Doubt there are any KF's

[Corsairdeluxe]

Opening here
http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/18/melbourne-muscle-car-museum-expected-open-october/78507300/

Just 20 miles north of me in Mims,is a similar private collection that is at least twice as large.

If I win the lotto I will open a Henry j museum with one of every year and possible drive train and option combination. Cross my heart!

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

A number of years ago I wrote up a business plan for a K-F museum.  Considering that despite what some think, it would never pay its own way from admissions, etc so it needed to live off its own portfolio account.  With today's rates of return on government investments (the stock market is too risky and so are hedges, bonds and mutual funds) that account needed to be worth around $20,000,000 to cover expenses with another $8,000,000 in start up costs.

When you recover from the shock, consider this.  At those figures, the facility would own its building, cars and contents in general and even be able to accumulate cash annually in a building expansion and maintenance fund so it could grow if suitably placed.  As a 501c3 it would also be able to give tax deductions for donations of ?? that qualified within the scope of the mission statement/charter.

Remember, even the Corvette museum in Bowing Green KY would be vacant and shut down today if it wasn't for a state tourism subsidy. 

[Gordie]

A 20,000 sq. ft. building could get us started and could be purchased today for around $300,000-400,000 with acreage for expansion but if someone donated that to us it is doubtful that we would have enough income to maintain it with taxes, insurance and utilities plus we would need members to maintain and restore some of the cars and artifacts like banners, wall posters, signs and literature and collectibles for display.  The Early Ford V-8 Club with coverage of about twenty years of cars and 10,000 members has done a fine job of building a museum in Auburn IN.  They have many members who are active volunteers and many chapters who donate and restore different items for display and they have a great thing going.  Many of us wonder what is going to happen to our K-F-W collections we are now custodians of and many of us have lots of money and time invested in a hobby that we are really passionate about and would love to see our collections maintained and enjoyed by present and future Kaiser Frazer fans.  Years ago Barbara and Jack Mueller donated a beautiful '51 Kaiser business coupe to the Ypsilanti Heritage Museum and it is proudly on display there for all to enjoy.  We have missed out on several K-F collections because we do not have a way to accept the collections or a way to maintain them.  A few years ago we talked about starting a Kaiser Frazer Foundation but nothing ever became of it.  A foundation would be primary to amassing and maintaining a collection but perhaps there are just not enough of us that would like to make a foundation work.  Does anyone have any ideas?

[joefrazer]

The foundation work continues. An accountant who is an acquaintance is completing the necessary tax forms and once she's done, the final IRS filing for tax exempt status will occur. I hope to have more information at the spring Sunshine Region meet.

About a building, several KF members have stepped forward and offered various plans to either own and lease or assist in the purchase of a building and land to house a formal KF museum. While the up front cost of ownership could be covered, it's the ongoing maintenance that would be difficult to cover. Many years ago, a fellow member and I were offered an old porcelain gas station building (it was a building clad in porcelain squares, common in the 1940s and 50s) and all we had to do was find a lot as the building would be disassembled and moved for us. But, costs meant it wasn't to be.