Info concerning Allstate and HJ autos

[Vadabond49]

 ;)Before Christmas 1951 Sears and K-F worked up a deal to start selling a Vehicle called, Allstate, Kaiser-Frazer would supply the vehicles assembled from the Henry J line. using a HJ four cylinder engine. these autos sold around $1400. for more info use a search engine, type in Sears Allstate autos. Also,more great info below from those in the know.


Keep those Kaisers Roll'in! 

Vadabond49 in Sunny Las Vegas

[Fid]

The Allstate was also available with a 6 cylinder engine. Don't believe everything you read on sites you find via Google. There is so much disinformation out there regarding cars it is sad. There were 666 Allstates sold in 1952 which had a 6 cylinder engine. There were 372 six cylinder 1953 models produced. This is right out of Last Onslaught On Detroit and the figures were obtained from actual KF documentation. When I bring my Henry J to a rally, it's amazing how many bogus stories I hear about them from people. Everything from "That was the English version of the Ford" to "You could order these with Kaiser's straight 8 but it cost extra..."  These are the same people that set up websites so beware.

[Gordie]

One interesting thing about the Allstate car was the fact that Sears used Allstate tires, batteries, fan belts and radiator hoses and I do not know what else.  I would imagine that Sears had to deliver those parts to KF so that they could be added at the assembly line.  The grill, emblems and interior materials were different than the Henry J and during the Allstates' two year run there was a four and a six cylinder engine offered as well as a standard and deluxe trim variation.  There was little difference in the two year models.  Sears sold few cars at their Southern and Southwest stores and dropped the idea early into production of the 1953 year model.  Not too many have survived and they are scarce and desirable to have today.

[jpwagoneer1964]

'Hemmings Classic Car" magazine stated in a recent  article on the Henry J that the engine were manufactured by Continental?!?!?!?!? We do know they were made by Willys.

Mark

[Fid]

That's absolutely correct. The HJ and Allstate used Willys engines, not  Continental engines as the Kaisers and Frazers did. There were other mistakes in that Hemmings article, the production figures (I believe Hemming's stated 150,000) were wrong and the part where it said "Only Deluxe and later production Henry Js had trunk lids..." was a bit misleading too. The early '51 Deluxe Js (Model K514) all shipped with Accessory Group 8 which did not include a trunk lid. About 3 months into the production run, trunk lids became available as part of an accessory group on both K514 (deluxe) and K513 (four cylinder) model Henry Js. The K513 could be ordered with Accessory Group 10 or 17, both of which included a trunk lid. Accessory Group 8 was the only AG available on the deluxe model that did not include a trunk lid. Accessory Group 18, 19, 21, 22, 24 and 25 were available on the deluxe model and all included a trunk lid. 

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

On my last trip to Oxford MS, I spent some time in the basement of the library at Ole Miss...they had newspaper files from the Jackson MS paper and among the items found was an ad run by the Sears store about the TRADE INS they took on new Allstates and that they were for sale on the used car lot at the store's Auto Center.  It also stated that Sears Credit would finance the purchase of a new Allstate at competitive interest rates with area banks.

Sears supplied Kaiser-Frazer with the various Allstate-branded components used on the Allstate car & Kaiser-Frazer deducted costs of the customer supplied parts from their invoices to Sears.  Kaiser-Frazer also supplied Sears Auto Centers with Allstate-branded special parts (emblems, fenders, etc).  In July 1953, when Sears ended the working arrangement, K-F put out a Service Bulletin with a list of all Allstate-specific part numbers (the numbers begin with "4" instead of the normal 1 or 2 on service parts) and Kaiser-Frazer dealers were told they could do warranty work on Allstates and order Allstate-specific parts from their parts distributor or the factory in the same way they ordered regular Kaiser, Frazer and Henry J pieces. 

The basic Henry J and Allstate models (4 and 6 cylinder) came WITHOUT deck lids until the 1954 model year.  The trunk lid was a part of various Accessory Groups during the years 1951-53 (trunk lids were considered standard on all 1954's).  It was too bad that in 1953 you could either get fold down back seat and no trunk lid or trunk lid and non folding rear seat.  Because of the size of the lid, the combination of fold down seat and trunk lid gave you something like a mini Kaiser Traveler!  It should also be noted that during the 1951 and 1952 model years, there were Accessory Groups for the HJ that included the same upholstery material used on regular Kaisers.

Jack Mueller

[54HJ Cdn]

Hello All!
I have a 54 (K543) Henry J. The large cowl tag shows that it had an A/G 36. Or maybe it means A/G 3 and 6. I've been trying to decipher this but all I have to go by is the KFOCI Handbook and I'm confused by this one. I think that I've deciphered the rest of it though. If anyone can provide or direct me to some info on this, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!
8372

[jimkf]

In addition, Allstates used their brand seat covers in lieu of whatever KF installed. I have a model 3404 Allstate, it's a 53 with a 6 and OD in it and is about 3 or 4 from the end of the run. This car has a trunk lid. It was purchased in Michigan by a Sears employee who took delivery in August of 1953. It has an Allstate heater and radio. Mounting the radio meant having to move the ashtray to the left of the steering column, in front of the power box for the radio. The heater has no fresh air duct so it only recirculates the air already in the car.
The car only has 12K miles on it but is a mechanical nightmare. It'll be in Chicago in July for the convention where I'll let the parking lot mechanics try to sort it out!

[Fid]

Interesting. I have never seen a 1952-53 Henry J six cylinder without a trunk lid. I have seen two 53 four cyls without a deck lid but never a 6. According to LOOD, AG 36 was standard on 1953 Corsair Deluxes (the six cylinder models) which means all would have trunk lids.