultramatic gearboxes), and, for that matter, why did GM sell Hydramatics to Ford for use in Lincolns (Ford and Mercury used three-speed automatics built by Borg-Warner)?
My folks had a 1950 Kaiser Traveler when I was a little kid. A little more econo than the Frazer depicted here, but otherwise very much like it. K-F were creatively designed and well-executed, but very much underpowered. Ours had extreme difficulty going up Donner Pass and we all had to get out and walk a half-mile up a steep grade.... I'm convinced that if Kaiser-Frazer had sourced a V-8, say for example equivalent to the Oldsmobile Rocket they'd have had a real winner, especially with the styling upgrade starting in 1952 and been profitable far longer. A surviving Kaiser with or without Frazer might well have played a part in the Packard-Nash-Hudson-Studebaker kludge merger just a little later on.
It was underpowered, but your's couldn't get up the hill? Must have had something wrong. I agree though that it should have had 8 cylinders for what they cost.
@@jamesbosworth4191 It was pretty steep. Dad took a long run at it and got over the top. He WASN'T pleased and a few months later traded it off on a '51 Buick Super.
@@davehopping7212 I remember I had to put my Buick with DynaFlow in Lo on the hill I think you are talking about. DynaFlow operated entirely in High Gear when in Drive, as you probably know.
The engine is a 226 cubic inch. We didn't size engines by litters
Cats?
@@keith3970 Ha Ha! That's the only time I use litters, when I am talking about cats. Otherwise, it is CUBIC INCHES.
I think about you every day 😊
I heard that first brake squeak at 1:02, and was like, "Who the heck is stopping in front of my house?"
Not sure what editing software you're using, but you should be able to do a pitch filter that takes out just the high frequency stuff like the brake squealing while leaving the rest of the audio intact. Depending on your video editing software, this may be something you have to do in a stand-alone audio editor (I believe Audacity has this filter, and it's free software).
Gorgeous car!
Mr.Frazer was right about Henry Kaiser overproducing and he got off the ship before it hit the iceburg.
Big 3 did squeeze out independent, smaller car makers. It's not really a conspiracy theory because government helped them. The very same thing happened in aviation,rail and food production industries and this was general trend in all western countries like UK, France, Germany and so on. Somehow only Italian smaller car makers survived.
I have first hand experience with KF products. I have driven them They can be described in one word: JUNKBOX!!!!!!
What was wrong with them?
@@jamesbosworth4191 1. The trans, 3 on the tree, had a very unreliable linkage that jammed many times. 2. Leaks from all points around the glass. 3. The engine was a very poor design that was not intended for use in a car, but for stationary uses, like running a conveyor belt. 4. A very high numerical axle ratio, over 4.00 : 1, leading to excessively high RPMs on a highway.
@@Marc816 Never owned or worked on one, but here is what I know; KF used the same trans as the Chevy, and that unit easily jammed into 2 gears at once. That was a problem even on my 81 Chevy truck. You had to shift slowly and carefully like an old lady. I eventually swapped in a Tremac transmission, the same one used in back of 427s and 454s. End of problem. If memory is correct, I had to have my driveshaft shortened. Can't vouch for the leaks, as I never had one. The engine was indeed intended as a car engine, as it was a slightly bored version of the late 30s/early 40s Graham engine. Industrial uses were not it's original purpose. GM cars and Studebakers also used short rear end gearing, on some models as late as the late 60s! I do think though, that they made a big mistake taking 5 inches out of the wheelbase for the 51 Kaiser. Pontiac added length and bulk for 53, and that made the Kaiser look kind of puny by comparison. Maybe your's wasn't as bad as you thought?
@@jamesbosworth4191 It was worse!!!
@@Marc816 I have heard some people describe them as perfectly OK, if slow, and some describe them just as you do, so I guess their biggest problem was inconsistent quality - some good, some OK, some horrible.
I have that exact same car.
Couldnt hear it with my ears but my elbow said it was loud
It is not "Frazier" (as in the TV series) as you speak it; it is FRA-ZER!
The 'plastic' knobs will almost certainly be made of bakelight.
Not if they are light-colored. They are probably Tenite. Bakelite, Tenite, and Lucite are pioneering plastics.
@@jamesbosworth4191 oh,I have not heard of Tenite &Lucite. I know most Bakelite is brown or black,so that makes sense.
@@markhealey9409 Lucite is clear, Tenite is kind of an off-white color, which allowed it to be made in almost any color you want. Even phones were made of Tenite.
@@jamesbosworth4191 interesting!
So neat
muito da hora 😁👍👍👍🎤🎤🇺🇸🇺🇸
Caraca ser um carro clássico é show de bola 😁👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🎤🎤👏🏻👏🏻
Muito da hora 😁👍👍
Nice 😊
Yes, any company, including retailers, who are mismanaged will go out of business
Technically, it never went out of business. It merged with Willys and later became Kaiser Jeep, which merged into American Motors, which was bought by Chrysler, which today is part of Stellantis.
Frazier left the company because he disagreed with the Henry J. The Henry J was a mistake because it didn't leave enough money to develop a V8 and because it was barely less $ than the base model, full size Chevy. But the Ford v. Chevy price war hurt all the independents and was out of anyone's control.
Very nice !
Same colour as the nearby portaloos! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
It would have been nice to see the engine.
02:00 to 02:10 in the video
Not sure what it means that I couldn't hear any squealing brakes. Nothing good, I assume.
At 6:04 , what car or SUV is that? It doesn't look like a Nash Metropolitan, or is it?
1952 Crosley Super Station Wagon! I'll have a full review towards the end of the year!
@@ShootingCars Thanks!
How in the world is this an SUV?
@@jamesbosworth4191 I don't know what it was, or knew the size. It looked like it might be one.
@@jamesbosworth4191 Instead of a station wagon, Henry J Kaiser had his designers basically chop the rear end of the car from just above the rear window down to the bumper and substituted a two-part tailgate for the trunk lid, hinged to fold down just above the bumper and the upper liftgate hinged at the roof. The spare tire was mounted inside what would have been the driver's side rear door, said door was bolted shut. The rear seat could be folded like a station wagon's for maximum cargo capacity.
These Vagabond and Traveler models were available both on the carry-over Frazer body as well as the all-new Kaiser body in 1951.
What ended up killing the Frazer more than anything else was its price - and flathead 6 with a 3 speed/OD only. A base 51 Frazer sedan cost slightly more than an Olds 98 - with the rocket V8 and you could get Hydramatic for $150 (which everyone in this price class did). The Manhattan - not that many were made - was in Cad Series 61 territory, even worse. Not to mention that Frazer the man had had it Kaiser and he basically left. Costs were way too high, and even though Kaiser did get a very attractive restyle for 51, nothing could save the company - especially after they dumped most of the available development money into the Henry J.
You could get Hydramatic on the Frazer.
Me likem Frazer plenty good me.
It looks like a shoebox Ford, Mercury or Hudson from 49 to 51.
It's pronounce fray zer not fray sure .
Please pronounce the brand correctly, it's Frazer, not Frazier.
It's pronounced FRAYSER.
Smokers window. 😅
Venti Pain, not "smoker's window".
Hate the intro music
It's unpleasant for sure
That's supposed to be music?