Help a new Kaiser collector

[rlahammer]

I need your help. Really hoping the Kaiser/Frazer community can help me.
I have purchased a couple of Kaiser Dragons in the past year. One I am mostly done working on and one that needs a restoration. I did this to have some fun and honor my Father in Law who sold Kaisers back in day at NW Kaiser in Minneapolis.

I understand that this community is not fully thriving. Saw a recent example of this where a very nice Kaiser Dragon sold for about 9k. In order for the next generation (or two) to enjoy and appreciate these very cool cars THEY NEED TO BE SEEN and talked about.

I hope to show my Dragon(s) in the next few years at shows. I have always found that when I attend shows I gravitate towards cars that look great but have some sort of display that can be attractive.

My hope is to find as much Kaiser type memorabilia I can to display with my car to generate some interest.

I am looking for any of the “tins” as in the Kaiser protective materials. Signage too.

I have been able to find a few (see picture…you can see my very cool superbird in the background!).

CAN YOU HELP?
Do you know of anyone who has these?

 

I have to say I have been hard at trying to find this type of thing and have only a couple of people seemingly willing to talk/email/help. John Hewlitt  needs to be called out as he has been a great help and actually willing to sell some items. I do pay just fine and am not looking for handouts.

Email, call, shout whatever it takes. Thanks  Rob L.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

I have some duplicate materials on hand right now and may have a few more items in the next week or two.  If you can send me a list of specifics (model years, makes, photos, literature, etc) I may be able to help.

[JoeKeys2010]

Hi rlahammer, my story is similar to yours.  My grandfather sold KF at Triangle Motors in Jacksonville, FL.  My car is a good daily driver but I am working to get it to more of a show car.  My questions have been mostly of a technical nature and I have gotten a lot of good responses.  I have probably been on this site for less than two months.

My car turns heads and I am surprised at how many folks even know what a Kaiser is.  I live in a small town in GA and evidently back in the day they had a small KF dealership.  I have a 1964 Ford with a 427 that would bring probably 5 times what the Kaiser would and its in a whole lot better shape (it is in a condition that it could be shown) but it does not draw a crowd like the Kaiser and to me 49 was not the pretest body style.

I don't have any thing except for newspaper advertisements my grandmother collected in a scrap book and some moving family films of the dealer/distributorship.  I have been hunting for some neat stuff like signs, poster and so forth but have not found much available.  I look mostly on Ebay or Craig's list.  I run a railcar repair facility and do a lot of business with folks like Fastsign and have though about using some of the electronic images I have of advertisements reproduced into signs or posters.  Since I'm not at that stage yet I have not priced them.  I would like to own the original stuff but wonder if it would be more affordable and easier to have some reproductions made.  In the movies my grandfather had some pretty neat posters in the background for a Virginian. Give the cars on the showroom floor I would date the movies to 1949, hence I have a 1949.  The car came from Florida originally, it would be neat if I could trace it to his dealership, but that is impossible.

[rlahammer]

Great story, maybe some day we can meet. My story takes on another turn as "real" job is a director of a retirement home. One of my residents was the general sales manager for Northwest Kaiser Frazer and he vividly remembers selling the only three Dragons that they ever sold. He has some great stories (as does my father in law).

If i find extras (and I am VERY good at finding stuff) I will be glad to share.

Rob

[JoeKeys2010]

Thank Rob.  My grandfather has long since passed away and I never thought to ask too many questions.  He went into business with two other men, hence the name Triangle motors, and was about 38 years old when he invested everything he had into the business.  They built a showroom that stood until about the mid 1980's when it was demolished.  Unfortunately his story was a sad one, he lost his fortune, broke his spirit and never really recovered from the loss of his business.  In the end he lost everything including his house and a beach house. 

One of the partners lost his mind and the other died right after the business collapsed.  Not sure the business had anything to do with either of them but maybe it did.

My wife and I went to a show once in Mobile Alabama in the early 2000's and I saw one of them for the first time.  I wanted one every since and missed a good deal on one because I had no place to store it.  I later rented a garage and found a car with a parts car and bought both just a few months ago.  I wanted one of the older ones because that is what my grandfather would have sold.  He started in 1947 and was probably out of business by early 1950's.  I know I heard him talk about Henry J's so he must have been in business long enough to have sold  few.

He said once that he could sell the cars but could not get them in.  If someone wanted a green one and he ordered it he said it took a long time to get one.  My grandmother kept a scrap books so I have newspaper articles that announce the formation of the company and one of his sisters made home movies of his showroom so I have that.  I wish he was alive to see my car.  I think they are neat and love the Dragon's with the bamboo interiors. Parts can be hard to find, and mine needs a new interior.  I'd like to put one in it like the original one.