Driving a Kaiser Through the Colorado Mountains

[Barnum]

Sold my 54 Manhattan to a gent in Colorado....got a call today...saying...do you think it would make the trip from Denver.....what I didn't realize is,  the elevation in Parachute CO is 11,000 ft. We figure with the supercharger it should be fine. Anyone done this drive ?

[amkfken]

I do not know where you are getting your information from---Parachute Co. elevation is 5092 ft, 200 ft lower than Denver!!

Yes, Kaisers will do high elevations, just not at a great speed.

[dpledger]

I did lots of driving in my '53 Manhattan (hydro)  in my grad school days- lived in Boulder (5400 ft) , and drove around extensively. One route was trail ridge road, the highest continuous highway in the US, going through Rock Mountain Park. Seem to recall that it is in the 11-12000 foot range. Also drove across the Rockies and Sierras once headed for L.A and then back. I really don't recall having any particular issues with the altitude. Do recall that the engine temp would go up somewhat during major climbs on a hot day, but nothing ever happened. Once one got used to climbing, a reasonable speed could be maintained.

[Barnum]

 Thanks for the input, I am only going by what I was told from the buyer. While Parachute may be lower than Denver....you have to get there. Have put thousands of miles on my Kaiser....but never in mountains like the Rockies.  It seems the only way to expedite transport, is ship it to Denver.

[Logan]

You will have to be clear about what route you are taking.  If you are coming into Denver on I-70 from the west, you will rise above 11,000 feet.  It is a beautiful drive, but I've never done it in an old car. I would stick to I-80 (through Wyoming), which is not nearly as up and down as I-70, although it still gets fairly high--above 8,000, but I'm afraid there's really no way to avoid that. Your Kaiser should make it, though. What did they do in 1954 after all?

[Aeroman]

Driving home from the Ouray National in 1985, I came back through Monarch Pass (11,000 feet above sea level) in Old Toby, my '54 Aero. Both of us found that breathing was not as "fulfilling" as we were used to, but there were no real problems with it. Next year, I was in Denver on business and bought a 1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk that had spent all of it's 170,000 miles in Denver. I drove home over Monarch Pass again and the car did well, although the carb was probably jetted for a higher altitude. It had a Studebaker 259 V-8 with a two-barrel carb, 3-speed and overdrive. Needless to say, overdrive was not used on either side of Monarch Pass.

[vt2000driver]

Yes rick I agree we had no problems going to Ouray but that was when gas was good.
Yes you will be slower but it should have no problems .