RUDY PHILLIPS CRUSHES KAISERS

[darrin502]

I think Rudy Phillips has had it with Kaisers, he told me if no one wants them he will crush them.
According to Rudy it only takes about 20 minutes to destroy a perfectly good Kaiser. I think he always had one wheel off the track but now he has completely gone off the rails. If you want some KF stuff call him fast or the metal man will get them. It seems he can get more for scrap then from KF people.
I THINK HE HAS GONE CRAZY.
He told me once he was going to dig a big hole with his backhoe and bury them all. I think his Kaiser parts days are going fast.
Here is a quote from Rudy:

This is how we restore them at Rudy's KF Parts. A solid rust free 49 Kaiser. Also a shot of Rudy's world car show. Just a small showing as I had a hard time picking best of show while enjoying a few cold beverages and the thrill of the smash.

Rudy

Check out the link of the pics he sent me. I think major therapy is in order.

http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/darrin502/vehicles/94826

[joefrazer]

The cure is to attract and retain new members and interest them in fixing up a car. The KFOCI has a core group who have an illness of their own, they'll take on yet another project. I'm one of those with the sickness, witnessed by the two 47 Kaisers that magically appeared in my driveway over the last several months. But, those of us with the illness cannot continue to take on more work to save cars from the crusher. Rather, we need to spread the word that KF cars are inexpensive to buy, (for the most part), relatively easy to work on, and very different from the car show crowd of 57 Chevys, Mustangs, and Corvettes.

If you're involved at all in the hobby, then you've seen the articles written by some well-seasoned collectors noting the decline in membership in many clubs. For as long as I can remember, getting swap meet spaces at the AACA Hershey fall meet was next to impossible, but as of two years ago, one could walk up to any AACA tent and obtain as many as you want. People today have alot on their plate, and just as many distractions to take them away from owning an old car and participating in a club and its activities.

I don't have a magic answer to the issue of attracting new members, but I do have some ideas. We need to involve younger folks by using social media to our advantage. The club has a Facebook page at "Kaiser Frazer Owners Club International", but we need to spread its word and use it. At meets, let potential new members sit behind the wheel and experience the thrill we get every time we're in our car. We also need to develop programs that attract people to our club. A static car show in a hotel lot is great...if you're a member and you want to check out a fellow member's car...but it won't do much to grab the attention of non-members. How about a short driving tour thru town with predetermined stops at popular places? The local burger joint, a car dealership, or the local historical society are just a few that come to mind. Last summer, the CCCA had a driving tour that used our local historical village as an advertised stop and several hundred spectators showed up for the two hour layover.

So, don't fault Rudy for scrapping cars. His actions are just a by-product of the bigger issue...the declining interest in anything old by younger folks. If it doesn't say Apple or X-box on the label, they're just not interested. Our job is to let them know we're here and that owning and old car can be a rewarding experience.

[Dragon]

I can understand the KF parts is not a good business for several reasons.  One, because there are not many Kaiser Frazer's being restored.  I go to meets every year and there are very few newly restored cars showing up and we have several vendors plus Older KF members getting rid of their parts every year at low prices.  Rare parts don't mean big prices.  57 Chevy's and Mustangs aren't rare and their parts get big prices. 
I would like to see more young people in the club, but I am not sure that is the answer.  Middle aged seem to be the better members.  They seem to have more interest and money when they are 30, 40 or even 50.
I am not sure we can find a good solution.

[JoeKeys2010]

I'm confused. Did he crush the cars on the link?  I recently bought a rear window gasket from him.

[darrin502]

Rudy says
 Just brought two more from storage to crush, a rare 49 Kaiser Virginian and a 52 Kaiser. At least by crushing them they become more useful as new Toyota's or Honda's. In the last two years over 22,000 lbs of KF parts and cars have crossed the scales. Only another 100,000 lbs to go.
Maybe someone will offer u 10 cents a lb for the rest.lol

[Terry T]

supply and demand economics often do not apply to many of our vendors.
anything can be sold for the right price.

[JoeKeys2010]

Surly you can get more by reducing the price and selling cheap than you can at the crusher.  I sell scrap medal from rail cars monthly and get better pricing than the general public does and the most I have ever sold prepared scrap medal was 15 cent a pound or there abouts.

I don't understand why you would scrap perfectly good cars. Even if you sold it for a thousand dollars it would be more than the scrap guy wou give you with a whole less effort.

