1954 Kaiser Darrin | Ride Along

In this weeks ride along we drive a 1954 Kaiser Darrin. The Kaiser Darrin might be the most unique car we have taken for a ride along yet. Most notable feature on the car is the sliding doors that go into the fenders. For more visit www.hagerty.com Subscribe! | bit.ly/1sddOmD
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[@billolsen4360]

Beautiful from any angle. Grill looks like the car's puckered up to give you a kiss.

[@kfeltenberger]

My dad bought one of these new and it was the only car he ever regretted selling.

[@Telephonebill51]

What was this, THE FIRST TAKE?

[@frankeggers4024]

I rode in one in 1955.

[@5610winston]

"Lesser purchasing power"? "Steel shortage after World War II"? Henry J. Kaiser was among the richest men in the world after WWII, and it really doesn't make sense anyhow. Even with the Korean police action, car makers were going balls to the wall in 1954: consider the sales wars between Ford and Chevrolet. Dutch Darrin and Kaiser chose Fiberglas because it was easier to form into the compound curves of the Darrin design, as Loewy's team wound specify the composite plastic material for the Studebaker Avanti in the design phase in 1961.

[@edarcuri182]

I agree and will add this. The big advantage of fiberglass reinforced plastic? Tooling costs. They crippled the independents when they used steel as their volumes were lower than the "Big Three."
Of course it is not true that "the entire car is made out of fiberglass." We have it on good authority that the chassis, engine, and other components were made from steel.
That said, an interesting looking car, best use of that hoary F head Jeep engine, and the quirky doors are fun at car shows - not s much when you try to open them with the side curtains in place.

[@Pharoyar]

Had to come here, because of FALLOUT!

[@susien7323]

I had to come here because of the Amazon original series The Man in the White Castle

[@hoss73ford]

They left out two items of importance. First, only 435 were built and second some later production cars had Cadillac 331 V8s installed in them. I've seen one of the V8's in Arizona some years ago and that thing could really move.

[@kaiserdarrin161]

All production Darrins had Willys 161 engines installed.
Dutch Darrin installed a Caddy V8 in only 1 unit.
Ones that are typically seen with the Caddy v8's are clones.

[@stevejones8660]

A friend of mine just bought that one Caddy engine Darrin to restore. It’s red with black interior and is number 48. It was Dutch Darrin’s personal car. Can’t wait to see it up and running.

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

2 F-Heads also left the factory with Superchargers

[@tirebiter1680]

The problem Kaiser had was a flathead 6 was the only engine they made when their competitors were offering up to date V8 engines. Maybe Packard could have sold them the V8 these large cars needed.
Kaiser did invent the Hatchback, but that may be the only inovation they did.

[@tolik5929]

Pocket doors were a bad idea in a house , and on a car .......bet they found that out the hard way . Odly enough , the only reason it ever went into production , was because Henry Kaiser's wife liked it ...........he did not .

[@mgdriver8503]

This guy needs some interview practice. Looked really unenthusiastic. Almost like he'd rather be anywhere but there.

[@mohammedyousouf6678]

Ya Allah give me a car best for me and my family

[@RS-tp3uu]

albatta Merci wat.