by "CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
Published 11/07/2017 at 14:35
by "CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
Published 11/07/2017 at 14:35
Tags: Kaiser
; Traveler Vagabond
; 1949
; Npocp
STARS: 15
These are considered to be the first hatchbacks
I would love to buy this and make it my DD. What convenience and originality.
A little background of this era ( 1949-1950 MYs ):
Kaiser-Frazer Corporation had, according to press releases, spent $10 million to revamp the 1949 models to make them look longer, lower, and more modern; the Custom model was also replaced by the Deluxe series. The wheelbase was extended to 123.5 inches, with the overall length growing by nearly ten inches to 206.5 inches.
Jack Mueller wrote, “The Kaiser body shell for the 1949-50 model run was, in four-door sedan form, the same basic shell as 1947-48; overall length changes reflect [the revised] design of front and rear bumpers and bumper guards to get a couple of inches here, a couple there, that sort of thing. The problem was that, in 1949, most other car companies either rolled out a new body platform for the model year (Big Three and Nash), or a good facelift of a recently released design. Additionally, Kaiser-Frazer had too many smaller dealers that could not or would not start selling the way the Big Three stores started doing that year. [Another] big problem is that Frazer turned in his resignation as president at the end of 1948. Frazer saw that the information from dealers showing 60,000 orders in hand, as of October 10, 1948, were made up of mostly bogus orders. That story is almost a chapter in itself.”
Joseph W. Frazer was replaced as president by Henry J. Kaiser’s son, Edgar F. Kaiser.
Nine new body colors and four fabrics were available in the Kaiser Special, while the Kaiser Deluxe offered seventeen colors and nine fabrics (and, for convertibles, leather, in three colors). The Kaiser Special had a 100 horsepower six, while the Deluxe was boosted to 112 horsepower with a dual manifold setup. The Deluxe now had the name of the car’s exterior paint on the fenders (for four-door sedans and convertibles — as shown in the illustration above), “Vagabond” on the Vagabond utility models, and “Virginian” on production hardtops; pre-production cars were painted with the legend “Hardtop” instead.
The Kaiser Special had a new four door hatchback, known as the Traveler, costing $2088. In the Deluxe series, the four-door convertible; the four-door Hardtop sedan, known as the Virginian; and the four-door Utility sedan, known as the Vagabond were new. New convenience options were also introduced, including directionals and a rear cigar lighter. Kaiser bragged that the Traveler and the Vagabond led a double life: they were easily converted from a family sedan to a pick-up van in just ten seconds, thanks to an early hatchback design.
Jack Mueller added, “As of April 1949, the MSRP [list price] ranged from $1,995 for Special and $2,088 for Travelers, up to $2,995 for the Virginian and $3,295 for the Deluxe Convertible. Prices include federal tax and delivery preparation by the Courtesy Garage at the factory in Willow Run, Michigan, for cars picked up by retail customers at the Willow Cottage customer delivery facility. The heater, radio, and other options were not included in the listed price. Special offerings also included a stand-alone four-door taxi model. This was the only 1949-50 model year Special that offered the 112 bhp dual-manifold 6 as standard.”
When the results were in, 80,000 1949 Kaisers had been sold, for a loss of $31 million. Frazer dropped to around 25,000 cars.
Some sources claim that the Kaiser had planned to sell another facelifted line of cars for 1950 (and that sale agents were told not to represent these cars as different from the previous product). Jack Mueller wrote:
Kaiser-Frazer never planned the 1950 models to be facelifts; they were [always] to be the car that ended up rolling out as the 1951 Kaiser. The Frazer car was supposed to be dropped due to its sliding performance (72,000 or so 1947s, around 48,000 1948s, and less than 26,000 1949s — figures are all models for each model year).
In a last ditch effort to stay in business, Kaiser-Frazer landed two loans from the Recovery Finance Corporation: around $34 million to re-capitalize the business, and around $10 million to the Kaiser-Frazer Sales Corporation division to finance purchase of new cars from Kaiser-Frazer itself and to maintain an inventory that dealers and distributors could order from. In the case of the latter loan, part of the collateral was the inventory of unsold 1949 models in factory hands and factory storage sites. The factory and dealers would take a perhaps lethal financial loss if their value had to be written down [just] because they were no longer the current model year.
With approval of the RFC, all finished 1949 model year cars got 1950 model year serial numbers and paperwork; so cars built out between November 4, 1949 and March 15, 1950 were 1949 look-alikes with 1950 model year tags. The final total (re-tagged finished cars included) is not known at present, but it can be documented that the last 3,573 built at Willow Run and a small number of cars assembled at the Long Beach, California, assembly plant (for West Coast sale), and another small number of cars built at the Rotterdam, Holland facility for sale outside the USA were the only 1950 tagged cars actually built during the 1950 model year period. The statement about sales people presenting the 1950 cars same as 1949’s is correct.
