55 Kaiser For Sale

[Roadmaster49]

I just checked the Registry and it was one of two 55 Kaisers reported by Barefoot in North Carolina. There are 36 reports of 51367 4 door sedans, 8 51363 export 4 door sedans, and 10 51467 2 door sedans. There are more than than that around, surely.

I don't think so- there weren't many 55 Kaisers made and no reason for them to survive.  I don't think there are many more in the woods.

I find it really curious. As a Buick collector and interested in other makes and the market, I can't believe the KF community has let this car get this far without purchase. Rare Buicks that are brought to the attention of the community get wrapped up pretty quick. I understand that 90% of the club can't just go out and buy any old car, but this is one of the "Holy Grails" of the KF world. (also Virginians, convertibles and Dragons)

[Jim B PEI]

Well, I would buy it if I had the money (I don't) but it really is a car that would be hard pressed to command even half that amount. I bought my 49 Kaiser for $4000 and drove it home 400 miles. I knew that it had just covered a 3,000 mile trip from Saskatchewan to Eastern Cape Breton, Nova Scotia without any problems. Yes, it desperately needed an engine rebuild due to low compression which then happened, but otherwise was trouble free as a driver (other than a water pump, another story....) This car looks to be a money pit. Supercharger, engine, transmission, chrome, body work, paint, expen$ive part$ like taillights and interior--You could easily sink $50K into this car which would then be worth MAYBE $20K or so. If it were a 2 door...

[Cortes121]

While this might be what one would consider a "Holy Grail" of Kaisers, the fact of the matter remains that even fully restored this car wouldn't bring much money.

Now I know money isn't everything, and it would be a great feeling to know you "saved" one of the last Kaisers built in America, but other than knowing this car was a 55, there isn't much to differentiate it from a 54, save for the hood scoop.

[mbflemingkf]

I have a 55 hood ornament on my 54 Kaiser.  Why, because I found one and like it better and had it rechromed.  So far, in 4 years of attending many cruise ins and car shows, I have still never had one sinle person come up to me and say..."looks like a 55 hood ornament on that 54 of yours"!!!    So the morale of the story is...

I'll have to take it off and replace it with a 54 ornament before driving it to the National in TN next year...or do I keep it on until Thursday judging?!!!  Time will tell.   

[pnw_oldmags]

Hi Mike,
Can you send me a photo of your rechromed hood ornament?  I would really like to add it to my files!
THANKS

[joefrazer]

Years ago, at a national that will go nameless to protect the judges (grin), my 54 sported a 55 hood ornament...and it got past them. I still have the ornament and I'm looking for the right car to put under it. This one is not that car...

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

This hood ornament thing is a classic example of why the club needs to do a proper job in the training of judges and support their efforts with proper documentation (that is made available to car owners as well).  As long as the whole thing is run the way it currently is, we not only do a dis-service to the membership, we also help push people out of the organization because they feel they get a raw deal on the judging field.  If you can prove a car owner is wrong, that is one thing, but for judges to keep making bad guesses is another!

[Gordie]

If the proper documentation is readily available to the members and judges it is certainly up to the judges to study the information and really know the cars that they are judging.  If the judges are wrong it is up to the owner to have documentation for controversial features on their car.  Press photos often show prototype vehicles and cannot always be relied on for documentation and the same is true for sales literature.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

I've told this to people in the club for years...have proper documentation and that it would be the car owner's responsibility to back up any contested judging calls with factory information.   Unfortunately, nobody gives a darn as proven at the 2010 National Convention.

If nobody else will care, neither will I.

[Roadmaster49]

While this might be what one would consider a "Holy Grail" of Kaisers, the fact of the matter remains that even fully restored this car wouldn't bring much money.

Now I know money isn't everything, and it would be a great feeling to know you "saved" one of the last Kaisers built in America, but other than knowing this car was a 55, there isn't much to differentiate it from a 54, save for the hood scoop.

