Henry J. Kaiser was a man of vision, who did not take the easy path in any of his many business ventures. He thought big and built Liberty ships at seven Kaiser shipyards during and after World War II; earlier, he was a major contractor at the Hoover Dam and formed the Kaiser Steel and Kaiser Aluminum companies and other ventures.
In 1946 Kaiser and Joseph W. Frazer became involved with the Graham-Paige Company and a year later purchased the old-line automaker’s assets. In 1947 the pair introduced both the new Kaiser and the Frazer cars at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. Two front-wheel-drive Kaisers prototypes were built featuring unibody construction and front and rear torsion bar suspension. However, this advanced machine never reached production due to lack of time to perfect the concept in time, and it was dropped, although the Frazer was produced, and sales began in 1947. Learn more about the Kaiser-Frazer in an earlier article.
Thanks go out to contributor Tom Jakeway for the story idea and the last two images in this post and Bill Brown, who hosts a page with more information about the front-wheel drive 1947 Kaiser.
- Ilustration from a 1946 Kaiser-Frazier brochure of the 1947 front-wheel drive Kaiser.
- Illustrations above and below of the 1947 Kasier 187 c.i. six-cylinder L-head engine, transmission, differential, and front suspension. The rear suspension with lighter trailing arms used the same general form of construction.
David,
Thanks for the article, and especially the links to the two other articles, never know the KAISER was originally to be slightly smaller than the FRAZER.
AML
Years ago I read about Kaiser’s idea for the `47 sedan to be FWD, but I did not know 2 prototypes were built. The literature relating to it is interesting to see. Kaiser probably thought, “Hey, if E.L. Cord could do it, so can I!”
In a way it reminds me of the Tucker saga of the same era
There are a lot of twists and turns to the Kaiser/Frazer story and very little information to be had.
Does anyone have a source?
Thanks in advance.
Junkman George can learn all about Kaiser-Frazer history
allpar.com/cars/adopted/kaiser.html
ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/kaiser-frazer-part-1/
ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/kaiser-frazer-part-2/
ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/kaiser-darrin-history/
…and everyone can learn about Kaiser’s own V-8 engine.
macsmotorcitygarage.com/a-v8-that-never-was-the-kaiser-frazer-288/
It could be just as “unknown” to some as was K-F’s FWD!
I read, Henry Kaiser was a remarkable man. He treated all his employees well, as he knew the value of a good worker. I’ve heard of the FWD Kaiser before, talk about a classic “swing and a miss”. It just shows, an idea, no matter how novel it became, fell on deaf ears at the time. Unlike today, where we take for granted new ideas are well thought out, we have to remember, people were very steadfast in their beliefs. People didn’t trust power brakes, or power steering, even automatic transmissions were a tough sell ( most because of the price). I still say, my old man didn’t have A/C in his cars because he really didn’t trust where that cool air was coming from on a such a hot day. Surely, must be poisonous. FWD didn’t make a lick of sense when RWD was the norm. I can hear my old man now, “Front tires steer AND drive the car,,preposterous. He never owned a FWD vehicle until his Windstar minivan, and even that was hard for him.
Kaiser surely knew all about the FWD Panhard AFG (as “Aluminium Français Grégoire”) shown in 1946 and built as the Dyna X and the Dyna Z.
They were much smaller (as most post-war — and most affordable — European cars were) if compared with cars made in America, but they did have similarities, like longitudinal engines.
They may have some stylistic similarities, too, or they may look to be totally different to you.
barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1957-PANHARD-DYNA-Z-211230
artcurial.com/en/lot-1952-panhard-dyna-x-86-berline-no-reserve-4014-102
Last evening, I attended a Covid Car Cruise! It was not planned, not permitted (and probably not legal…), but it was great, after so many long months and so many cancelled events. Around 50 cars showed up, from Model T to ’60s-’70s Muscle to a C7 ZO6 to a topless Lamborghini.
