Kaiser Pickup

[Terry T]

Have we seen this one before?

[Fid]

I've seen it numerous times on the net- it's been a while. I think it was actually here in MN for a while. Nice piece of work in my opinion.

[JoeKeys2010]

Kaiser should have thought of that like he did the Traveler. 

[Fid]

It's too bad you can't do conversions like that any more.  My dad did a number of them in the 1960s  such as these two:

[Bulletin Editor]

Kaiser-Frazer had several design ideas for pick-up versions of the Kaiser but lacked the spare cash that it would cost for tooling, special stampings and other production related costs.  There was also the limited appeal of the body style in the marketplace.  The 1946 design put on the road by Ernie Chavis, K-F dealer in Southern California at the end of that year almost made production...there is paperwork bringing the thing to the attention of Edgar Kaiser (General Manager at the time) as a possible production product.

Note: I did not post this ~ it was Jack, using my computer again & not paying attention.

[JFerriss]

Have we seen this one before?

I saw and photographed this Kaiser pickup at the fall Auburn Indiana auctions about 7 or 8 years ago. I don't know where it ended up. I believe it was titled as a 53 kaiser and it did have 53 Manhattan interior and dash, but then so does the 54 K early special.

[Fid]

If I remember correctly, that Kaiser was made from a '53 Traveler and had '54 parts on it...  or maybe the tailgate was from a Traveler.  Anyway, I remember seeing it before.  One side story regarding the '53 Buick pickup in one of the previous posts; that car had the standard Buick passenger car rear suspension and I remember hauling a large console piano home in it! Now I have to wonder, would anyone try to haul a full size piano in the trunk or backseat of a passenger car? That's essentially what we were doing. The Henry J pickup had a Chevy 283 in it.

[JoeKeys2010]

My grandfather put a horse into the back of a Pontiac once and drove it out to our house from my birthday.  He drank too much and was known to do crazy things like that.  Wish I had a picture of it.

[Fid]

JFerris - that Auburn Auction may be where I saw it too. I remember there was a write up with it explaining a lot about it but unfortunately, I didn't save or remember any info.