This is a car story that started when the world calmed down after the war ended in 1945. So many great opportunities in a world market that needed most of everything in the first years of peace. Especially the factories that produced cars and transport equipment envisioned many good years. With this as a background, a number of new car factories were established in the years 1945 – 1947.
Kaiser-Frazer
One of the new manufacturers that came on the scene in this period was Kaiser-Frazer, which today is history and largely completely forgotten by the vast majority. But the story is exciting and includes everything from big dreams and ambitions to a long struggle to survive. Let's start with the people who started it all. Car man Joseph Frazer had extensive experience in car manufacturing. He knew the car industry from the inside and had been involved in the development of many well-known car models for a number of manufacturers. When the United States joined the war in 1942, he was head of the car manufacturer Graham-Paige, which in 1939 had presented the forward-looking model "Hollywood".
Henry J. Kaiser was an industrialist with broad experience in production and industrial development. During the war, his shipyards were partly behind the development and production of the well-known "Liberty" ships.
In 1945, these two decided to start car production on a large scale. The plan was initially to produce 2 different car brands. The Kaiser was supposed to be a somewhat affordable family car for the large market. Frazer, on the other hand, was planned as a car brand with more emphasis on luxury. As early as 1945, Kaiser produced a prototype of an affordable car equipped with a plastic body and front-wheel drive. The ambitions were great and the large aircraft factory "Willow Run" was taken over to be transformed into a really huge car factory.
When the factory started the introduction of the 1947 models, the car brands Kaiser and Frazer were quite similar to look at, but the difference lay in the technical aspects. The Kaiser was to be launched as a modern front-wheel drive model while the Frazer became a more traditional rear-wheel drive luxury model. But the plans were changed just before the first car was due to roll off the assembly line. The front-wheel-drive Kaiser model was discontinued due to technical difficulties and high production costs, and it therefore became just a more affordable version of the Frazer.
The Kaiser in particular sold well because it was one of the first car models to hit the market after the war. The new exciting design and gorgeous colors were a hit with car buyers. Kaiser and Frazer shared body designs right up until 1951 which was the year of introduction of the all new and modern model from Kaiser. But sales continued to plummet even with a new low-cost model (Henty J) and production in several countries. Kaiser tried to sell the factory but in vain. When production in the USA ended after approx. 750 cars had been produced, body presses and equipment were transferred to Argentina. Here, Kaiser models were produced until 000 by IKA, which also produced Renault and Alfa-Romeo under license. In the United States, Kaiser now concentrated on his large aluminum works and worked for aluminum to be used more in the car industry. In that connection, several futuristic design proposals were brought forward to influence the automotive industry. But it was with this last attempt and the rest is history.
Kaiser was really a car brand that could gain a place in the market as the good start indicated. But the factory was unable to meet the competition from the other major manufacturers in the USA and peace settled over car production at Kaiser.
Henry J. Kaiser sold off his car brands (Kaiser and Jeep) in 1955 to concentrate on aluminum production. Kaiser believed that the car industry should use more aluminum in new cars. In order to convince the major car manufacturers, he engaged a well-known car designer who was given the task of designing several exciting prototypes to be produced in aluminium. Source: bilhistorie.blogspot.com
Anders de Lange
Anders de Lange writes about car history. He has written about cars and car history for over 30 years, published his own books and written for the Norwegian car press.
