Author Topic: Detour to KF Limo Discussion  (Read 4352 times)

Fid

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Detour to KF Limo Discussion
« on: May 22, 2009, 11:43:16 PM »
I thought I'd create a new thread to discuss that 1950 Kaiser limo since there was some intrest. I remember reading about that car sitting in a farm yard in Iowa and being visible from I80 back in the early 1970s. As I recall, the conversion was done by "Armbruster" who converted a number of different makes of cars into, literally, stretch-limos. I found an article in the Spring 1973 edition of the KFOC Quarterly, where KFOC member Sid Sidwell of IA wrote in to say he had made a deal to buy the car, which for years had a "Not For Sale" sign on it, and that he had no plans to restore it, he just wanted to save it. There is an addendum at the end of the article stating that Sid has sold the car because he needed to move and had no storage and that the person Sid sold it to was in negotiations with the former KFOC President Alan Payne who planned to purchase it. 
The Summer 1976 issue of the KFOC Quarterly has an article by James Arnett of Colorado who purchased the car from Alan Payne and he highlights how he did the restoration that he said took "One year and five months to complete."
When it came to Minnesota, I don't recall. My guess is sometime in the early 80s.  For the 1980s and most of the 1990s I paid little attention to KF items and the club so I really don't know the particulars. The October 1993 issue of "Collectible Automobile" has an article about the 1947-50 Kaisers and it has a picture of the limo and the caption states it "Served a Spanish Mission Church in Del Rio, Texas for 20 years before its restoration in Minnesota..." and lists the owners as "John Haller and Keith Zimmerman."  Of course after reading the article in the Summer 1976 issue of the Quarterly, it is apparent that the part about it being "Restored in Minnesota" is not true. Keith Zimmerman had a large quonset hut with some very nice KF products in it. He left the hobby around 1990 but kept his cars till 2002 when he sold them at a much publicised auction. I was there and video taped much of the auction - they started the bidding for the limo at $75,000 but there were no takers. The frustrated auctioneer kept lowering the bid and I think mr. Z was quite disappointed when the car sold for $16,000.
Francis "Fuzzy" Fruzyna of Green Bay, Wisconsin bought 3 cars that day, the 1950 limo, a mint 1951 Henry J four cylinder and the mint 1949 Frazer Manhattan Zimmerman had. Looks like he used some of this millions to customize the limo for the short duration he owned it (he died less than a year after the auction).  No idea where it is now. His cars never showed up for sale in the KFOC bulletin or on ebay so perhaps he willed them to someone. He also had a Tucker and Darrin with all gold plated hardware.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2009, 12:03:13 AM by Fid »
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Weaz

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Re: Detour to KF Limo Discussion
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2009, 07:13:56 AM »
Thanks for the background on the limo, Fid.



I got this picture from Classiccar.com. It was posted by "Martin200" of Fond Du Lac County, Wisconcin. He took the photo at the Wisconsin Region Picnic in August 2007. So it must not have gone far.
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ben-tex

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Re: Detour to KF Limo Discussion
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2009, 05:39:38 PM »
I scanned the story on the limo from the Quarterly and converted it to a pdf file. If you would like a copy send me an email and I will send it to you. It is about 900K file size.

By the way Fuzzy mentioned in the earlier post attended the Midwest Divisional Meet in Galena IL. He spent some time in the hospitality room havig a good time. I can't recall if he was able to partake of the beer (I was at the time!) as he had been having some health issues. Unfortunately he passed away on the way back to his home. I guess if you have to go then it's good to have just done something you enjoy doing.
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Weaz

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Re: Detour to KF Limo Discussion
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2009, 08:47:14 PM »
Email sent, Ben. Thanks!
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Fid

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Re: Detour to KF Limo Discussion
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2009, 10:07:08 PM »
I'm sure that photo was taken at Lowell Johnson's place. I recognize his '49 convertible and hartop in the background. Also his AMC Marlin, which are really cool cars I might add, and I'm pretty sure that's Lance Johnson with his back to the camera walking away from  the limo.  Lowell and Lance are two top-notch guys.
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superior1980

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Re: Detour to KF Limo Discussion
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2013, 05:46:24 PM »
Hello, I just discovered this forum while trying to find information on the Kaiser limousine featured in this thread.  I am wondering if anyone has been able to learn of the limo's current owner and location.  My reason for asking is because I am a member of the Professional Car Society, which is for the restoration and preservation of vintage funeral coaches, ambulances, and limousines, and I'm also the host for their 2013 International Meet, which will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  I understand the car either is or was in the Green Bay, Wisconsin area, and if that's the case, I would love to invite the owner to show his car at our meet this summer.  If anyone could possibly put me on track to get in contact with the owner, I would be most appreciative!  Thank you for your time.

kaiserfrazerlibrary

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Re: Detour to KF Limo Discussion
« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2013, 06:05:25 AM »
You may also want to contact NBC Guest Relations to get an address for an email to Jay Leno.  Jay was the unsuccsssful runner-up bidder for the limo at the auction sale and may have ended up with it after Fuzzy's death.

Armbruster-Stageway  still had the build file on the car in the early 1980's back in its archives.  Interestingly enough, the numbers seem to indicate they started with a 1950 Kaiser Special sedan rather than the commercial chassis model the company offered in 1949-50. Because the factory had no involvement in the limo's construction it was not listed in KFOCI HANDBOOK CD's.

Fid

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Re: Detour to KF Limo Discussion
« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2013, 08:55:56 AM »
I'm curious as to where the Jay Leno info is coming from. I was at that auction and the rumors were flying before the crowd cleared.  The rumor that day was that Leno had purchased the Limo, the Darrin and the '51 Frazer convertible. I video taped the auction and reviewed it right away -  those three cars sold to three different bidders so that could not possibly have been true.  My brother used to work for Jay Leno and knows him personally. I mentioned this to my brother and he told me he'd ask Mr. Leno.  A week or so later he did and Leno informed him that he did not purchase those cars. The rumor persisted to the point where Jay himself called one of the KFOC members (I forget who it was) who was inquiring about it and personally informed him that he had not purchased those cars and did not own (at that time) any KF products.
 
He did not, however, mention anything about being a runner-up bidder on any of them. I'd be interested in knowing where the information came from. None of the aforementioned cars sold for a large amount but it is still possible that Jay Leno was runner-up bidder on them. That Limo sold for $16,000 and Leno certainly could've outbid that had he wanted the car.
1953 Henry J Corsair Deluxe
Edgar Kaiser's custom 1951 Henry J
1951 Kaiser Special
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Corsairdeluxe

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Re: Detour to KF Limo Discussion
« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2013, 11:06:25 AM »
I watched a video of Jay Leno talking about some of his cars.At that time he had a shoe box Kaiser with a novel attachment. It was an aftermarket automatic cigarette lighter. You inserted the cig into the hole and it light it and took a puff. Jay belittled the Kaiser and said the cigarette lighter was the reason he bought the car. He no longer has it.
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Fid

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Re: Detour to KF Limo Discussion
« Reply #9 on: January 04, 2013, 11:29:17 PM »
Getting back to answering Superior1980's question, I sent you a private message as it contains the personal info I found and I don't like to post personal info on these forums.
1953 Henry J Corsair Deluxe
Edgar Kaiser's custom 1951 Henry J
1951 Kaiser Special
1952 Allstate Deluxe

Need your classic car radio repaired? I repair vacuum tube radios