1954 Kaiser on eBay

[54 Kaiser]

Item number: 140328766187

Seems to be in pretty nice condition.

Is the price typical for one in this condition? This is a RE-listing of the car. Previously it had a "Buy it Now of $25,000 and then $22,500 before the listing expired.

One of the pictures puzzles me.



It's been converted to a spin on filter. Aside from the obvious emptying of a quart of oil all over the side of the engine and your hands when changing it, won't the filter "drain" every time the engine is shut off and have to be refilled before the engine gets lubrication?

I've only seen spin on's mounted sideways or hanging down in factory applications.

[carsngolf]

I'm certainly no expert on this but would conclude 100% with your view of the drain down problems.  Some "solutions" create more problems than the original.

As an aside though, it really irks me that our cars are so undervalued compared to other makes of the era.  Hudsons, Studebakers, Packards, De Sotos, etc. of similar condition are much more valuable in auctions and frankly, it makes me angry.  Kaisers were among the most beautiful bodies ever made.  They were built to safety standards which exceeded others of the era.  The interiors were gorgeous, as well.  The Continental 6 was the sole "shortcoming" but only because it was competing with the Olds V-8.  It would easily transport the car in silence and smoothness to 80.  What more could you ask?  What a shame. 

If I won the lottery today, I'd buy every Kaiser from '51 to the end I could find and do nothing but slobber all over them until my days ended.

Jerry Weiland

[51henryj]

Do any of you Kaiser owners drive your cars and go to different functions as in show and shines ? Ive always liked the Look of the Kaisers , Willys Aeros, Henry Js.. Ive really never have understood why there under valued.. maybe there not out enough in public for people to see..   Parts are hard to get could be another reason..

[54 Kaiser]

I agree regarding the fact that they seem to be valued low. The appraiser that did mine said it appeared (based on his research on "solds") to be worth about double what a '54 chevy in the same condition would be.

Now, considering there were only something like 4,400 Kaisers made in 1954, and GM produced 1.3 MILLION Chevys in 1954. Stands to reason, the Kaiser is a rarity. Parts availability is not necessarily the reason for value. Hudson's, Studebakers and Desoto's of the same era are just as hard to find parts for.

I have the above stats from a January 1955 issue of Pop Mechanics where they reviewed the 1955 models. In it, they supplied several charts. One of them included the 1954 production numbers for all the companies. They also did a price "graph" comparing the prices. The Chevy - as expected - was down at the bottom of the list at around $1600-1800. I was surprised to see the Kaiser at around $2,600.00. Which put it firmly placed HIGHER than the Buick, and a little below the Chrysler Imperial. (Followed by Lincoln Continental and Cadillac.) It's clear the Kaiser was a "high end" car in it's era. Which again begs the question as to why the low value on them today.

BTW, my wife found mine for sale in a driveway about 20 miles north of me. First thing I did was look up on the internet and found Kanter. I could still get brake, suspension and engine parts. That was the majority of the battle for me. So... she bought it for me. (Seriously! As a Christmas Present.)

[kenneth]

Hi regarding the spin-on oil filter installed upside down it will work if you buy the proper oil-filter for upside down use,they have a back valve in them,there are several new cars that have upside down oil-filters but it will make a oil-mess on the outside of the engine when you change it!Correct me if im wrong but i think the Kaiser engine have the oil-filter on the return oil so there will not be a press.loss if it drains itself.(modern engines allways have the oil-filter on the press.side the 226 is not a modern engine).
Bless you all Kaiser lovers out there!

[Fid]

The oil filters that were originally used on the 226 were only bi-pass filters. In other words, there was a seperate path for the oil filter. This meant that all oil did not flow through the filter at all times. Instead some of the oil would be channeled through the filter as it was pumped. Not very efficient and a real pain to deal with when changing the filter as the cannister would usually be full of oil and sometimes you'd have to drain it to get the new filter in. I always felt it was better to have no filter and change the oil more often than have a filter which does very little and requires all that effort to change.   

[54 Kaiser]

If anyone wants to check that listing above before it disappears, the car went for $18,600 US.

Not half bad!