Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers

[CurtRod58]

I have an eye on buying a nice running '53 Kaiser 2 Dr with the supercharged motor. As I am a Kaiser "virgin", can anyone tell me what the production numbers are on the '53 supercharged 2 door cars? I believe it's a Manhattan model but not 100% sure. Can any one help me out? 

[Fid]

Just so you know, there were no original supercharged 1953 Kaisers. The car you're looking at is likely a '54 (which most people like even more), or an even more rare '55, if it is supercharged.  Any two door Kaiser is rare and the Manhattans are pretty fancy cars.  If you get it, let us know as there are plenty of people here more than willing and able to provide you any info you need.  To tell what year it truly is (and a lot of owners who have inherited cars via various means may not know what they have) look at the VIN tag inside the driver's door sill, between the hinges.  A 1954 will have a VIN that begins with K54x a '53 will begin with K53x etc. (x being '1' if it's a Deluxe and '2' if it's a Manhattan in the case of the '54/'55 cars). Best of luck.

[joefrazer]

Unless Kaiser built a one-off for a show car, there were no factory built supercharged 53 Kaisers. The McCulloch supercharger was first used on the 1954 Kaiser Manhattans and also continued on the 55s.

1953 two door cars themselves are rare...the total built between the Manhattan, DeLuxe and Carolina numbering something around 4000. I'd say maybe 1/10th of that survives today.

[CurtRod58]

How about production of '54 2 doors, with or w/o superchargers?

[joefrazer]

54-5 Kaiser 2 door production...
54K Manhattan (with s/c) = 223
54K Special, early = about 350
54K Special late = 6
55K Manhattan (with s/c) = 44

[CurtRod58]

After looking at a picture of the car I'm looking at and comparing to a pic of a '54 Manhattan. I would say it's definitely a '53. It looks like the '54 has a "droopy" headlight/parking light assembly while the '53 I'm looking at has a std headlight assy with seperate parking lights in the cross bar between the hood and bumper. Did all the '54's have the same headlight/grille treatment as the Manhattan? Did all the '53's have the same treatment as I described? Perhaps someone just swapped the SC motor into the '53? I'm sure it would be just about impossible to figure out if this one is a "one-off", wouldn't it?

[CurtRod58]

If it helps clarify anything it also has a faux (fake) alligator interior and an OD tranny

[superk226]

There is a 53 two door delux for sale in the Sacramento area that has a supercharger and dual exhaust on it according to the description in the ad. Is this the car that you are considering buying? I did not go look at it yet but it is all home brew as KF did not make such a model.

[CurtRod58]

yes, that is the same one. I was curious about it because it was supercharged and looked to be in pretty decent shape for the $$. But after seeing everyone's responses I was beginning to think it wasn't an OEM model. I was thinking it was maybe a Dragon with the interior but you say it's a Delux? How can you tell from just the pics, or are you just trying to scare me away to pick it up yourself?.......... 

[superk226]

I am not interested in buying the car but I do intend to go look at it to see what has been done to it. The reason I say it is a delux model is because it has the narrow stainless steel trim instead of the wide stainless steel. If is a delux model, the VIN number will start as K531-.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

This is probably way late compared to the original inquiry, but I don't usually check out this forum...

A club member who once lived in Portland Oregon, had a supercharger and other speedo upgrades put into a 1953 2-door Kaiser sedan.  He had "Kaiser Special" fender script put on the car.  He had it for a time in Wisconsin while assigned in Milwaukee by the company he was with at the time, so I got to see the car.

Jack Mueller
Club Historian

[superk226]

This must be the same car that Jack described as being from Portland, Oregon. The deluxe script had been removed and a script that says 'sprint' was put in place of it. So now it says 'Kaiser Sprint'. The supercharger is a backyard installation as it required moving the radiator forward and this was accomplished by hacking away at the sheet metal to gain clearance for the supercharger and then mounting the radiator on wooden spacers. The body on the is not dented and does not show any signs of rust but the interior cloth in the seats is rotten an needs to be replaced. It is an interesting car and well worth fixing to be drivable. The ID on the door post is K5314-001612 and shows up on Harold Hagen's list as being owned by someone in Portland, OR. The present owner said he bought the in Portland about a year ago.

[Fid]

The car is on ebay right now and is listed as a "Rare Kaiser Sprint." The fact that none were ever made makes it pretty rare.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Other-Makes-KAISER-SPRINT-COUPE-SUPER-RARE-1953-KAISER-SPRINT-2-DOOR-SUPERCHARGED_W0QQitemZ330392141008QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item4cece7fcd0

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

This "Kaiser Sprint" car was owned in the 1970's by former (recently rejoined, I am told) member Mike Mesitech (spelled wrong, sorry) who was originally from the Portland Oregon area and was transferred to Milwaukee when he worked for the financial arm of the old International Harvestor operation.  Mike was also instrumental in finding the 1951 Kaiser Special Business Coupe that I would eventually own.  That car is on display at the Ypsilanti MI museum in the Depot Town area with other K-F items including the Explorer show car.  The coupe is owned by the museum.

a Kaiser Sprint? Clearly the owner doesn't know his cars, didn't bother to research the car and/or is trying to pull a fast one (in my humble opinion) by attempting to pass it off as a factory product.

[joefrazer]

Well, someone ponied up 5 grand and used the 'buy it now' option on ebay. A closer look at the trunk reveals that the car was once blue...or at least the spare tire well was! I also know of a 48 Frazer that was supercharged. I could have purchased the car for 2 grand and that included everything needed to put the rock solid car back together as it was partially disassembled for restoration. I should have bought the thing...just to have fun with the uninitiated!

Also, a guy showed up at the '09 national with a turbocharged 49K. Lots of plumbing under the hood that bewildered all who looked. I recall the owner stating that he needed to replace the main bearings in the engine and couldn't figure out why...