Kaiser Frazer Owners Club Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: checker on March 03, 2015, 07:34:29 PM
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This question could be for the club's historian...it's just curiosity from my part, being french Canadian and fairly new to K-F !
What's the story behind the Frazer emblem with a french statement - JE SUIS PRÊT - (meaning: I'm ready) ?
Was it just the trend at the time (french vs automobiles) ?
Thanks !
Bernie
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It's said that the Frazer family coat of arms bore the legend "Je Suis Pret", meaning, I am ready. It was borrowed for use on the car.
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OK, how about the buffalo on the Kaiser emblem ?
What does it stands for ?
B ???
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The buffalo is a symbol of power so it was adopted as the Kaiser mascot. Unlike the Frazer coat of arms, there's no family connection.
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OK, good, cool, that's more info I'll be able to give going to the next car shows / meets ... 8)
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I always loved both emblems, particularly the Frazer family coat of arms, despite the fact that the proud Frazers (also, Joe's mother was a Virginia Washington) objected to it as being low class according to Langworth.
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8)
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The Frazer was designed to be a standard front engine rear drive car from the start (Graham Paige). However, the Kaiser was originally designed to be a front engine, front drive car to distinguish it as the new design and the future of the automobile. Kaiser ran into trouble getting it into production and reverted to the same drive train as the Frazer. This resulted in the two cars being basically the same except for some minor details and the resulting lack of public perception that they were different offerings from the company. The Buffalo with its front half looking more powerful than the rear legs was chosen to represent the front dive of the Kaiser as well because it also represented the western part of the country where Kaiser was known as the western industrialist.
It might be interesting to note that from interviews with Kaiser executives in the 1960's bulletins, there was serious discussion about badging the 51 Kaiser as the Frazer and the HenryJ as the Kaiser to maintain both names. Since Frazer had left the company, Kaiser killed this idea.
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"Lack of public perception that they were different offerings:" this certainly is true. You often see "Kaiser-Frazers" for sale, or "Kaiser-Fraiziers," or just plain "Fraisiers" and "Frasers." People don't know what they have!