In a forum, it's important to argue with class, so I surely appreciate your viewpoint and enjoy reading counter-point. As I am a 'fan' of multiple makes one of the other cars I love is the 56 Packards. I like the styling and the last ditch efforts at a class leading V8 and automatic and torsion bar suspension BUT the reason I want a 56 Packard is primarily because it DRIPS with period history.

I read "The Rise and Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company" and highly recommend it. Factual, it also displays the raw emotion of those last days on East Grande Boulevard in Detroit when some 40 year tenured line workers had to walk away. To own a 56 Packard (or 55 Kaiser) is to own more then the car right in front of you. It's also to touch the car touched by some of the last hands at the assembly plant and to almost channel those emotions through the body. 2 doors? 4 doors? doesn't matter. Cost to restore?  Chip away at it. I don't have my KF reference materials with me but the membership should not be farting around (sorry for the vulgarity) with letting this one slip by. How many are registered in the club? 10?


I would put in $100 toward a club purchase of this car. I don't care who gets it as long as it is restored and attends Nationsl.

[Roadmaster49]

I've told this to people in the club for years...have proper documentation and that it would be the car owner's responsibility to back up any contested judging calls with factory information.   Unfortunately, nobody gives a darn as proven at the 2010 National Convention.

If nobody else will care, neither will I.

Again, utmost respect given so please understand my comments are "in perspective".  KF "basically" has 10 plus years that need judged. The Buick Club of America has over 85 years. (100 years + of production but less for judging) It's very hard to train judges for the BCA National. It should not be hard for the KF brand.

Is there a judging manual? (Buick has a 100 plus page manual) If so, we could highlight the changes between model years and what to look for. Proper judging is important so that future generations will know what a certain year KF was supposed to look like. But judging is a small part of the reason to attend a KF (or BCA or AACA) National meet.

[Roadmaster49]

Well, I would buy it if I had the money (I don't) but it really is a car that would be hard pressed to command even half that amount. I bought my 49 Kaiser for $4000 and drove it home 400 miles. I knew that it had just covered a 3,000 mile trip from Saskatchewan to Eastern Cape Breton, Nova Scotia without any problems. Yes, it desperately needed an engine rebuild due to low compression which then happened, but otherwise was trouble free as a driver (other than a water pump, another story....) This car looks to be a money pit. Supercharger, engine, transmission, chrome, body work, paint, expen$ive part$ like taillights and interior--You could easily sink $50K into this car which would then be worth MAYBE $20K or so. If it were a 2 door...

Yep, it's a money pit. ALL old cars are either money pits OR cost a lot to purchase. based on what I know of the KF community, there are many that chip away at restorations due to cost. Few KF cars will command a profit after restoration and that's not the point of the hobby. Those of use that lived through the "speculation" phase of the late 1980's and the dawn of the Arizona auctions collect for love and not money but must live with those that always reference a purchase to the prospect of getting our money back out of it.  

Sad. Your thinking has brought the hobby to it's knees in my opinion. I am probably going to purchase a 49 Virginian this year that has been passed over for 20 years because of cost to restore. A 54 2 door KF sits next to it, probably never to be restored. There are thousands of cars getting crushed annually because few people are doing full-on restorations.

I am not saying YOU need to buy this car. Every club has a wealthier contigent then most of us, and the club is a network to get this information top those folks that can snap these cars up. The Buick Club has a member of a well known family of hobby vendors that purchases about every Buick show car that pops up. All we need to do is let him know of it's availability. (He is a friend of mine)

Maybe - as many have suggested - the $7500 price tag for this car is too high. Then someone should offer and explain to the seller that YOU are a club member and that some parts may eb unobtainium.  I have purchased cars based on an emotional appeal, where my interest is preservation and restoration.

It's not like this is a commonly collected car. The seller may be finding the sale hard. Just some thoughts.

