Sad news about the oldest known surviving Kaiser

[Fid]

I just wanted to comment on how sad I was to learn of the loss of Jerry Laurin's early '47 Kaiser Special. Jerry is a good guy and seems to have had his share of hard luck in the last few years.  His Buckeye Maroon '47 Special was always fun to examine. I first met Jerry and saw the car at the KFOC National in Jefferson City in 1998. I remember attending Oshkosh in 2001 with my father. We were looking at Jerry's car and Steve Hermesch took us around and pointed out all the unique features on Jerry's early '47 which was parked right next to Rollie Potts' '47 -the second earliest Kaiser known to exist. It is very unfortunate that this piece of KF history is now history.

[Logan]

Yes, I read that too.  I always enjoy the "From the Historian" section in the Bulletin, but it was too bad to hear about losing this unique Kaiser, which I did not even know existed.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

The car is pictured in the COLLECTABLE AUTOMOBILE story on 1947-50 Kaisers and can also be found in some of the Consumers Guide CARS OF THE 1940'S books.  It's red with a windshield visor and Illinois license plates.  Rear shots will also show the 'Kaiser Special' on the deck lid. 

[Terry T]

I musta missed something--what was the sad news?

[Bulletin Editor]

I musta missed something--what was the sad news?

"loss of Jerry Laurin's early '47 Kaiser Special"

[Logan]

kaiserfrazerlibrary, do you know what issue of collectible automobile that was in?  I would like to try to buy it on ebay if it is available.

[Fid]

It's the October 1993 issue of Collectible Automobile. It has a 1958 Pontiac Bonneville on the cover.

[Henry's HenryJs]

Still does not tell me what happened to it.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

The June 2013 issue of KFOCI MONTHLY BULLETIN, the monthly publication of the KFOCI contains one of my FROM THE HISTORIAN columns that covers the fire that wiped out Gerry Laurin's collection of vehicles including a 1949 Frazer and the 1947 Kaiser.  A color photo spread on the car appears in the October 1993 issue of COLLECTABLE AUTOMOBILE in its story about 1947-50 Kaisers.   Photos on page 65 of that issue.

[Bulletin Editor]

Still does not tell me what happened to it.

Jerry Laurin’s storage shed caught fire & all the old cars in it were lost. 

[Logan]

Thanks for the info.  Have ordered that issue from ebay and look forward to reading it (albeit with the sad knowledge that the car is now destroyed).

[Logan]

This is a high price if it is for the article only.  I bought the Collectible Automobile issues Fid mentioned, which contains pictures of this car, and it was very good.  I bought it for under $10 from ebay.