It was entirely ad-hoc and arranged through a modern text/phone/email grapevine of old[er] motorcar lovers. For many in their 80s, it may be their last drive-to. For many in their 60s, it may be their last grasp at youth. For many in their teens, twenties, and thirties, they were hard to find. Where are tomorrow’s car fans?
But it was better than having to enjoy cars via books, magazines, and internet sites/sightings.
Not that THEY are not all great, as well.
Maybe we WILL survive this Coronavirus.
And Steamboat Willies can see more Moons.
mooncars.wordpress.com/factory-photos/walt-moon/
Wow! Thanks Dave, once again you have brought something surprising. I never had heard of this.
Those transverse torsion bars seem veeerrry short to adequately absorb the twisting from the excessive travel possible in an independently suspended road wheel. For comparison, the MoPars of the mid ’70s through 1989 – which also had transverse torsion bars – had bars that appeared to be twice as long, and they were assisted by thick anti-roll bars. At the rear, the MoPars had a live axle which stabilized somewhat the movement of excessive front suspension travel by levering it through the very stiff unit body. This Kaiser would have been a milestone in automotive engineering, but in the form illustrated it looks more like a brainstorming exercise. The fact that I don’t see any bushings to compensate for fore-and-aft wheel movement is also interesting. Still: Long live the dreamers (until the engineers and bean-counters inevitably wreck their dreams!) : )
“Bigness” is a feature. “I’ll tell you what I want in a new car, Bigness! Bigness and a snake-skin pattern vinyl top.”
I always knew that Kaiser was interested in front wheel drive, but didn’t know that he actually built a couple of protoytypes. I found the diagram of the engine and drive train to be fascinating.
Too bad the FWD cars never made it to production. It might have led to a different outcome for the company.
Thanks for the info.
Rog
Must have been a “bear” to steer without power steering, with all that weight at the front. I’ve owned a couple of SAABs (1960, 1969 ) with front wheel drive and they were a joy, but much lighter cars of course
No conocía a este modelo muy interesante de Kaiser, nada menos que con tracción delantera. Excelente artículo, los felicito.
Pablo Gualtieri, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Henry Kaiser was a visionary, he wanted the car carrying his name to have every conceivable feature to beat the “big 3”. His business partnef Joe Frazer, having actually ran several car companies, was more rational and convinced Henry that some ideas just couldn’t be done due to time or cost. This difference of opinion led to Frazier leaving the company, and the firms ultimate failure. KAISER just didnt know the intracies of automobile manufacturung and making a profit. His success came largely from government contracts building boats, the Hoover Dam, and pouring aluminum. Too bad, as the 1951 -54 Kaisers were great cars, combining luxury, dependability and fresh styling. My Dad’s neighbor had one, a maroon beauty that floated down the road, unlike our bouncy ‘ 51 Ford Deluxe!
Kaiser steel , with the plant in Fontana, CA, has been turned into the Auto Club of So. California racing facility. The car company is gone. There are still remants of the shipbuilding enterprises in Richmond, CA, and Portland, OR, but they’ve been closed since Liberty and Victory ships went out of use. However, the Kaiser Permanente HMO, which was originally created to provide healthcare to Kaiser employees, is still very active in California and perhaps other states as well. The Kaisser Family Foundation is still a major player in the health care arena.
I owned and showed a late 54 Kaiser Special for 20 years and it was a luxury car but a bit underpowered. It sure drew attention at shows.
Henry Kaiser built one Victory Ship each day of WW2 and he was a true unrecognized hero. WW2 was won because of logistics and his cargo ships took war supplies and food to England and accross the Pacific.
Kaiser Carabella (the renamed Manhattan and Special models) was manufactured in South America starting in about 1956 until about 1963. The tooling, parts, and some executive talent moved to a less competive market . Big success there.
The club was very active for decades.
The KFOCI club is still active to this day. I know, I and my 51 Kaiser Deluxe are members.
The fact that the inline engine and gearbox sat entirely above the differential would have made this ponderously top heavy I’d think. In cornering, those poor little torsion bars would have had a lot of work to do