I mean come on. For $3000 and supposedly all parts there and would be easy to get running again. This would be much better than any American Muscle
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
11/07/2017 at 14:38, STARS: 2
This is awesome. It’s like what the Avalanche wants to be, but soooooo much cooler and better looking. I’d love to have that with a Ford 300 I-6 under the hood for reliable, decent power.
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
11/07/2017 at 14:55, STARS: 2
Do it! The list of possible drivetrain combos for this thing is endless, and it’s cool because hatchback!
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
11/07/2017 at 14:55, STARS: 2
I’d rather keep the 6 cyl that was based on a Continental Engine
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
11/07/2017 at 14:58, STARS: 3
Why not keep the og flathead 6?
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
11/07/2017 at 15:01, STARS: 1
Sure! If you can get it running, and keep that 3 on the tree, why not?
"SpeedSix" (speedsix)
11/07/2017 at 15:01, STARS: 1
And there’s more excellent reading over at Ate Up With Motor - probably the most scholarly automobile articles around.
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
11/07/2017 at 15:09, STARS: 1
They did say ran when parked in a round-a-bout way.
"MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s" (mastermario)
11/07/2017 at 15:50, STARS: 1
Stored for over 50 years!
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
11/07/2017 at 16:07, STARS: 0
Perfect
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
11/07/2017 at 16:07, STARS: 0
Exactly
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
11/07/2017 at 16:07, STARS: 0
Cool, thank you SpeedSix!
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
11/07/2017 at 16:08, STARS: 1
3 on the tree is so much fun tbh!
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
11/07/2017 at 16:10, STARS: 0
Confession - I’m 49, and I’ve never actually driven a car with a column-shifted manual. It’s a bucket list item for me - ideally to own one (an early ‘60's Catalina convertible would be ideal).
Oldest stick shift I’ve ever driven was a ‘67 Cutlass convertible, IIRC.
"Kiltedpadre" (kiltedpadre)
11/07/2017 at 16:39, STARS: 1
There used to be one of these that made the rounds of local cruise nights. The owner had a bunch of dealer options that you could get for the car too. I remember window screens that went over the window frames to keep bugs out, a swamp cooler that attached to the front passenger door, a front sun visor he said was original to the car, and a “traffic light viewer” on the dash. I think there was more, but I haven’t seen the car in at least 15 years.
I think this would make an amazing driver. That motor would be so simple to work on and barring some major undisclosed issue should be fairly easy to bring to life.
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
11/07/2017 at 16:58, STARS: 1
That is cool! I bet those pieces would be very hard to track down now. I think I am going to message this guy and see if he’ll trade.
"Kiltedpadre" (kiltedpadre)
11/07/2017 at 17:11, STARS: 1
I’m not sure what you’d be trading but no matter what it is I fully support that idea.
Kaiser is one of my go to Craigslist searches, and I’m always super excited to see cars come up and not just jeeps and trucks.
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
11/07/2017 at 17:21, STARS: 1
Same. I love Kaisers, but they never seem to be in good enough shape or way too pricey.
"Kiltedpadre" (kiltedpadre)
11/07/2017 at 18:15, STARS: 1
There was a very nice looking Kaiser Manhattan on my local Craigslist this summer. The price was right on the edge of whether it would be worth it or not.
Other than that I see lots of old military vehicles and a few piles of rust in vague car shapes with titles.
I consider that par for the course when you type things like Kaiser, Crosley, Desoto, Nash, and King Midget into a Craigslist search box.
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
11/07/2017 at 18:19, STARS: 0
True, though Kaiser and Desoto are the only ones in that list I would search.
"Kiltedpadre" (kiltedpadre)
11/07/2017 at 18:22, STARS: 1
The only part that surprise me is not looking at Nash.
I realized long ago my interest in Crosleys and King Midgets put me in the category of oddballs like Torchinsky.
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
11/07/2017 at 18:49, STARS: 0
Well the only Nash I really want would be a Nash-Healey roadster or a Model 42 both of which are hard to come by and I loathe the Metropolitan.
Crosley and King Midget never made sense to me nor appealed to me.
"ranwhenparked" (ranwhenparked)
11/07/2017 at 19:20, STARS: 2
Joseph Frazer came up with a belt-tightening program that would have allowed the company to just make it into the black on volume of around 50,000 cars, which was easily achievable under the circumstances; but Henry Kaiser was insistent that the company post higher and higher production and sales figures, mainly for vanity reasons, and actually increased payroll and signed supply contracts in expectation of a double digit percentage growth. That disagreement is what finally caused Frazer to give up and turn in his resignation. The company probably would not have survived as an independent passenger car maker for all that much longer, but letting Frazer run the company his way most definitely would have bought them at least a few more prosperous years.
As far as proto-hatchbacks are concerned, credit also must go to the 1938 Citroen 11CV Commerciale Traction Avant:
"SpeedSix" (speedsix)
11/07/2017 at 19:31, STARS: 0
For site-wide searches of highly uncommon cars, plug ‘site: www.craigslist.org ’ into your search engine of choice.
"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
11/08/2017 at 04:12, STARS: 1
CP!
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
11/08/2017 at 10:57, STARS: 0
No!