I hate to hear of him destroying them but on the bright side he does not own every Kaiser.  I own one he will not crush rare or not.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Some of you in the Detroit MI area may remember a man named Barney Pollard.  Barney had buildings full of pre World War II automobiles and trucks...so many of them that he stored them vertically (front end in the air)!  Barney received numerous offers for some of his vehicles but didn't want to sell except at his price.  He had hundreds of vehicles that went for scrap after his death as they sat too long without attention. 

People get ideas as to what their Watchamacallit should be worth because they hear about a pristine example that may (or, it turns out may not) have sold at some fancy auction.  If the alternative is to scrap (or perhaps, that's all the remains are good for) I agree that "fire sale" pricing is a viable alternative.  You get more than the scrap man so you come out ahead on the deal ans some younger interested person gets a restorable vehicle at a price that allows him (or her) to restore it within their budget.

My observations over the last few years is that interest has waned because 1)People don't take their cars to non KFOCI events the way they should & 2)owners are not around their cars that much so people can talk to them. 

You have to show the cars & talk to those who stop and look so the public knows they exist, what kind of realistic pricing goes with the cars and parts, AND that there is a club around to support the vehicles and have a more or less brain trust who can provide ideas and suggestions on parts sources, repair items, etc.

I took my cars to as many shows as possible during the times I had running vehicles.  Even works in process were worthwhile to take when you showcase it with the story of the restoration work done so far and what is planned for the near future...a kind of watch this space thing to see how the project evolves over time to show it can be done.

[JoeKeys2010]

If I have mine back by mid March I'll have it in a local show. If not, it will be in the next one. We have a group of folks with old cars, Fords, Pontiacs, Buicks and so forth. They do a ride each month. Plan in getting in that group when my car is back from being painted. I rent a garage uptown and plan on putting out a KF sign on the building.

Everyone in town knows what a KF is but most haven't seen one in a mighty long time. I got mine because I wanted one (my grandfather sold them) and because I could find one affordable. Once I joined the club I found out how resourceful the club is.

I've been to one KF function back in the early 2000's in Mobile Alabama and did not even own nor had never seen a KF. They treated me like I was one of them and although it took me 13 years I finally got one. Look forward to getting a Frazer to go with it.

[rlahammer]

Coming from a new Kaiser owner and collector. If you/we want to keep kaisers out in the public eye ergo keep or expand the public recognition of these cool old cars we need to show, inform, help, email, call back, give some good deals, display all the cool Kaiser products. Again i have only been of the fringe of the Kaiser hobby for a few years and have found some real nice people especially on this forum. I attended the national convention this summer and saw some great cars but of course you're all Kaiser people (and fairly old on average   .

I go to a massive car show in St. Paul every year and last year not a single Kaiser (other than Darrins which i really don't count).

I also have tried to buy parts, products, information and such with about members. ONLY 1 has let go of anything and about half never call back or email. So new collector all excited and willing to spend $ cant seem to get his buying fix.

I have been a part of three major hobbies in my life and so far Kaiser collectors seem to want to hang on to their stuff more than any other hobby i have been a part of.

So in my opinion we all need to show, share, give, help anyone who may get a passion for these old cars.

By the way I am restoring a Dragon for the first time in my life and it is not going well 

[darrin502]

Why don't you consider a Darrin a Kaiser?
I have 3 and I consider them Kaisers. And I show them all the time. I am proud of my cars and like all KF cars good bad or ugly.

[rlahammer]

Oh i like them bet really more of a concept car. I consider Kasiers to big American metal cars. Nothing against smaller plastic (I have a 59 vette).

[j762538]

A guy at the last car show asked me about a part for his car so I gave him the latest bulletin that I always bring with me.

[Logan]

Yes, the big steel sedans were the bread and butter, but Darrins are Kaisers too, after all.  I like them all--just sold a Dragon.

[MarkH]

This story sounds familiar. Without going into the details of a protracted purchase for some of Rudy's NOS Aero parts a few years ago, he told me at one point that he was of a mind to just bury the lot and be done with them. I replied that he should do just that, and then everything I had would be worth more............ although I was shocked at the thought of NOS parts being landfilled.

He recently traded the collection to Duane Hayes.

Not saying Rudy isn't crushing metal, maybe just what he knows isn't likely to have a demand. I have more Aero parts than I'll need. When my car is assembled I'll keep some spares, sell what will sell, post the rest for free and scrap what no one wants rather than store them for the rest of my life.