1954 Kaiser Darrin

[Gordie]

Thanks Terry,  That kind of information puts the questions to rest regarding him buying fifty left over Darrin's.  I am sure that any Kaiser vehicles unsold in 1955 were discounted to dealers before K-W stopped production of passenger cars.  There were not enough Darrin's made to even have one for each dealer.

[Gordie]

In the investment car market (read - a place to make money) for KF, there's the Darrin and then there's everything else. Darrin's caught on as investment grade and prices skyrocketed and owners suddenly found themselves sitting on a comfortable nest egg. But, that's only for the best cars. The cost to restore one has increased significantly so a gap is forming. Well done cars will command a premium and the others will see prices flatten. So, a good driver should be in the $40k range before too long in my opinion.

 

Another thing that can happen with all cars in the fifties is that in a few years there will be no one left who relates to them.  In my lifetime of enjoying old cars I can remember when Model T Fords would bring a lot of money but now no one wants them and they are awful to drive.  The same thing happened to Model A's and they are only popular now because they make great hot rods.  If you go to one of the big hot rod shows expect to see over 5,000 cars and there is every old car that you can think of modified and someone's pride and joy.   If you remember our KFOCI meets they started putting V-8's in Kaisers in the 1960's and last year in Arizona we had many modified Kaisers, Henry J's and Willys.  We are going to see more and more modified cars as parts dry up for the early cars..  '55-'57 Chevrolet's were every where and then came the Mustangs in the 1960's.  Young  people are not interested in old cars like we were and we are seeing cars from the seventies being restored now as those are the cars that younger people grew up with and that they relate to.  People are buying prize winning  older cars and are tearing them apart and putting modern drive trains and air conditioning in them now and they make great drivers that your wife and kids will be happy to travel in.  I think that stock old cars are going to have a limited life span especially if they keep modifying the fuel.  Who knows,  maybe we will be looking for used Tesla Engines in another ten years?

[Terry T]

Thanks Terry,  That kind of information puts the questions to rest regarding him buying fifty left over Darrin's.  I am sure that any Kaiser vehicles unsold in 1955 were discounted to dealers before K-W stopped production of passenger cars.  There were not enough Darrin's made to even have one for each dealer.quote]

when the family disclosed that to me, I asked if I could repeat it or keep the urban legend going--the answer is obvious to the casual observer!

[jake]

 

It did not sell..