[Cortes121]

In a forum, it's important to argue with class, so I surely appreciate your viewpoint and enjoy reading counter-point. As I am a 'fan' of multiple makes one of the other cars I love is the 56 Packards. I like the styling and the last ditch efforts at a class leading V8 and automatic and torsion bar suspension BUT the reason I want a 56 Packard is primarily because it DRIPS with period history.

I read "The Rise and Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company" and highly recommend it. Factual, it also displays the raw emotion of those last days on East Grande Boulevard in Detroit when some 40 year tenured line workers had to walk away. To own a 56 Packard (or 55 Kaiser) is to own more then the car right in front of you. It's also to touch the car touched by some of the last hands at the assembly plant and to almost channel those emotions through the body. 2 doors? 4 doors? doesn't matter. Cost to restore?  Chip away at it. I don't have my KF reference materials with me but the membership should not be farting around (sorry for the vulgarity) with letting this one slip by. How many are registered in the club? 10?


I would put in $100 toward a club purchase of this car. I don't care who gets it as long as it is restored and attends Nationals.

I agree with you 100%.  I actually would love to save a piece of history such as this, though I too do not have the money, or space. But I agree with your idea. I'm not in the old car hobby for money, or for judging. I'm in it to save little pieces of history. To appreciate car makes that aren't as popular as the the big three are. If some plan comes about to save this car, I'd love to contribute what I can.

[Jim B PEI]

Cortes and Roadmaster, I do agree with you both. I have the last road-worthy Studebaker Wagonaire left in Atlantic Canada. I have another Studebaker, a 64 "Commander Special" 2 door sedan Studebaker, which is an oddball and perhaps unique variant of an already rare model. These were specifically built after January 1964 as a special trim model, after Studebaker had shut down in South Bend, and uniquely have the Hamilton ON serial # that started in a new series when it was "Canadian only" production. Mine is different, and I have the build sheet to prove it. It was built much earlier than the actual shutdown or the announced shutdown of the US production, and so it has a 'wrong' regular Canadian serial number. No-one had ever seen one of these 'stealth' production cars, which shows that Studebaker had the US production shutdown long planned before announced. As far as I have heard, it is the only one of its type that still exists. Its a six automatic, perhaps the least desirable combination for a Studebaker and needs everything including engine and transmission rebuild, paint, trim, interior, and some sheet metal repair, and I hauled it home from a junkyard. I could throw as much money into this, if I had it, as I could a Packard or a Buick. It was known, and languishing, for a LONG time. The asking price was down to about scrap metal price when I finally hauled it home.  I wish I had money enough to save more.

I doubt that I will ever do any of my cars justice, but I keep them operating and spending money on them hoping for the day that someone who is intrigued enough to restore one of them steps up. If you have at least $50,000 available, yes a 55 Manhattan, or a 54 Manhattan, or any Frazer/Kaiser convertible or hardtop Virginian, or 53 or even 51 Dragon, or Darrin is a more attractive restoration candidate for not only value but also sheer pride of ownership, joy in the details, and pleasure in perhaps driving it and showing it off, than say a 51 trunkless Henry J in a dull colour, no options, and a 4 cylinder without overdrive. Each will cost you similar dollars to restore though. Even my 49 Kaiser Special in Glass Green is sometimes a hard sell to myself, as it doesn't even have an overdrive, a clock or a radio, and the only option it does have, a lighter, is useless to me even as a power point as it is 6Volt.

Some of the cars I've had over the years: 65 Corvair coupe, 65 Corvair convertible, 63 Corvair convertible, 61 Corvair Rampside (all dogs with large appetites) 53 Willys Aero hardtop, 53 Kaiser Manhattan, 63 International bus and 87 Peugeot turbo. I still have a bunch, including two cars that will never hit the roads again, including a 56 Panhard from France which I hope to get up to a 100 ft 'lawn ornament' status someday.

[ben-tex]

Personal taste and resources determines what is restored/saved. As for me, how many 55 Kaisers does the world really need? There are enough of them around to assure the "survival" of the example. Why sink a fortune into a junker?