1951 Kaiser 2 door traveler

[Cortes121]

Found this listing for a maroon ‘51 2 door traveler in maroon with Maroon interior. I know I often see the claim 2 door travelers are rare, but they want a pretty penny for this one. A bit high I think at $21,500 but I’d love to see what everyone else thinks. It’s definitely a nice clean example.

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/kaiser/deluxe/2422923.html

[konrad]

Damn that's a pretty beastie!

Want!

Can't afford...but WANT! 

[Thomasso]

It would take a lot more than 22K to do this car.  Seems a good buy to me.

[j762538]

I would sell mine for about $18k, it hasn't been out to a show in almost a year.

[Gordie]

The seller who is a major antique auto seller indicates that this car is un-restored and totally original and if that is true it is a real bargain and one of a kind.  The only thing I noticed that was not Kaiser is the outside rear view mirror which is a minor item.  Maybe our members in the Northwest know of this car.

[Fid]

I like the Motorolla radio!  Those period correct after-market radios are way cool if you ask me because it's hard to imagine, from a 21st century point of view, that radios were once an option and there were third party vendors, like Motorolla, who made units to install in specific cars. 
It looks quite nice to me but I noticed it does not say "Traveler" on the fender flanks.  I know KF had numerous running changes, especially in the '51 model year, so maybe some were that way? 
It's one of my favorite KF colors that year.

[Gordie]

Didn't all '51's have rubber floor mats originally?  My dlx. coupe with 39,000 miles does with fabric edges.  I am having second thoughts about it being original but it sure is a beautiful car!

[Cortes121]

Gordie - all ‘51 Deluxes or just Travelers? I wasn’t aware that was the case if it was all Deluxes - if you meant all Travelers then that makes sense, since the Vagabond was a Frazer for this year....

[joefrazer]

Travelers used rubber mats in both the front and rear seat floors so what’s in this car is incorrect.

[Gordie]

Gordie - all ‘51 Deluxes or just Travelers? I wasn’t aware that was the case if it was all Deluxes - if you meant all Travelers then that makes sense, since the Vagabond was a Frazer for this year....

I am not sure about the 1951 Dragons but dlx. Kaisers had about four different rubber floor mat colors  depending on exterior and interior color themes and the Travelers used the same deluxe floor mats and had colored vinyl panels on the rear floors and the back of the folding rear. seat.

[Cortes121]

Really! I had no idea - for the price of a new Kaiser Deluxe in ‘51, front carpet Wasn’t standard or an option? I’m not well versed in what was standard fare for cars in Kaisers price field - did similarly priced Buick’s or Mercury’s have the same thing?

[Gordie]

Most had rubber mats sometimes with a small area where your heel rests with carpet similar to the close knit carpet used in the back floors including Kaisers

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Consult the 1951 Kaiser Orange/Black covered Illustrated Parts List for all the possible types of mats used in which 1951 Kaiser series/body types.  I would expect that to be used for judging purposes.   It's been over 5 decades since these cars were built and no doubt over the years owners hve changed things to suit personal tastes and/or what they could find when it was time to replace items.

[Gordie]

Parts books are accurate on the day that they were printed but the orange and black parts book has six pages of changes issued in two lists dated March 1952.  Most parts books are the gospel that we use for judging our cars but if you have something on your car that differs from the parts book look for these parts changes that followed most issues of the parts books.  This book does show a carpet being available but does not specify the color.  Keeping floor mats in stock would be almost impossible for a K-F dealer as they came in Black, Natural Grey, Hickory Brown, Blue Velvet and London Green with different mats for stick shift and Hydramatic equipped cars.  Is it possible for cars to vary during production?  Absolutely!  When I found my "51 Deluxe Club Coupe in Dearborn, Mi in July 1984 it had been stored in the owners garage for many years and his brother had promised to start it every week before his brother passed away.  The car started right up and I paid him and drove away but before I did I loaded the car with spare parts the brother had bought for the car.  While loading the brother told me that his brother worked for the K-F plant and ordered the car the way he wanted it and walked it down the assembly line and had pre-arranged for a few changes.  One was that he wanted only one key to operate everything and the other was that he did not want the "Darrin" emblem installed on the deck lid and that was the way that the car was assemble.  I later found the emblem under the back seat and the original paint has dimples where the prongs of the emblem should have been pushed on.  Am I going to install the emblem some day?  No way, but that is an example of what can happen during assembly and it would be difficult to explain it to the judges if it were ever judged.  I am sure that because floor mats were difficult to find many restorers and owners had carpets installed and they look great and really wake up the interior but they are not correct for authenticity or judging.  Incidentally the car stalled at least 50 times on my way from Dearborn to Pigeon Forge Tn. and my first K-F National Meet and I had to lay under the car and blow out the gas lines and a new electric fuel pump did no good and I finally had to leave the car in Colorado and fly home and back to get it but that is another long story better saved for another time.